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Jewish World Review Sept. 25, 2003 / 28 Elul, 5763 Apples as a symbol of good? By Rabbi Berel Wein
Why Jews eat the "serpent's fruit" on Judgment Day
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
All Jewish customs have Torah, historical and traditional origins, though many of them may be now somewhat obscure due to the passage of time and the circumstances of the long exile of Israel. On Rosh HaShana, Jews dip an apple into honey. Why? What is the special symbolism of the apple that makes it the fruit that most graces our Rosh HaShana table?
The sophisticated doubters amongst us have stated that the apple is used because it is the fruit that was most available in all of the areas of the world of the Jewish exile. However, such reasoning begs the question and misses the entire point of the reasons for the preservation of Jewish customs.
Jewish customs come to reinforce Jewish identity and memory. They serve to remind us of our special responsibilities and duties towards the Creator and man. They reinforce our sense of solidity with all of the previous Jewish generations and provide an effective method of transmitting our tradition and heritage to our children and grandchildren. One of the tragedies of the alienation of many Jews currently from their heritage is their ignorance and non-participation regarding Jewish customs. Thus, the custom of the eating of the apple dipped into the honey on the night of Rosh HaShana does have a special traditional significance over and above the ready availability of the fruit at this season of the year. And it is this special significance of memory that enhances the beauty and even the sweetness of the custom.
One of the fruits to which the Jewish people are compared in King Solomon's Song of Songs is the apple. "As the apple is rare and unique among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved — Israel — amongst the maidens (nations) of the world." The Midrash informs us that the apple tree puts forth the nub of its fruit even before the leaves that will surround and protect the little fruit at its beginning stage of growth are fully sprouting. The Jewish people, by accepting the Torah with the statement that "we will do and we will understand" — placing holy action and observance of Torah commandments even before understanding and rational acceptance — thereby imitated the behavior of the apple. Thus, the apple became a Jewish symbol, a memory aid, so to speak, to the moment of revelation at Sinai.
The apple also served to remind the Jewish people of their enslavement in Egypt and their deliverance from that bondage. Again, according to Midrash, the apple served as the fruit of affection between husband and wife during the long and painful period of abject slavery. It provided them with hope for the future and the determination to bring a future generation into the world in spite of all of the then present bleakness of Jewish circumstance. The apple therefore also became the symbol of the Jewish home and family, of optimism and of a brighter Jewish future, of the tenacity of Jewish spirit and determination.
It is interesting to note that in general society, the apple is assigned the role of the fruit of temptation in the biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the non-Jewish world, the apple became the symbol of human weakness and downfall, even of death itself. However, the Talmud when listing the possible "fruits" that may have been products of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden does not include apples in that list. The "fruits" mentioned are wheat, figs and grapes. There is one Jewish source for an apple being that fateful fruit, quoted in Midrash, but it does not have the weight of authority that a statement in Talmud possesses.
The non-Jewish world, for unknown reasons, adopted the view of that Midrash and religious art, story and religious tradition for the last fifteen hundred years has given the apple a bad name. But not so amongst Jews, where the apple retains its positive symbolism and has its place of honor on our Rosh HaShana table as a harbinger of a good, sweet and holy year for us all.
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Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation.
He has authored over 650 tapes, books and videos which you can purchase at RabbiWein.com.
Comment by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
© 2003, Rabbi Berel Wein
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