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INTRODUCTION
The original ritual foods for Rosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year, also considered the Day of Judgment. The period of the High Holidays is a time of introspection and atonement. The holiday is celebrated with the sounding of the shofar, lengthy prayers in synagogue, the eating of apples and honey, and round challah for a sweet and whole year. Tashlikh, casting bread on the water to symbolize the washing away of sins, also takes place on Rosh Hashana. are mentioned in the TalmudThe rabbinic compendium of lore and legend composed between 200 and 500 CE. Study of the Talmud is the focus of rabbinic scholarship. The Talmud has two versions, the main Babylonian version (Bavli) and the smaller Jerusalem version (Yerushalmi). It is written in Rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic. (Horayot 12a) as part of a discussion of omens and the efficacy of symbolic acts:
Abaye taught: Now that you have said that an omen is significant, each person should make it a habit to eat at the beginning of the year, kara [gourds, e.g. pumpkins or cucumbers], rubia [fenugreek, a seed herb], karti [leeks], silka [beets] and tamrei [dates].
Rabbi Hai Gaon (10th century) reported the custom of reciting a short prayer over each of the above foods which contained a wordplay on the name of the food. While this ritual continued to practiced mainly by Sephardim, among Ashkenazim the custom arose of eating apples and honey, as an allusion to a sweet year, and of dipping the challahBraided egg bread eaten on Shabbat and holidays. Reminiscent of bread eaten by Priests in the Temple, of manna in the desert, and sustenance in general. Plural: Hallot in honey as well, in place of the salt usually used with the challah. In kabbalistic literature, the apple in Songs of Songs (see 2:3 and 7:9) symbolizes both IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel. and God. The kabbalists also noted that the Hebrew word for honey (devash) has the same numerical equivalent — 306 — as the phrase Av harakhamim, Father of mercy, and thus evokes Divine compassion. The challah and honey ritual is said to derive from the juxtaposition of the images in a verse in a Psalm (81:17) sung by the Levites in the Temple to accompany the Rosh Hashanah sacrifice: “He fed them [Israel] the finest wheat [i.e., the challah]; I sated you with honey from the rock.”
Added to the tradition was the eating of pomegranates and fish (based on their fecundity, and not on a wordplay), and the head of a sheep, which reminds us of the ram that took Isaac’s place in the akedah, the binding of IsaacAbraham and Sarah's much-longed-for son and the second Jewish patriarch. Isaac is nearly sacrificed by his father at God's command (Genesis 22). He is married to Rebecca and is the father of Esau and Jacob. His Hebrew name is Yitzchak.. The statement made while eating the head, “that we be as the head, and not as the tail,” comes from a verse in Deuteronomy (28:13) meaning, may we be strong and not weak. The authorities also allowed heads of other animals to be used.
The foods and prayers associated with this sederLit. Order. The festive meal conducted on Passover night, in a specific order with specific rituals to symbolize aspects of the Exodus from Egypt. It is conducted following the haggadah, a book for this purpose. Additionally, there an ancient tradition to have a seder on Rosh Hashanah, which has been practiced in particular by Sephardi communities. This seder involves the blessing and eating of simanim, or symbolic foods. The mystics of Sefat also created a seder for Tu B'shvat, the new year of the trees. have always been reconstructed in light of the vernacular of the community. In Eastern Europe it became customary to eat carrots for Rosh Hashanah, because the Yiddish word for carrots, mehren, also means “increase.” Similarly, Ukrainian Jews would give their children chicken livers because their Yiddish name, leberlach, sounds like leb ehrlich, meaning “live honestly.”
We too, continue this chain in our seder today. In our blessings we add imoteinu (our mothers). We have also adopted a few unusual food items, which we call “minhag America.” These additions are marked by an asterisk(*) to prevent any confusion. We hope you enjoy them.
We wish you a sweet and blessed New Year! Shanah tovah!
