Yes, I know that we are already past ראש השנה for 5778. So why talk about lessons regarding ראש השנה now; just to get a head start on 5779?! Nope. Nothing we doin Torah Judaism is without meaning. Even the name of our holidays and commemorations are chosen with precision. The name for the holiday that commemorates the beginning of a new year is ראש השנה/Head of the year. Just as the head is connected to, directs, and takes feedback from the body, so too ראש השנה is connected to, directs, and takes feedback from the year. I discovered a deeper level to one of our most iconic customs -- the apple dipped in honey as a סימן (often translated "sign" or "omen", but that is wrong) for the new year's greetings.
As we all know, ראש השנה is a quite solemn day. It is also known as The Day of Judgement, when every aspect of Creation comes under scrutiny. Every person, animal, and object -- down to the smallest grain of sand (sub-atomic particle is more accurate, but much less poetic) is judged. Did it perform as expected/required, does it deserve continued existence, what resources will it need in the coming year? We don't even say Hallel in our liturgy because the day is so laden with seriousness. Yet, the סימנים we use are by and large quite light hearted. Pomegranate arils (commonly and falsely called seeds) as a סימן that we should have numerous merits. Beets because the Aramaic word for beets sounds like the Hebrew word that means to lift off... so our enemies should be lifted off us. Carrots because the Yiddish word for carrots sounds like the Yiddish word that means "increase". We even served a small bit of lettuce together with half a raisin on a celery stick -- because if you say "lettuce, half a raisin, celery" fast and with a bit of slurring it becomes "let us have a raise in salary." All of those sanctioned by the Mishna Brura based on hundreds and thousands of years of custom. Is such light hearted -- seemingly frivolous -- behavior really appropriate for the Day of Judgement?
On the other hand -- and seemingly much, much worse -- is the whole idea of signs/omens in Judaism at all. The Torah (Leviticus 19:26) says straight out: do not practice divination. Rashi in Chumash explains "divination" to mean: such as those who interpret bread falling from his mouth or a deer crossing his path as signs for certain things. Umm... starting the new year by violating a Torah prohibition would seem to be a bad -- very, very bad -- idea. Enshrining such behavior as deeply ingrained custom at the first meal of each and every family appears to be national suicide.
Surprise! That's not what we are doing. The Chovos Levavos, when explaining the way a Jew should look at the world relates that a rav and his talmid (student) were once walking along a path outside the city. They passed a rotting animal carcass and the talmid wrinkled his nose in disgust and said, "that stinks!" The rav, on the other hand, said, "Look how beautifully white its teeth are!"
The Torah Jew does not ignore the bad, but the Torah wants us to always first acknowledge the good. The סימנים on ראש השנה are not signs nor omens, rather they are an opportunity for us to take even the most mundane objects and far fetched reasoning to express a thought for the good. We start our year -- nay, we head our year -- with actual acts of looking for the good in the mundane. That is how we want to direct our navigation as we chart our way through the coming year.
Now about that honey. As is well known, the Torah itself praises the Land of Israel as "flowing with milk and honey". The Torah there means "date honey"; that is the syrup (which is called דבש in Hebrew; there is one word that includes both honey and syrup) that can be squeezed from a date. The Torah means that they dates of the Land of Israel are so succulent that they honey just drips from them even while they are still on the tree. Since the Torah actually uses the word דבש as a praise, wouldn't you expect the custom to use that same honey? This is, after all, the general custom of Chazal.
But here's the thing: How do you get date honey? Pick up a date; maybe squeeze it. How do you get bee honey? You need to "negotiate" with the bees, then work to separate the honey from the comb, then purify and strain the honey. What's the difference? A product that is the result of my efforts is a much tastier than something dropped in my hand with no work. We want a year of sweetness born of effort and labor. A year of growth from which we can experience the sweetness of our successes.
Here's wishing everyone a year that is sweet like bee honey!
As we all know, ראש השנה is a quite solemn day. It is also known as The Day of Judgement, when every aspect of Creation comes under scrutiny. Every person, animal, and object -- down to the smallest grain of sand (sub-atomic particle is more accurate, but much less poetic) is judged. Did it perform as expected/required, does it deserve continued existence, what resources will it need in the coming year? We don't even say Hallel in our liturgy because the day is so laden with seriousness. Yet, the סימנים we use are by and large quite light hearted. Pomegranate arils (commonly and falsely called seeds) as a סימן that we should have numerous merits. Beets because the Aramaic word for beets sounds like the Hebrew word that means to lift off... so our enemies should be lifted off us. Carrots because the Yiddish word for carrots sounds like the Yiddish word that means "increase". We even served a small bit of lettuce together with half a raisin on a celery stick -- because if you say "lettuce, half a raisin, celery" fast and with a bit of slurring it becomes "let us have a raise in salary." All of those sanctioned by the Mishna Brura based on hundreds and thousands of years of custom. Is such light hearted -- seemingly frivolous -- behavior really appropriate for the Day of Judgement?
On the other hand -- and seemingly much, much worse -- is the whole idea of signs/omens in Judaism at all. The Torah (Leviticus 19:26) says straight out: do not practice divination. Rashi in Chumash explains "divination" to mean: such as those who interpret bread falling from his mouth or a deer crossing his path as signs for certain things. Umm... starting the new year by violating a Torah prohibition would seem to be a bad -- very, very bad -- idea. Enshrining such behavior as deeply ingrained custom at the first meal of each and every family appears to be national suicide.
Surprise! That's not what we are doing. The Chovos Levavos, when explaining the way a Jew should look at the world relates that a rav and his talmid (student) were once walking along a path outside the city. They passed a rotting animal carcass and the talmid wrinkled his nose in disgust and said, "that stinks!" The rav, on the other hand, said, "Look how beautifully white its teeth are!"
The Torah Jew does not ignore the bad, but the Torah wants us to always first acknowledge the good. The סימנים on ראש השנה are not signs nor omens, rather they are an opportunity for us to take even the most mundane objects and far fetched reasoning to express a thought for the good. We start our year -- nay, we head our year -- with actual acts of looking for the good in the mundane. That is how we want to direct our navigation as we chart our way through the coming year.
Now about that honey. As is well known, the Torah itself praises the Land of Israel as "flowing with milk and honey". The Torah there means "date honey"; that is the syrup (which is called דבש in Hebrew; there is one word that includes both honey and syrup) that can be squeezed from a date. The Torah means that they dates of the Land of Israel are so succulent that they honey just drips from them even while they are still on the tree. Since the Torah actually uses the word דבש as a praise, wouldn't you expect the custom to use that same honey? This is, after all, the general custom of Chazal.
But here's the thing: How do you get date honey? Pick up a date; maybe squeeze it. How do you get bee honey? You need to "negotiate" with the bees, then work to separate the honey from the comb, then purify and strain the honey. What's the difference? A product that is the result of my efforts is a much tastier than something dropped in my hand with no work. We want a year of sweetness born of effort and labor. A year of growth from which we can experience the sweetness of our successes.
Here's wishing everyone a year that is sweet like bee honey!
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