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September 02, 1994 - Image 29

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1994-09-02

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

ood For Thought

ittorial _ 7 . 7 and not-so-traditional symbolic foods
the Rosh Hashanah table.

4.1

V.


,

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ach Rosh Hashanah, Jewish fam-
ilies throughout the world grace
their tables with such delicacies
as roasted chicken, apples and
honey, carrots and fish heads.
Fish heads — "so that we be
likened to the head, not to the
tail."
Food is part of every Jewish
celebration, with symbolic edibles
abundant both at Rosh
Hashanah and throughout the
year.
On Shabbat, two loaves of
bread are used, representing the
double portion of manna God sent
to the Jews in the wilderness af-
ter their liberation from slavery
in Egypt. Wine and meat are
symbolic of cheer and celebration.
At Pesach, matzo recalls the
life of poverty and affliction our
ancestors suffered as slaves in
Egypt.
And on Hanukkah, Jewish
families dine on latkes fried in oil
as a reminder of the miracle of
the oil that lasted eight days.
At Rosh Hashanah,
the most popular sym-
bolic food is apples
dipped in honey, ac-
companied by the bracha,
blessing, "May it be Thy will
to usher in a good and sweet
year."
Often, images of
birds were carved
into Rosh
Hashanah chal-
lahs used by
Jewish commu-
nities in the
Ukraine, mark-
ing the phrase in
Isaiah, "As birds
hovering, so will the Lord of Hosts
protect Jerusalem." Elsewhere in
Eastern Europe, Rosh Hashanah
challahs bore the symbol of a
ring, with the hope for a complete
year.
Another traditional Rosh
Hashanah dish –is the leykach,
honey cake, symbolizing the
prayer, "Give them a goodly por-
tion" (lekach in Hebrew means,
"portion.")
The purpose of symbolic foods
is to make us think, to remind us
why we are celebrating the holi-

day, and to help make its obser-
vance pleasant (rather than just
a mechanical religious exercise).
Furthermore, because Jewish
holidays are celebrated primar-
ily in the home, eating symbolic
foods promotes the Jewish con-
cept of family. In Judaism, the
family that eats together stays
together.
In addition to the apples and
honey, popular Rosh Hashanah
foods are pomegranates ("May it
be Thy will that we have a mul-
titude of merits like (the seeds of)
the pomegranate"); fish ("May it
be Thy will that we be fruitful
and multiply like fish"); and car-
rots, symbolizing prosperity (be-
cause golden carrots resemble
money).
The Shuichan Aruch, Code of
Jewish Law, also urges Jews to

add symbolic foods with puns in
their native tongue to the Rosh
Hashanah table. So here are
some different kinds of symbolic
foods, with English
puns, for the holiday.
Turnip "May it be
Thy will that every-
thing turn up well
for the Jews."
Juice "May it
be a healthy year
for all the Jews."
Nuts
"May
our children (or par-
ents) not drive us nuts
this coming year."
Lettuce "Let us be in-
scribed for a healthy year."
Raisin and celery
"May we all see a raise in
salary."
Peach "May it be Thy

-

will that we have a peach of a
year."
Sage "May it be Thy will that
we all grow sage."
Orange "Orange you glad
you're Jewish at such a great
time of the year." ❑

-

-

-

-

-

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-

Remembering A Splashy
Tashlich By The Stream

T

he editorial staff wants to cobs. "We were by a stream cast- stream, actually creating a
wish everyone a warm ing bread crumbs for our sins splash.
New Year in the following when a guy I knew from shul
"Without any hesitation," Mr.
pages. An opportunity to learn showed up with an entire loaf of Jacobs continued, "the man
more about the people who bring bread. I thought he was going to broke into prayer. Then he
you the news.
tear pieces away and throw it in looked at me and said, this was
Editor Phil Jacobs is in his the stream. Instead he takes the a good year already. Last year it
fourth year with The Jewish bread out of the plastic bag and was a loaf of bread and a dozen
News and 13th year with the tosses the entire loaf into the rolls.' " ❑
parent Baltimore Jewish Times
company.
Mr. Jacobs came to Detroit
when he learned that the Mon-
day and Wednesday night Yeshi-
va Hockey League needed a
veteran goalie.
He is a University of Mary-
land graduate and is married to
Lisa Cohen Jacobs, a speech
pathologist with the Clarkston
School District, who is sometimes
seen on the DeRoy Theatre stage
at the Jewish Center.
The Jacobs reside in South-
field with their two daughters,
Diana, 10, and Emily, 4.
"My favorite Rosh Hashanah
story happened during Tashlich
several years ago," said Mr. Ja- Phil Jacobs

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29

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