Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Dip the apple in the honey. Hi, I'm Rabbi Nachum Alban, and welcome to do it yourself Judaism, where we learn about practical Judaism in your own place, at your own pace.
[00:00:14] Welcome back to episode two. We're going to talk a little bit about preparing for Rosh Hashanah and then get to the apple and honey. So Rosh Hashanah is kind of like a corporate review. God is looking over at this past year, how we've done. Where are we going to allocate resources going forward? So whenever you have a corporate review, you know the marking period is coming to an end. If you're in school, you want to make sure that you're putting your best foot forward. So how do you do that? First is you want to dedicate some time to reflect on this last year. Rosh Hashanah is a great time to do that, both in general and specifically with this idea of a corporate review coming up, reflect on the last year, on our struggles, on our triumphs, on the highs and the lows, both Jewishly, how we've done it in our connection to Judaism, our connection to the land of Israel, our connection to God, in our work and with our family.
[00:01:12] Next, think about one or two things that you'd like to improve over this coming year. Maybe they're in the specific skills, a subject within Judaism that you want to study more about, or maybe developing certain feelings or traits. You want to be happier, you want to develop your trust in God. After you've picked the one or two things you want to work on, figure out how you want to do that. So let's say you want to be a happier, more friendly person. So to do that, you decide that you're going to smile more. Okay, that's kind of vague. So let's make that a little bit more practical. Instead of just saying, I'm going to smile more or I'm going to have a great year this year, think about, I'm going to smile at the first five people after I've had my coffee. Another example would be, let's say I want to elevate my eating from just mundane consumption of food. So how would I do that? So first, instead of just talking about eating in general, I'm going to work on my breakfast. It's the beginning of the day. Things might be a little calmer, a little easier to focus. So I'm going to make sure that my breakfast is kosher. I'm going to find out from a knowledgeable source what is required to have a kosher breakfast. Pretty easy. Most cereals, milk, yogurts, cheeses, breads can be found in a kosher version. Second, I'm going to think of two or three of my favorite breakfasts and find out the appropriate blessings to say on those foods to elevate my eating.
[00:02:43] And third, before I make that blessing and start eating, before I drink my first cup of coffee in the morning, I'm going to think about that. I'm eating this food or having this coffee, to have the energy to be a good Jew today, to be a good family member, a good worker. And by having that one thought, I'm elevating my eating from just consumption of food to something holy, something building, something greater. So, speaking of eating, we're going to talk about the foods of Rosh Hashanah. Many people on Rosh Hashanah besides, instead of making the traditional braided Friday night challah, which will hopefully in another point, get to Shabbat, traditions will make a round challah. For Rosh Hashanah, round represents the cycle of life. This is the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, but it's going back around again. We're coming through the Rosh Hashanah period another time. Many round challahs get higher in the middle. As we've gone around the cycle of life, we hopefully are ending this year at a higher place than we ended last year. And the round challah is sort of shaped like a crown, which signifies the fact that Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of creation of God, being the sole ruler of this world. So there are many aspects of the Rosh Hashanah that relate to the sovereignty of God.
[00:04:08] Traditionally, Friday night challah is dipped in salt. On Rosh Hashanah however, many people, there are some who use salt as well. But many people put honey on their challah, signifying a sweet new year herb. And after the challah is eaten, the next item in the Rosh Hashanah meal for most people is the apple and honey. Well, why an apple? Honey is easy. It's a sweet new year. Why an apple? There are those who say, based on, I believe, a Kabbalistic tradition, the apple can represent one of the four, the tetragrammaton in the four letter name of God. If you take an apple and look at it, it is shaped like the yud, the little tiny yud letter, the 10th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. If you think about the core, the center of the apple, which is the main part, that up and down line of the core is like the vav, the 6th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Now, if you take a knife and slice an apple, go ahead, you can get one and try this out. Slice an apple on the equator so through the middle on the equator, not on the horizontal axis like you usually slice it along the core but through the core, and you open it up, you'll see that the seed box forms a five pointed star and you've sliced it in half. You have two five pointed stars referencing the hey, the fifth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Those four letters yud and the hey above and hey spell the four letter tetragrammaton in the Hebrew name of God that represents his complete and overwhelming mercy, which we hope to tap into Rosh Hashanah. So the apple is passed around, the appropriate blessing is made Baruch ata adonai Elohenu malech holam boree pri haitz.
[00:05:56] After the first piece of apple is eaten, it's dipped in honey. And then the phrase may be your will, God, that you renew for us a sweet new year. You grant us a sweet new year, it's said, and the rest of the another bag of apples had with the honey. We'll talk more next time about other significant foods that are eaten. Rosh Hashanah night. Thank you for listening. Be sure to hit the follow button so you'll get the next episodes as they come out.
[00:06:27] Your questions and comments inspire my next episodes, so reach out to nachamalbintorahub.org, and you'll be the inspiration of the next episode. Till then, have a great one.
