The Food We Eat on Rosh Hashanah and Why

 

In every Jewish home, eating symbolic foods is a significant part of welcoming the Jewish New Year. From apples dipped in honey, which is arguably the most common food eaten on Rosh Hashanah to lesser-known dishes like bottle gourd jam which we serve at our holiday dinner. Here are some of the symbolic foods we serve at our Rosh Hashanah table.

Simnim: The symbolic foods for Rosh Hashanah

Round Challah

Challah is the first bite of food eaten at the table. After the bread is blessed, it’s dipped in sugar or honey and passed to everyone at the table. We never cut challah with a knife, but instead, break (or rip off) a piece of it. 

On Rosh Hashanah, braided Challah is round to symbolize infinity and constant cycles of years and seasons. The dough is also made a little sweeter than usual, and, while we prefer to keep it simple, it’s common to embellish the loaf with raisins or mix-in apples. 

Apples & Honey

Apples dipped in honey are arguably one of the most common foods eaten during Rosh Hashanah. We dip the fruit in honey in hopes of a sweet, prosperous New Year. At our house, we usually serve homemade candied apple slices, which is a very decadent take on apples in honey.

Pomegranates (Rimon)

Pomegranates are often eaten as “the new fruit”, or a fruit you have not eaten yet this year. It’s also said that pomegranate contains 613 seeds correlating to the 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah. We believe that the seeds represent the many good deeds/merits we wish to acquire in the upcoming year.

Dates (T’marim)

T’marim, the Hebrew word for dates is very similar to “tam” which means “to end”, so, eating dates for Rosh Hashanah is our wish to end any grievances and enemies. We love fresh dates and often serve them frozen.

Head of lamb or fish

It’s custom to have a head of a ram eaten at Rosh Hashanah (due to availability some use sheep, lamb or fish head). The reason for this is that “we should be the head and not the tail”, meaning we should lead the upcoming year with strength and integrity. and to also commemorate the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac.

Leeks (Karti)

Karti, the word for “leeks”, sounds similar to yikartu which means to “cut off”. So, leeks symbolize our desire to have a peaceful year, and the ask to cut off/get rid of our enemies from us in the upcoming year.

Beets (Salka)

Similar to the reason why we eat leeks on Rosh Hashanah, beets (we use the greens of the beet) represent our wish to remove any of our enemies from our path. Selek in Hebrew resembles lehistalek or the way to say “removal”.

Pumpkin or Bottle Gourd (Ka’ra)

“Ka’ra” stands for bottle gourd in Moroccan, and in Hebrew, The word “Ka’ra” also means “to tear up”. As part of the blessing plate, it symbolizes tearing away your bad deeds (because all of us wish to be remembered by the good).

This dish we often make for Rosh Hashanah is “Angel Hairs” (a name Ron’s grandmother calls it). It’s a sweet jam made by grating the meat of the gourd into strands (which look like angel hair), and cooking it down until it becomes rich, marmalade-y sweet goodness. As an alternative to bottle gourd, some use pumpkin.

Sesame Seeds & Sugar (Rubia)

Rubia is the name we call any type of small bean (most commonly black-eyed peas or long beans), it’s similar to the word yirbu, "to increase." The beans symbolize our hopes for a prosperous year ahead filled with good deeds. 

For a similar reason, in Morocco, it’s very common to whip together a mixture of sesame seeds and sugar. Seeds are the symbols of our good deeds, and sugar is a wish for a prosperous  and sweet year ahead. 

Quince

Quince, a fruit related to apples and pears, is commonly found on Jewish tables. We prefer cooking down the fruit into a luscious, sticky jam to serve at our Rosh Hashanah meal. You can slather the jammy goodness on a fresh piece of challah for a perfectly sweet bite.