Renew your Rosh Hashana meal

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Renew your Rosh Hashana meal  
Add flavors and colors to your table                Techiya Fisher
Each holiday and festival has its special food that combines tradition with taste, it is only
reasonable to expect that on Rosh Hashanah too, we would have traditional    food. Rosh Hashanah
is different. It is not so much what you eat on Rosh Hashanah, but how you eat it.
Although Rosh Hashanah is a day of soul-searching and repentance, it is a happy day. We
believe God is merciful and will forgive our bad deeds from the previous year. We are excited
to begin a new year in which we will do more good deeds. The joy of this New Year's day is
reflected in the holiday's food customs.
Each different foodstuff that we eat, we try to make "siman - symbol" out of it. Siman is  really
a symbol that we use to help us get a good decree for the New Year. Like a sign or indication
from heaven, the siman works to bring out our special good luck for the next year and change
a pending difficult heavenly decree. It is either the food itself symbolizes a blessing or its name
connotes or sounds similar to words that indicate a blessing.
Among the sefaradic Jews it is customary to make a Seder Rosh Hashana. They follow the
seder (order) of Passover Seder). The origin for this custom dates back to the period of the
Babylonian Talmud. Two tractates: Keritot  6a and Horayot 12a discuss omens that carry
significance, Rabbi Abaye (289 C.E – 338 C.E) said that at the beginning of each new year,
people should make a habit of eating the following foods that grow  in  abundance and
therefore symbolic to prosperity such as rubia ( a been like vegetable), leeks, beets.
The Ashkenasic Jews eat also symbolic food but do not do the “seder”
Honey                              
We eat sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah as a symbol of our wish for a sweet year. In biblical
times, honey was the sweetener. Honey also represented good living and wealth. The Land of
Israel is often called the land of milk and honey in the Bible.
We dip challah into honey, instead of salt, and say the blessing over the challah. Then we dip
an apple into honey, and we say a prayer asking God for a sweet year.
יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו    שתחדש עלינו שנה טובה ומתוקה
Yehi Ratzon milfa’ne’cha adonai eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu sh’yirbu z’chi’yoteinu
May it be G-d’s will that our merits will increase
After reciting “Hamotzi” over the traditional round challa and dipping it in honey, we dip the
apple in honey and recite
ברוך אתה אדוני אלוהינו מלך העולם בורא פרי העץ.
Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech volam boreh pri Haetz.
Fish                            
Rosh Hashana literally means "head of the year." Just as our head (brain) directs us, Rosh
HaShana directs the ensuing year. On this day, we stock up on sustenance for the year to come.
In addition, it is our hope to be the head (leader) of other nations through our righteous acts.
For these reasons, it has become a tradition to eat the head of a fish during the holiday meal. 2

Fish is also eaten on this holiday because it is an ancient symbol of fertility and abundance.
יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו   שנהיה לראש ולא לזנב
Yehi Ratzon milfa’ne’cha adonai eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu shni’he’teh lerosh v’lo lezanav
May it be G-d’s will that we will be the head and not the tail.
New Fruit      
On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, we eat a new fruit which we have not yet eaten this
season. When we eat this new fruit, we say the shehechiyanu blessing which thanks God for
keeping us alive and bringing us to this season. This ritual reminds us to appreciate the fruits of
the earth and being alive to enjoy them.
A pomegranate is often used as this new fruit. In the Bible, the Land of Israel is praised for its
pomegranates. It is also said that this fruit contains 613 seeds just as there are 613 mitzvot.
Another reason given for blessing and eating this fruit on Rosh HaShana is that we wish that
our good deeds in the ensuing year will be as plentiful as the seeds of the pomegranate.
Since this a new fruit, the first blessing we say is ‘sh’hecheyanu’:
ברוך אתה אדוני אלהינו מלך העולם שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה
Baruch ata, Adonai Eloheinu, melech ha’olam, Shehechiyanu v’kimanu v’higiyanu lazman
hazeh
Praised be You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us
and permitted us to reach this season
     יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו שירבו זכויותינו כרימון
Yehi Ratzon milfa’ne’cha adonai eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu sh’yirbu z’chi’yoteinu ka-rimon..
May it be G-d’s will that our merits will increase like pomegranate.
Carrot- Gezer                    
2 customs:
In  eastern Europe the custom was to eat Zimmes -  honey baked carrots. The Yiddish word
"meren" has 2 meanings: carrots and to increase. Carrots symbolize our hope that we will
increase our good deeds in the coming year. Some tzimmes recipes add prunes, sweet potatoes
or even meat to the sweet carrots. According to this custom the blessing is:
 יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו שירבו זכויותינו  
 
Yehi Ratzon milfa’ne’cha adonai eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu sh’yirbu z’chi’yoteinu
May it be G-d’s will that our merits will increase.
The Hebrew meaning of Gezer is also “a decree”  and cut off In Israel and in Sefaradic
communities is
יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו שתגזור עלינו גזירות טובות
Yehi Ratzon milfa’ne’cha adonai eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu sh’tigzor alei’nu gzerot tovot.
May it be G-d’s will that your decrees will be good ones.   3

Gourd – K’rah –tear or rip and read.proclaimed  
Based on these two meanings the blessing combine both ; May G-d tear our bad verdict and
may our good deeds be proclaimed  before him
  יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלוהי אבותינו שתקרע רע גזר דיננו ויקראו לפניך זכויותינו
Yehi Ratzon adonai eloheinu ve’elohei avoteinu sh’tikra ro’ah gzar din-nenu v’yikre’hu
lefaneicha zchuyoteinu
Beet, Selek – remove                
May it be your will, our God and the God of our fathers that our enemies will be removed.
יהי רצון מלפניך ה אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו שיסתלקו אויבינו.
Yehi Ratzon adonai eloheinu ve’elohei avoteinu sh’yistal’koo oyveinu
Leek – Carti -                                    
Has similar meaning
Many of the foods are also blessed with puns on their Hebrew names that turn into wishes.
Some are creating English puns such as stuffing raisins in celery as a symbolic request for “a
raise in our salary. Participants at the Rosh Hashana meal are encouraged to create their own
puns; to make it as family only puns. Improvisation and personalization of these puns are
important aspects in creating meaning and spiritual connections between the themes of Rosh
Hashana and oneself.
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