Page 11 - Ulpan Or E-Tone (26.09.17) Advanced Level
P. 11
E-Tone™: Ulpan-Or Weekly News Digest
Item #2 (Advanced Level)
Symbols for Rosh HaShana
On Rosh HaShana there is a custom to eat food that symbolizes a blessing
for the new year, like apple in honey, pomegranate or a fish’s head. This
custom began already in the days of the Talmud, when Abaye, who was
one of the great sages, ruled that one needs to make a good symbol for
Rosh HaShana, because it’s a blessing for the entire year. Abaye chose
food like beets and dates whose names sound like a blessing in the
language that they spoke – Aramaic. Over the years, the symbols that we
know today joined- the apple in honey, the pomegranate and the fish’s
head. Today there are different symbols in all kinds of places in the world,
each one according to his language. The American Jews, for example,
have a custom of eating celery and raisins, in Israel there are also people
who drink cola so that “the voice (‘kol’) of our prayers will be heard.” So
how is this done? Simple! Take an apple in honey in one hand and say
(bless): “May it be a good and sweet year!”
Page 11 - Edition 09-26-17
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