The One Company Event Nobody Skips
In Israel, the pre-Rosh Hashanah haramat kosit is as close to a universal ritual as the business world has. Tech companies do it, law firms do it, the municipality does it, the garage around the corner does it. Everyone gathers, someone senior says something about the year that was, glasses go up, "shana tova," back to work.
And in most offices, the food at this beloved event is... a supermarket platter of dried-out pastries and a bottle of sweet wine someone bought at the last minute. As a caterer, this genuinely pains me. The toast is the one moment all year when the entire company stands in the same room. It deserves better than sad rugelach — and better costs less than you think.
What a Proper Haramat Kosit Looks Like
The event itself is short — 30 to 45 minutes, usually late afternoon in the last week or two before the chag. The food format should match: standing, grazing, one hand free for a glass. Here's the structure that works:
- A real toast table: quality Israeli wine and a proper whiskey option, plus sparkling non-alcoholic for the many people who don't drink at work. Grape juice for kiddush-style purists.
- Simanim, elevated: this is where a caterer earns their fee. Honey-glazed chicken skewers, pomegranate salads, roasted beet carpaccio, date-and-walnut bites, apple tarts with honey drizzle. The traditional Rosh Hashanah foods, turned into cocktail food. Guests notice immediately.
- Something substantial: people come hungry at 4 PM. Mini deli rolls, salmon bites, stuffed mushrooms — enough that nobody leaves and orders a pizza.
- The sweet finish: honey cake reinvented (ours converts even the honey-cake skeptics), chocolate dates, fresh fruit.
Budget Math for the Finance-Minded
A catered haramat kosit runs 35-70 ILS per person depending on how substantial you go. For a 50-person office, that's 1,750-3,500 ILS for the flagship moment of the company year. Compare that to what most companies happily spend on a single team lunch, and the toast is the cheapest high-visibility win on the calendar.
Kashrut note: this is exactly the event where the strictest-guest rule matters most, because everyone attends — including the religious employees who quietly skip the regular office birthday cakes. Cater it Badatz and the whole company actually eats together. That detail sends a louder message about company culture than anything said in the toast itself.
A CFO client told me his favorite moment of last year's toast was watching his Charedi bookkeeper go back for seconds. "Ten years with us," he said, "and it's the first office event where he ate."
The Booking Calendar Is Brutal — Move Early
Here's the trap: every company in the country holds this event in the same seven-to-ten business days. The two weeks before Rosh Hashanah are the most compressed corporate catering window of the year, and caterers also juggle private holiday orders in the same stretch.
Practical timeline:
- 6-8 weeks out (now, if the chag is in September): lock your date and headcount. Earlier gets you the good afternoon slots.
- 2 weeks out: finalize menu and confirm dietary needs.
- Day of: we deliver, set up, and either staff it or leave it turnkey — for a 45-minute standing event, most offices skip staff and save the cost.
One more upgrade while you're at it: companies increasingly send Rosh Hashanah gift packages to clients and employees. We prepare honey-and-wine packages under the same order — same delivery run, same kashrut, one invoice.
If your office is anywhere between Jerusalem, Bet Shemesh, and Modi'in, send us your date and headcount now — September calendars fill in August, every year, like clockwork. Shana tova in advance.