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Jewish World Review
Sept. 29, 2008
/ 29 Elul 5768
Apples, Honey and You
By
Rabbi Leiby Burnham
We take an apple, dip it in honey, and say a prayer asking G-d that we should have a sweet new year. The symbolism here seems almost childish: Sweet apple + sweet honey = Sweet New Year!?
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Dear Rabbi,
It seems like every year I get the same feeling. It's a few days before Rosh Hashanah and suddenly I'm caught up in a frenzy of emotions. I want as much as possible to be ready for this awesome festival, yet I find myself struggling to remember what it is all about. I remember speeches I heard, and essays I read. I know it is the birthday of the creation of man. It is the time when we re-evaluate our relationship with G-d, and coronate Him as our King. It is the Day of Judgment which will determine our coming year, and a day in which we can recreate ourselves. But the more I remember, the more confused I get. Now that I know all this, what should I do differently this year on Rosh Hashanah? How does all this relate to our prayer service in the synagogue, which takes up most of our day?
Thanks Rabbi, and Shana Tova,
Mark R.
Dear Mark,
Three years ago, while studying in Yeshiva, one of my Rabbis explained one of the Rosh Hashanah practices to me, and based on his response, I think we can begin to understand what the holiday is all about. There is a question that bothers many people about the practice we have on the first night of Rosh Hashanah. We take an apple, dip it in honey, and say a prayer asking G-d that we should have a sweet new year. The symbolism here seems almost childish, sweet apple + sweet honey = Sweet New Year!? There are also a number of other foods each with its prayer that all have "cute" word plays that connect the food with the prayer. (Some people even take lettuce, a raisin, and a celery stalk, hold them together, and then say a prayer asking G-d to "let us have a raise in salary."!) What is it supposed to mean to us? How does it tie in to an otherwise solemn Day of Judgment?
The answer mentioned in the writings of Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner (of blessed memory), the late Rosh Yeshiva (Dean) of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin in NYC is as follows:
Rosh Hashanah translated literally means "The Head of the Year." We know in Judaism there is a concept that every word has great depth. When we say Rosh Hashanah is the "head" of the year, it must be more than just the first day of the New Year. The head is the body part that controls the rest of the body. In it lies our brain, the processing chip for all our human functions. A neuro-surgeon when performing brain surgery is extremely careful to not slip even a millimeter, because that millimeter — although so tiny in space — since it is located in the brain can have drastic effects on the rest of the body.
Rosh Hashanah has the same power. It is the "head" of the Year. It is the processing chip through which the programs for the coming year run. The smallest, most minute changes that we make in the head of the year can have the most profound affect on our entire year! This is the deeper message of the special foods we eat. During the rest of the year, such small actions would have little or no effect, yet on Rosh Hashanah they have the power to help give us a better year. (An analogy to explain this is wet concrete. While concrete is still wet you can take a little branch and carve into it whatever you want but the minute it is dry, you can't even scrape the surface with the same branch.) The lesson we learn from these foods teaches us how powerful the day is.
From here we can start to put together the task of the day. The "goal" is to try to make changes in how we view our world. It is a day to remember that on this day man was put on earth for a purpose, and that purpose must drive us in our daily living. We must realize that G-d was the One who put us here, and that we must reaffirm our allegiance to him, by accepting him upon us as our King. We must cry out like the broken cry of the Shofar (ram's horn) with a genuine desire to see the coming year be a more elevated one than the past.
We have no special mitzvas (religious duties) to do on this day, like on other festivals. No Succah to dwell in or lulav to shake as we do on Sukkos; no matzah to eat as we do on Passover, no: Because the change has to be in our "Rosh," in our head.
If we can change our perspectives on this day to ones that are more motivated, more cognizant of all that G-d gives us continuously, more mindful to the fact that everything we do needs to be accounted for, then the rest of the year will flow forth successfully. It is the day to make meaningful marks in the wet cement of the coming year.
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Rabbi Leiby Burnham, LMSW, is a psychotherapist and writer based in Detroit.
© 2008, Partners in Torah
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