subject: Rosh Hashana: A Celebration of the Kosher Grocery Store [print this page] Every year around the American calendar months of September and October, a Jewish Holiday is celebrated: Rosh Hashana. Rosh Hashana is a holiday listed in the Bible (Levitichus 23) and the importance of the holiday is to use it as a time to look inward. By looking in you acknowledge your good deeds and not so good deeds, ask for forgiveness and make a resolution to do better the coming year. This holiday also kick off a month long three high holiday combination (two of which have been labeled the High Holidays).
Rosh Hashana is literally interpreted as "head of the year" but the looser translation is "new year".
Interestingly enough the Jewish calendar month that Rosh Hashana falls in, is not the first month of the calendar year, it's actually the seventh month. So why is this holiday called "the new year" then?
The best way to explain this is to look at the American calendar year. In January the first month of the calendar year there is "New Year", the official start of the year. However, September marks the start of the new year for schools. Thus starting a new (school) year that holiday plans and vacations revolve until the end of the school year marking a new year of summer vacation. So, essentially the calendar year marks various "new years", yet there is one official new year, and the same is true for the Jewish calendar as well.
Although Rosh Hashana is a holiday that is predominately spent in the synagogue, Rosh Hashana is a holiday that like so many other holidays has its traditions that have evolved to mark a joyous occasion that is usually spent with friends and family. The actual foods prepared differ by region however there are "basic" symbols that are the same. The symbols we use in our meals just remind us of the purpose of the celebration.
One of the most popular and easily remembered "symbol' is apples and honey. Taking pieces of apples and dipping them in honey is eaten with the holiday meal , this symbol is used to signify a desire for a sweet new year.
Another tradition is to locate a "new fruit". A new fruit is categorized as a fruit that you have not eaten all year. The Autumn seems to produce such fruits as persimmons, pomegranate in the grocery stores for those of who live in the Northern Hemisphere, and make a wonderful treat to those looking to have a sweet and prosperous new year.
The last holiday symbol is a head of a fish. A fish head represents the "head of the year" or the first and it represents wholeness that we are trying to have for the coming year.
This time of the year there are a variety of apples in full blossom and what better way to get your new year off to a great start than by sampling the variety of apples, persimmons, pomegranates and whatever your favorite autumn fruit in your local grocery store. While you are there, remember your ingredients for honey cakes and other sweets. Shana Tova! Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
Rosh Hashana: A Celebration of the Kosher Grocery Store
