On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, after eating the challah with honey, it is customary to eat several foods which symbolize the type of year we wish to have:
We dip a piece of sweet apple into honey. Before eating it we say:
Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech ha-olam bore pri ha-etz.
[Blessed are You, L-rd, our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.]
Ye-hi ratzon she-ti-cha-desh alei-nu shanah tovah u-m’tu-kah.
[May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year.]
A head of a fish, ram, or other kosher animal, is served. This symbolizes our desire to be at the “head of the class” this year.
A pomegranate is eaten, symbolizing our wish to have a year which is full with mitzvot and good deeds as a pomegranate is filled with luscious seeds.
Throughout the meal, it is customary to also eat foods whose names in the vernacular allude to blessing and prosperity. For example, many have the custom of eating a carrot dish, because in Yiddish the word for carrots, meren, means to multiply.
Rosh Hashanah Cuisine
On Rosh Hashanah it is customary not to eat foods which are sour or tart (the gefilte fish will have to do without the horseradish…). Instead, the focus is on sweet foods, symbolizing our desire to have a sweet year, blessings and abundance. It is also customary not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah, as the numerical value of the Hebrew word for nuts (“egoz”), is the same as the Hebrew word for sin (“chet”).
