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Growing up in Costa Rica, on December 31st – as soon as the clock was about to strike midnight, everyone in my household braced themselves for a commotion. The female members of the family - and you have to understand that being a Latin American extended family that included lots of people: grandma, my mum, her 5 sisters, her sister-in law, cousins, great aunts, all began to run wildly through the house. They smashed open all the cupboards, took with them whatever suitcases they could find, pushed us out of our chairs to stand on them and looked for someone to kiss. All these acts were considered auspicious for the New Year. The suitcases meant that they would be well-travelled, standing on the chair implied the achievement of authority, and the kiss signalled the ability to maintain an already-kindled love through the year, or igniting a new one or two. Someone once came up with the clever idea that all this should be done in Rosh Hashanah as well, but that didn’t go down to well!
Universally, societies have had special rituals and practices associated with the New Year. In some countries they have booze and New Year resolutions which everyone takes great pleasure in breaking. Many of us are familiar with the lavish celebrations of the Chinese New Year, which entail at least a month of rigorous preparations. Houses are cleaned, workers dispersed through the far reaches of China get the rare opportunity to travel back to their kin, and kitchens are in full action well in advance- as no cooking is actually allowed during the holiday! The food for the New Year has to be sunny in colour and shape, with seeds intermingled somehow on the recipe. Sweet bean dumplings with sesame seed are an all time favourite. It definitely beats take-away! An effigy of the house’s kitchen god has honey placed on its lips, so that it will give sweet reports about the family when it ascends to heaven at the conclusion of the old year. Joyous merriment and procession then continue for up to 16 days!
In Iran, having inherited the ancient traditions of their Zoroastrian past, the pre-Islamic No Rooz New Year festival is held. Here too, renewal is the call of the day. Carpets are dusted, bronze is polished, new garments are bought, and any unsettled business is put into order. To keep up the spirits, revellers are constantly nurtured by sweet delicacies. Before the festive meal commences, the tables are set with seven ritual foods which serves as good omens for the coming year. They include sweets, an apple, various herbs, and soured juice. Goldfish, special sprouts which were planted a few days before, candles and pomegranates can also be seen. Each of the elements implies a special blessing expected in the New Year, including fruitfulness, love, sweetness, purity, and the warding off of evil.
When seeing how much effort and ritual humanity has invested in welcoming the New Year, we can’t help but wonder why. What is it about such a day that makes it the focus of so much sweat and aspirations? First of all we have to understand the importance of having a New Year- why can’t time just be seen as a progressive continuum that flows ad infinitum? I believe the answer to be quite simple. The Sephardim sing an ancient song on Rosh Hashanah night, where they ask for the old year to vanish with its curses, “tichle shanah veklaloteiha”, and the New Year to commence and with its blessings, “tachel shanah ubirchoteiha”. I think we all deserve a new start. There is a Jewish folktale telling how King Solomon was desperate to find a cure against depression. He asked all his wise men for their counsel. They pondered and pondered, finally suggesting the following: The King was to make himself a ring inscribed with the words "This too shall pass". King Solomon followed their advice and had the ring crafted. Whenever he felt depression or sadness creeping in, he would take a look at the ring and find his spirits uplifted.
When we are consumed by desperate situations, salvation seems unattainable. We long to see a glimmer of light, yet often our eyes can’t transcend beyond the shadow. The inception of a communal New Year, which by its very nature does away with the old and engenders life anew – is refreshment for the weary spirit.
Yet as much as New Year can be a relief, it can also be a source of anxiety. In Costa Rica we say that it is preferable to have a well-known evil than good yet to be known. Every threshold brings with it uncertainty. Can we really be sure that the New Year will bring blessings? Might it be a repetition of catastrophes from yore, or far worse? The famous anthropologist Branislaw Malinowsky said that societies usually use magic for things which are beyond their control, in cases when their technological achievement is futile. Through these magical rituals, they can achieve psychological respite from their distress. How often are we desperate for something to hold on to? I take Malinowski’s findings one step further by saying that these rituals not only serve as a relief, but actually encourage us to build the reality we are longing for.
We Jews have magical rituals in our New Year as well. The famous sage called Abaye said in the Talmud that since it was an established fact that omens were effective, one should see (or eat, according to a different version) squash, fenugreek, leeks, beet leaves, and dates on Rosh Hashanah. Later rabbis added apples with honey, fish, pomegranates, and an animal head – and if you’re vegetarian you get to use a lettuce head! It is amazing how similar these customs are to the Iranian New Year celebrations, where corresponding foodstuffs and objects are displayed on the table. Many scholars believe that they both have a common origin in Babylonian New Year practices, which the Jews acquired during their exile there. According to Rashi, a famous mediaeval commentator, the Talmud’s reason behind using these products was that some of them either grew fast, symbolising fertility and prosperity, or were sweet – assuring a sweet year. The most widely accepted view came to be that Abaye chose these things because of their name. In Aramaic, the names for these vegetables resembled the blessings which the Jews longed for in the ensuing year- a simple pun on words!
Fenugreek, rubia in Aramaic, sounded like “yirbu” – increase, from the blessing “may our merits increase.”
Leek, karti, was used when saying the blessing “may our enemies be rent asunder (yikartu)”
Beets, silka, for “may our adversaries be removed (yistalku).”
Dates, tamar, eaten when saying “may our enemies be consumed (yitamu).” – Very friendly!
Pumpkin, kara, was used when saying “may the evil decree be torn asunder (yikra).”
The objects that were later added were used for a variety reasons. The pomegranate took prominence because of its numerous seeds, and by using it the devout Jew prayed to be full of merits just as the pomegranate is full of seeds. Honey was obviously used for sweetness in the year to come, and from it evolved the honey cake which you’ll enjoy today during Kiddush. I can tell you how good it is, as I nicked a few pieces before coming into the service. The head of an animal represented that we should be a head and not a tail, and the fish represented fertility.
In this colourful Rosh Hashanah ritual, we find encapsulated all the fears and hopes of our people through the generations. Imagine the fervour with which, when only bitterness was known, the crunchy fresh apple was dipped into the thick glowing honey. As the down-trodden savoured its sweetness on their palate amidst sticky fingers, they couldn’t help but hope that they should only know sweetness from now on.
But beyond magic, I feel that these symbols still have a place in our modern society as reasoning Jews. They help us internalize the things we have to work for in the year to come. A clean slate needs fresh inscription. What will we devote our energies to during the coming year? What reality will we create? Will we struggle to feel fulfilled, full like a pomegranate with good deeds. Will we try to uproot evil in the world as we fight for the good of others? What type of head will we be? Will we be inspiring leaders to our society, or will we lead others astray? Will we seek prosperity not only for ourselves but for others as well? Will we be fertile in our thoughts and actions, creative in the ways in which we contribute to others? Will we aim to reach our dreams and be the best we can be?
Yes, Rosh Hashanah is indeed a great time. The past is behind us, and we can now tread a new path for ourselves. With our own hands let us turn good omens into a reality.
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