.bmp)
.bmp)
Are we Jews superstitious about Rosh Hashana? Those who think we are could easily point to a colorful aspect of our Rosh Hashana pageantry, when we eat special fruits whose names, taste and/or texture conjure positive prayers for a good year.The most popular is the apple dipped in honey, which occasions our wish for a good and sweet New Year; pomegranates, when we pray for a year of merits as numerous as the pomegranate's seeds; leeks (Hebrew kartei), when we ask that God cut off (karet) our enemies; beets, silka, when we beseech God to remove (salek) our enemies; and some more modern (tongue-in-cheek) examples, like dates for the unmarried, and a mixture of raisins and celery for "a raise in da selery." We serve the head of a fish so that we may multiply like fish during the coming year, and so that Israel will be seen as the head and not the tail among the nations. All of this leads our sages to declare that "on Rosh Hashana, symbols take on a practical reality."Certainly this sounds superstitious.The Talmud (B.T. Kritut 5b) gives three examples which seem to substantiate this position:1) "Rav Ami says, one who wishes to know whether he will live out the year ought to bring a candle into a house which is completely sealed off from any wind, and light that candle between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. If the light doesn't go out, we know he will live out the year."
2) "One who wishes to know if the business venture he wishes to get involved in will succeed or not, let him raise a hen. If she grows big and fat, we know his venture will succeed."
3) "And for one about to go on a journey who wishes to know if he will come back safely, let him enter a darkened house and remain there. If he sees that his shadow has a shadow, we know he shall return safely. But if he doesn't see the shadow, it's no proof that he won't return home; perhaps his disappointment and fear at not seeing a shadow of the shadow was responsible for a depression which led to his bad luck."
To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
