rosh hashanah

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Rosh hashanah

Food for our bellies; food for our thoughts

We're gathered to share—food, family, and friendship. That's much of what being Jewish is about.

But why this day?

The answer lies in asking the question, how did we, as a people, get here, survive and become who we are today?

For centuries, millennia, we’ve adhered to a set of precepts that bind us to one another, and to the One God. We’ve always gathered on this day, and tradition would be reason enough for us to join together tonight, but there’s another reason, and that reason takes us back 3,500 years.

A law that will remain relevant for all time, because it isn’t static.

The Israelites stood out as an anomaly in an ancient world where might made right and the strongest survived. Although similar in some ways to the laws of other peoples living in the surrounding area, the law that Moshe received on Mount Sinai was unique—a beautiful, ingenious melding of judgement and mercy, with everyone equal under the law. What’s more, It’s a law that would remain relevant for all time because it isn’t static.

Right there is the key. Regardless of our differences, of our individual thoughts and opinions, what we commonly share is “a Yiddishe Kup,” (literally, a Jewish Head). It’s not so much a matter of intelligence as it is a way of thinking, an approach to life that’s revealed through a religion that isn’t static. That ‘s the sticky stuff, the glue.

God-Wrestlers

Our ancestor, Yaakov, wrestled all night with an angel and he would not let go until he received a blessing. When the sun rose, he was given a new name—he was forever forward known as Israel, “God-Wrestler.” And that is the name by which we, his descendants are known. We are Israel. We wrestle with God.

Times change, and although our law remains unchanging we evolve and our understanding of that law, and of how to put it into practice, is ever-expanding. Century by century, the greatest minds among us and the most spiritually minded among us have argued and struggled to understand the meaning of those laws in their time. Those arguments, documented in the Talmud as well as in a mountain of books written since, have formed the way that we think as much as they’ve influenced what we think. That’s our Yiddishe Kup.

Our knowledge expands, our understanding of nature deepens, the society we live in evolves, and as a result our consciousness evolves. Generation by generation, we understand the laws with ever-increasing clarity so that they can be applied in this moment and still make sense.

And that law binds us because, more than just adherence to a set of civil laws, it’s about jumping into a commitment, a covenant, with body, mind, and heart. We’re bound to a code by something so much more powerful than fear of punishment—we continue to attach ourselves to it because we’re bound to it by love. Love of our traditions, love of one another, and love of the God who chose us for a mission.


One of those precepts, found in the fourth book of the Torah, the book of Bamidbar (In The Desert), or “Numbers” as it’s generally known in English, reads: "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.... You shall observe it as a day when the horn is sounded."

And so, we’re here to do just that—to sound the shofar, to observe, and also to celebrate.


The Kabbalists explain: Creation was not a one-time event. The God-energy that animates and causes every aspect of the physical universe to exist, is renewed every day, every moment. But each year on Rosh Hashanah, a completely new level of light is revealed—a unique aspect of the Divine that was never before seen or revealed—and it’s this revelation that we draw from, every day of the year.


Many of the foods we will eat tonight are symbolic, and there are specific prayers to be said for each of them. Say them, reflect upon them with attention and intention as you taste each food, and you may discover that they do indeed have the power to transform us and to transform our lives.

May we all be inscribed and sealed, for a sweet year and a good year!

Doing things with style creates the mood and makes it special. Having everything ready makes things go smoothly.

I enjoy printing out menus for my guests and setting out a Rosh Hashanah Haggadah at each plate. That’s just me doing me.

Set a festive table with a nice tablecloth and cloth napkins (if you have). White is traditional, but if it’s not your style, that’s fine. If you’re making my menu, you’ll need a dinner plate topped with a salad plate for the first course, and soup bowls (which you may have at the ready in the kitchen). On the left side of the plate, moving inward towards it, set a small appetizer fork and then a dinner fork. On the right side, moving inward, place a soup spoon and then a knife. You can set dessert forks and spoons horizontally above the plate, or keep them at the ready and bring them to the table with dessert plates and coffee/tea cups after dinner is cleared. A wine/juice glass should be at the tip of everyone’s knife. Don’t forget glasses for water or other beverages.

You should have a pair of candles for consecrating the occasion. Shabbat candles are a good choice—you’re not supposed to blow out candles that have been used to make a blessing, and it’s not a great idea to go to bed with candles burning. Shabbat candles burn for just the right amount of time, three or four hours, to take you through the evening.

Fresh flowers are a nice touch. Again, white is traditionally used for this holiday, but this is your altar, so create it as you wish. The round challah should be on a nice board or platter and it should be covered with a special cover or a napkin. Make sure you have a bread knife at the ready. You’ll also need a bowl of honey and something to serve it with, and some apples and pomegranates (one of each is fine). For the second night you’ll need a “new fruit,” one you haven’t had yet this season. If you have a special kiddush cup, set it by the person who will be making the blessing. You’ll also need a prayer book, or have the Rosh Hashanah kiddush printed out. Everyone should have a wine glass. Set out a bottle of wine, and also a pitcher of grape juice—preferably kosher —for kids and adults who avoid alcohol.

Once the blessings over the candles, the wine, the challah, and the symbolic foods have been made, and the apples and honey have been enjoyed, serve the first course. I bring the Simanim Salad, the gefilte fish, and the roasted cauliflower to the center of the table, family style, so that everyone can choose what they like. Then I plate the soup in the kitchen and bring the bowls in one by one.

After the soups are cleared, it’s time to bring out all the beautiful food you’ve made. If your table is large enough, you can put all the platters out at once in the center. If not, think about setting out the rest of the meal as an opulent buffet.

As is often the case, and especially when my whole family is together, my Rosh Hashanah menu is styled for both omnivores and vegetarians.

As for the Second Night….With a fresh challah and a new fruit to grace the table, the rest is easy.

I make enough food for both nights so that I don’t have to do a huge kitchen fest twice. If it was awesome once, it will be awesome twice!

I invite you to check out this list of symbolic foods and their meanings.

I’ve tried to incorporate as many of them as possible in this menu.

Why do we celebrate?

what do we celebrate?

A time for reflection

A time for repair

A time for renewal

A time for return

HERE’S HOW TO SERVE THIS MENU

A day for new beginnings, a day for taking stock of ourselves, for setting goals that matter.

A perfect season, I suppose, to launch this site and this blog.

But, unlike secular new year, its impact goes way beyond the making of resolutions. It’s a bit incongruous, really. It is a joyful time when we celebrate with apples and honey, with family and friends enjoying delicious foods at the table together. It’s also Judgement Day, the day each of us passes before our Creator, Who decides our fate for the coming year—who shall live and who shall die.

How can we celebrate in the shadow of so terrifying and awesome a moment? What is it that we are actually celebrating? It’s more than having simply circled ‘round the sun again. This is the birthday of creation itself! It’s Day One! We stand in awe as we ponder just how incredible, how improbable is our very existence, is Existence itself! Something from nothing? We are both humbled and elated, and we crown our Creator as the Sovereign of our lives.

On Rosh Hashanah, there is no yesterday—only today and tomorrow. We are not being judged for our past actions; we trust that our true and heart-felt repentance will be accepted by our merciful, compassionate, gracious God who is slow to anger and abundant in kindness. Rather, we are judged for our commitment to the coming year. Now we will have ten days to repent and to turn back to our God before the verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur. We pray for a time when the earth will be renewed, when justice and kindness destroy selfishness and hatred, when every knee will bend to the awesomeness of God. We trust that a God who fashioned every particle out of a longing for Love will love us enough, in spite of all of our shortcomings, to help us to bring about this promised redemption. And so, as we hear the shofar calling to us, we celebrate!

L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem!

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