Rosh Hashanah isn’t just one of the two most important holidays in Judaism; it’s also one of the tastiest. Whether you’re Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi or anything else, you and your family likely pull out all the stops for a delicious meal come the Jewish new year.
But where do classics like apples and honey, round challah, date palms and fish heads (yes, fish heads) come from? Why do we eat what we eat?
Apples and honey are perhaps the food most associated with the Jewish new year, and many a Hebrew school student has heard the story of why by now. For those who don’t know, apples are dipped in honey to symbolize the hopes of a sweet new year.
Round challah, often with raisins in it, is another symbolic gesture that is meant to stand for the circular nature of the calendar. While 51 weeks of the year challah is elongated, it is circular on Rosh Hashanah so that Jews are reminded of how each year melds into the next. Raisins, of course, are sweet, which adds to the idea of a sweet new year that one gets from apples and honey.
The tradition of dates on Rosh Hashanah comes from a bit of Hebrew word play: The word for dates is close to the word for “the end.” Therefore, eating dates is an appropriate gesture to signify the end of one year and the start of a new one. Dates are also a sweet treat that can fall into the same category as apples, honey and raisins.
Some may have heard of eating fish heads, while some may balk at the idea. Just wait until you find out that this is actually a more mellow version of a tradition popular with some Sephardic Jews! While many of us eat fish heads to signify the head — or start — of the year, some Sephardic Jews prefer a ram’s or sheep’s head as an homage to the ram that was sacrificed instead of Isaac, as mentioned in a timely Torah reading that you hear around this time of year. For many, the head is a bit too … flavorful, let’s say, and the more popular parts of the fish are used as a substitute.
Pomegranates are more of a crowd pleaser than fish heads, and are another common Rosh Hashanah food. They are traditionally used as part of the Shehechiyanu blessing, but are also included because legend has it that a pomegranate has 613 seeds — the same number as there are commandments in the Torah. If you want to sit down and count, more power to you!
More wordplay comes around with the tradition of eating carrots. “Gezer” is the Hebrew word for carrot, and it sounds similar to “g’zar,” the Hebrew word for decree. The idea is that God will prevent negative decrees that may be put on us. Not to mention the fact that roasted or even candied carrots are just plain delicious. It works in Yiddish, too: The Yiddish word for carrot is similar to that of “increase,” so eating carrots is meant to symbolize increasing blessings or prosperity.
There is a similar idea behind the tradition of eating leeks. The Hebrew word for leek is similar to the word for cutting, which symbolically means that those who wish harm to us will be cut off from our lives instead of wreaking havoc in the new year.
For dessert, the idea of sweetness is, of course, explored further. Honey cake is a popular option, as are delicious teiglach. Teiglach are an Ashkenazi treat, consisting of small, knotted balls of pastry cooked in a sweet syrup.
No matter what you want to eat this Rosh Hashanah, do it with your loved ones, and make sure to enjoy it. Indulge in ancient traditions, or even create a new one! After all, someone was the first one to eat a ram’s head!
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