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Dateline Jerusalem — This year is 5769 although most of the world thinks it is only 2008.
The Jewish New Year, which started last week on Rosh Hashanah is not celebrated by fireworks, noise-makers, parties or champagne.
Instead, it is observed in prayer in synagogues. It is a time of reflection, and although it is known as the Jewish New Year, in fact everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, is judged by G-d.
It is a time for asking sincere forgiveness from our friends and foes for any intentional and non-intentional transgressions we may have committed against our fellow man.
Like most Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is a time for family and friends to gather at the dinner table and eat.
Why is it that everything seems to be centered around food?
But of course, whenever there are feasts, there are times for fasting. Just when I feel I am losing weight during the week, Shabbat comes and I gain it all back. This year there were four major meals, lunch and dinner for Rosh Hashanah, also was a minor fast (Fast of Gedaliah, which very few Jews nowadays have ever heard of), and yesterday was the major fast forYom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Lots of Practice
One of the main reasons I believe I have an easy fast on Yom Kippur — fasting lasts about 26 hours — is because of all the minor fast days during the year, sort of a “practice makes perfect” approach.
On Rosh Hashanah, even the food on the table has significance.
Everything is symbolic.
I try and be creative in the dishes I prepare to include most of these symbolic foods. For example, take dates. (The actual honey referred to in the saying “Israel is a land of milk and honey,” is from dates, not bees.)
Dates are eaten and are known as “tamari"”in Aramaic.
“Yetamu” is from the same root, and it means to be consumed. Therefore, when we eat dates we ask G-d that our enemies be consumed. Aramaic is the language of the Talmud, a compilation of Jewish law and ethics.
No Coincidence in Numbers
The Torah (the Jewish bible, written in Hebrew) is the most important while the Talmud comes in second.
We eat pomegranates and ask of G-d that our merits should be as numerous as the seeds of a pomegranate (supposedly there are 613 seeds, one for each commandment required of Jews).
We dip apples and challah in honey and ask G-d for a sweet new year. The challah bread, traditionally braided on Shabbat, is in a round spiral loaf for Rosh Hashanah to symbolize a circle in which life does not end and in which we aspire (the spiral part) for positive changes so that we may climb higher and higher in our spiritual ascent.
We eat carrots, called “gezer” in Hebrew and ask G-d to tear up any evil decree, “gezera,” against us. We eat leeks, known as “karsi” in Aramaic, and also meaning to “cut off,” and we ask G-d to cut off our enemies.
See the Connections
We eat beets, knows as “silka” in Aramaic and also meaning to “remove,” so we ask G-d to remove our adversaries.
We eat gourds like pumpkin or squash because they are called “kara” in Aramaic and also meaning to “tear,” so we ask G-d to tear up any negative judgments against us.
We put a fish’s head or sheep’s head on the table and ask G-d to let us be a leader or “head,” and not a tail.
We eat fish so that we may be as numerous as the fish in the sea. There are several other customs and symbolic foods for Rosh Hashanah.
For example, not only is everything sweet on my table, but the word for “nut” has the same numerical value as the word for “sin.”
Therefore, I do not cook with or serve any foods with nuts.
Shana tova. L'hitraot. Shachar
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy who moved to Israel last year.
