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By Viva Sarah Press and originally published on Israel21c.
Rosh Hashana — the Jewish New Year 5778 – started at nightfall September 20. The two-day holiday is marked by dozens of varying customs that include a hodgepodge of foods, rituals and aspirations. Israel21c collected some fun facts.
Honey and pomegranates
Israelis consume 4,000 tons of honey per year. In the month of Tishrei alone, they consume 2,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. In case you were wondering, honey bees must gather nectar from five to eight million flowers to make one jar of honey.
As for pomegranates, Israelis devour some 6,000 tons of these ruby fruits over Rosh Hashana while the total consumption is 14,000 tons of pomegranates per year. Israelis have innovated different varieties of pomegranates. Some are sweeter; others keep longer. The ministry’s figures show that on average, Israelis eat three pomegranates per person during the year, and two of them are eaten around Rosh Hashana.
Something fishy …
Rosh Hashana literally means “head of the year” in Hebrew. In some Jewish communities it is traditional to eat the head of a fish (or lamb or chicken) during the holiday meal. Other communities don’t eat the fish head but display it on the holiday table.
The practice comes from a verse in Deuteronomy that reads, “God shall place you as a head and not as a tail.” In Ashkenazi communities, it is customary to eat fish – usually, gefilte fish – because fish is an ancient symbol of fertility and abundance.
The Ministry of Agriculture reports that on average, Israelis eat one kilogram of fish per month but on Rosh Hashana that number doubles. In the month of Tishrei, Israeli consumers buy 800 tons of carp compared to 250 tons in each of the other months; 750 tons of tilapia compared to 550 tons; and 250 tons of mullet compared to 170 tons monthly during the rest of the year.
… and something sweet
Rosh Hashana boasts numerous foodie rituals. Pretty much all communities steer clear of pickled foodstuffs (to ward off a sour year). Some traditions also call for an avoidance of nuts, as the Hebrew word egoz shares a numerical value with the word for “sin” (chet). But that still leaves a whole range of delicious foods to ring in the New Year.
It is customary to eat apples dipped in honey (sweet year ahead); pomegranates (the rabbis say there are 613 seeds in the fruit to coincide with the 613 commandments in the Torah); round challah (symbolic of the cyclical nature of the year); raisins (sweet new year); carrots (symbolic of increased good deeds); beets (symbolic of banishing enemies); and, of course, fish (see above).
Find out more interesting facts in the full article here
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