Rosh Hashanah foods, beyond apples and honey

What do you do for Rosh Hashanah dinner? Do you dip apples in honey, pray for a sweet new year and continue on to the gefilte fish, brisket and kugel?

You could try something new: the Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder.

More on this Story

• The lighter side of Rosh Hashanah
• Blessings for Rosh Hashanah symbolic foods
• Recipe: Roasted Vegetables for Rosh Hashanah
• Recipe: Pomegranate and Herb Salad

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• Recipe: Swiss Chard Latkes
• Recipes: Dates Stuffed With Goat Cheese
• Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash With Date Molasses and Candied Ginger

Rosh Hashanah Recipes

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Seder is a Hebrew word for “order”; just as with Passover, the one for this High Holiday suggests a structured meal with blessings.

But the Rosh Hashanah seder begins tapas-style, with a pun-driven ceremony that is practiced around the world among Jewish-Sephardic families, mainly those that originated in Arabic-speaking countries. It takes place on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which this year occurs Wednesday, Sept. 28.

The series of blessings (“yehi ratzons”) over small dishes, each symbolizing a wish for the new year, often involve quirky wordplay in Hebrew and Aramaic. This is what my family did when I was growing up in Israel, and it is how my family and friends celebrate the holiday today.

When we eat squash (in transliterated Aramaic, it’s “kara,” from the word for “to rip”), we ask God “to rip the evil of our verdicts.” With a dish of black-eyed peas (“rubia” or “lubia” in Aramaic, from the same root word as “to increase”), we offer a blessing to increase our merits. (See the blessings for each food at wapo.st/foodpage.)

The tradition’s origin dates to the days of the Babylonian Talmud, 3rd to 5th century AD. That textbook of Jewish laws and customs describes what one must eat on the eve of the new year. Because the Talmud is written in Aramaic, different interpretations developed over the years, and each Jewish community chose its own ways to prepare dishes that feature those foods.

Jacques Amsellem was born in Fes, Morocco. In the 1950s, after serving in the French army during World War II, he came to America. He settled in, then returned to his home town to look for a bride and found Suzanne. “And within 28 days, they were married,” says their daughter, Esther Amsellem. Together they moved back to the Washington area.

Jacques died three years ago, but Suzanne still observes the Rosh Hashanah seder here with her family, just as her parents used to do back in Morocco.

Although basic traditions have remained unchanged, each community has updated its own translation and interpretation of the foods mentioned in the Talmud.

The Aramaic “rubia,” for example, is referred to by Iraqi Jews as black-eyed peas or haricot verts (or sometimes even simply green beans). Yemenite Jews interpret it as fenugreek, a spice of seeds that, when soaked in water, become a dip used to accompany many dishes. In Suzanne Amsellem’s home, rubia is represented through sesame seeds, which she roasts with a little sugar.

Besides praying to increase their merits, Suzanne encourages her family to eat more sesame seeds because, according to the additional blessing her family came up with, “As many as you eat is as many millions [of dollars] you’re going to have.”

Potomac resident Mirie Mesika was born in Israel to a Libyan Jewish mother and a Czechoslovakian father; her husband’s family originated from Libya as well. They both grew up having the Rosh Hashanah seder, and they keep up the tradition here with their three adult sons and teenage daughter.