Brands Marketing For Rosh Hashana: Macy’s, Apple & Uber Eats

By EPR Editorial Team · Faith & Religion

Originally published September 2024. Updated June 2026.

Part of the Jewish communications sub-cluster hub inside Everything-PR's Faith pillar.

Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year — is one of the most institutionally important Jewish observances and a defined brand-marketing moment. Twenty representative brands working the High Holidays category, with the operational patterns that distinguish authentic engagement from generic seasonal placement.

The High Holidays brand frame

Rosh Hashanah falls in early autumn and marks the start of the Jewish High Holidays — the ten-day period of repentance, reflection, and family gathering culminating in Yom Kippur. For American Jewish consumers — approximately 7.5 million people — Rosh Hashanah is among the most observed holidays in the calendar, with family gatherings, festive meals, and gift exchanges that drive specific consumer behavior.

Brands working the category fall into three patterns. Specialty Jewish food brands (Manischewitz, Zabar's, Gourmet Kosher) for whom the holiday is a primary commercial cycle. Mainstream consumer brands (Apple, Starbucks, Uber Eats, Amazon) that activate seasonal campaigns. National retailers (Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Williams Sonoma) with kosher and holiday-specific category programming.

Twenty representative Rosh Hashanah brand campaigns

1. Manischewitz — The category-defining specialty Jewish food brand, with Rosh Hashanah programming anchored to family-recipe content and product feature (matzo, gefilte fish, kosher wines).
2. Shutterfly — Customizable Rosh Hashanah cards and photo gifts via targeted email and digital campaigns.
3. Kirkland Signature (Costco) — Special Rosh Hashanah product lines including kosher wines and holiday foods, promoted through in-store and digital channels.
4. Amazon — Targeted Rosh Hashanah promotions across kosher foods, gifts, and holiday decor categories.
5. Whole Foods Market — Rosh Hashanah recipe guides, kosher product features, and holiday-specific blog and social content.
6. Bloomingdale's — Rosh Hashanah-themed home decor and gifts featured via email and social.
7. Ben & Jerry's — Holiday-themed flavor releases and packaging, with playful social campaigns.
8. Blue Apron — Rosh Hashanah-themed meal kits featuring traditional holiday dishes.
9. Williams Sonoma — Rosh Hashanah kitchenware and kosher food features across catalog and online.
10. Macy's — Rosh Hashanah home decor and gift programming across digital and in-store.
11. Whole Foods Market (in-store) — Kosher food sections with holiday signage and staff education about the holiday's significance.
12. Target — Rosh Hashanah decorations and kosher food programming via social and email.
13. Starbucks — Limited-edition Rosh Hashanah-themed beverages and pastries.
14. Nordstrom — Rosh Hashanah-themed gifts and apparel via email and in-store displays.
15. Goldbelly — Rosh Hashanah meal kits and holiday treats from kosher restaurants nationwide.
16. Uber Eats — Kosher restaurant features and Rosh Hashanah-specific menus via in-app promotion.
17. Apple — Rosh Hashanah-themed emojis and stickers for iMessage.
18. Zabar's — The institutional New York Jewish delicatessen, with Rosh Hashanah gift baskets and kosher food programming as a primary annual cycle.
19. Gourmet Kosher — Digital marketing on Rosh Hashanah recipes and products with influencer partnerships.
20. Hershey's — Kosher chocolate programming with Rosh Hashanah packaging and digital activation.

What separates authentic from generic

Three operational patterns distinguish Rosh Hashanah work that lands from work that gets ignored.

Product before campaign. Brands with actual kosher certification, holiday-relevant product lines, or established Jewish-community customer bases generate authentic earned media around their Rosh Hashanah programming. Brands that activate a single social post with apples and honey imagery and no product follow-through generate the opposite reaction. The American Jewish community is small, well-connected, and quick to identify performative engagement.

Specificity over generic festive language. The strongest Rosh Hashanah brand work names specific elements — apples and honey for the sweet new year, the shofar, the family table, Tashlich. Generic "happy holidays" framing without the specificity reads as either uninformed or evasive. Brands working the category benefit from specificity.

Year-round community engagement. Brands that show up only at Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah look like every other brand showing up only at Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah. Year-round programming that incorporates Jewish American consumers into the broader brand portfolio — not just at the High Holidays — produces sustained community engagement. Specialty brands are at the year-round end of the spectrum by definition; mainstream brands have to choose.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Rosh Hashanah?
A: The Jewish New Year — one of the most observed Jewish holidays globally. It marks the beginning of the High Holidays, the ten-day period of repentance and reflection that culminates in Yom Kippur. Family gatherings, festive meals, and traditional foods including apples and honey, round challah, and pomegranate define the observance.

Q: When is Rosh Hashanah?
A: Rosh Hashanah falls on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, typically in September or early October on the Gregorian calendar. Specific dates shift annually with the Hebrew calendar.

Q: How large is the Rosh Hashanah brand market?
A: Approximately 7.5 million American Jewish consumers, with substantial additional reach across Israel and global Jewish diaspora markets. The High Holidays sit alongside Passover and Hanukkah as the highest-engagement Jewish holiday brand-marketing cycles, with sustained consumer behavior across food, gifts, home decor, and apparel categories.

Q: Which brands have the strongest Rosh Hashanah marketing?
A: Specialty Jewish food brands (Manischewitz, Zabar's, Goldbelly's kosher restaurant network) anchor the category by virtue of year-round community engagement. Among mainstream brands, Apple's Rosh Hashanah-themed iMessage features, Whole Foods Market's recipe programming, Costco's kosher wine and food lines, and Williams Sonoma's seasonal kitchenware feature consistently in most-cited brand work.

Q: What separates effective Rosh Hashanah marketing from ineffective?
A: Product-before-campaign authenticity (real kosher certification, real holiday-relevant product lines), specificity over generic festive language (apples and honey, the shofar, the family table, Tashlich), and year-round community engagement rather than seasonal-only appearance. The American Jewish community is small, well-connected, and quick to identify performative engagement.

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