Erev Home Rituals

Here are some Rosh Hashanah home rituals to help you bring the themes of the into your homes. It is said that our home is a mikdash m’at, a small sanctuary, a reflection of that which we experience in a different way when we come together as a community in our big synagogue sanctuary.

Try to set aside time to plan a menu and consider inviting guests or joining with others to create a festive meal. There are plenty of cookbooks in our library, in local libraries and book stores and on websites that can give you ideas for traditional foods, but some include honey cake, the head of a fish or lamb (in the hope that everyone at the table will be at the "head" and not at the "tail" of whatever they do in the New Year), and, of course, recipes passed down the generations and/or shared with friends and family.

Lay out your best tablecloth, dishes and cutlery along with a special flower arrangement. It is traditional to wear something new at Rosh Hashanah, so perhaps this is a good time for a new outfit, shoes or even simply a small accessory.

Like all festive meals, the Rosh Hashanah dinner begins with blessings:

 Lighting candles brings us into sacred time. We add “Shehecheyanu” to mark the specialness of the New Year.  The Rosh Hashanah Kiddush includes a reference to the and is also followed by “Shehecheyanu (can’t get too many of those!)  Motzi – we thank God for providing us with bread from the earth. It is traditional to have a round challah on Rosh Hashanah, representing continual cycle of the seasons. It is also traditional to drizzle honey onto the challah as honey represents the sweetness we hope to gain in the New Year.  – we first bless God who creates the fruit of the tree; next we recite (you guessed it!) another “Shehecheyanu.” After we take our first bite, we say the following prayer:

May it be Your will, Adonai, our God and the God of our fathers and mothers, that You renew for us a good and sweet year.

Some people eat a new fruit or one they have not tasted for a long time on Rosh Hashanah (traditionally on the second night, but, for us, on the only night). Often a pomegranate is the fruit of choice because it is said to contain 613 seeds corresponding to the number of commandments in the Torah and because it represents fertility or unlimited possibilities for the New Year. You could also use this custom as an opportunity to pick a truly exotic fruit to try.

Some Sephardic communities developed a Rosh Hashanah seder, which revolves around eating symbolic foods and reciting prayers that transform these foods into wishes for the