One of the most beautiful and unique customs of Rosh Hashanah is to eat a number of different foods, which signify a host of corresponding concepts, and to recite various blessings and intentions over them. This custom existed already in the times of the Talmud and is based on a discussion regarding the relevance of “omens” (Horayot 12a; Kerisot 5b).
The Sage Abaye taught that since omens possess and express some level of significance, a person should make it a habit to eat a number of different foods that embody such symbolic meaning. Rashi explains that some of the foods mentioned to eat on Rosh Hashanah are sweet and therefore indicate our desire for a sweet year, while others grow abundantly and thus symbolize a fruitful and productive year, while yet others allude to the destruction of our enemies. Almost all of the blessings for a good year recited over these foods are based on wordplays connected to the names of the foods. Over the years many different customs have developed regarding which foods to eat. In all cases, it is a nearly universal custom to eat some symbolic foods on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, with apples and honey being the most widespread example, while others eat them (or some of them) on the second night as well.
Beyond the symbolic richness of this tradition and the positive effect of getting children interested and involved in the experiential activity, which serves as an important impetus for many ritual traditions in Judaism, it behooves us to delve deeper into what we can learn from this practice and its specific connection to bringing in the New Year.
For those who have the eyes to see, God is sending us signs and omens all the time, yet it all depends on how we interpret those signs and act upon them. Like the Sages teach us: a dream follows its interpretation; meaning that how we interpret a dream will determine in great measure its outcome. In this sense, life is like a dream – it will unfold according to how we choose to interpret the events and signs that come our way.
Eating these symbolic foods at the very inception of a New Year teaches us to be aware, alert and open to seeing God’s Divine Providence in even the most mundane of actions and experiences. On the most essential level, all of life is significant, and each and every detail along the way is a sign if we learn to relate to life in this manner. Reciting blessings for a good year based on the symbolic allusions communicated through each of these foods is an important training for us to not only be aware of every sign we are sent, but to actively interpret each sign as a blessing for good, rather than its opposite.
