Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in synagogue with prayer services and at home with festive meals that incorporate symbolic foods and special blessings.
Like Shabbat and other Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah dinner begins with lighting candles, reciting Kiddush (a blessing over wine), and saying Hamotzi (the blessing over bread). The blessings for candle lighting and Kiddush are modified from the Shabbat versions in honor of Rosh Hashanah, but Hamotzi remains the same. It is also traditional to recite the Shehechiyanu blessing before the meal.
Instead of the usual braided challah, many families serve round challah, symbolizing the cycle of the year. Sometimes raisins or honey are added for extra sweetness, setting the tone for hopes of a good year ahead.
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Perhaps the most iconic ritual food of Rosh Hashanah is apples dipped in honey. The sweetness of both ingredients represents a wish for a sweet new year, and there is an accompanying blessing that says as much.
On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, some families have a tradition of tasting a new fruit they have not eaten in over a year to create an occasion for reciting Shehechiyanu a second time.
Many families incorporate a variety of other simanim — foods that serve as omens or symbols — into the Rosh Hashanah dinner. These may include:
- Pomegranates: Associated with abundance, their many seeds symbolize hopes for plentiful blessings.
- Fish heads (or heads of lettuce): Expressing the wish to be “a head and not a tail,” in the year to come.
- Carrots: In Yiddish, the word for carrots, mehren, sounds like the Yiddish word meaning both “more” and “to multiply.” Carrots represent abundance in the new year, especially if cut into coin shapes.
- Leeks, beets or dates: Foods mentioned in the Talmud and, through wordplay, associated with the removal of enemies and the continuation of blessing.
Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish communities often hold a full ritual tasting ceremony where each item is blessed and eaten with a specific prayer for the new year.After the ritual foods, families sit down to a meal that often reflects seasonal ingredients and traditional favorites. Popular dishes for Rosh Hashanah include brisket, tzimmes and honeycake, as well as any foods that incorporate the aforementioned simanim. After dinner, it is traditional to recite Birkat HaMazon, the Grace After Meals.
