Iraqi Jewish New Year Traditions Feature Symbolic Foods

Iraqi Jewish families gather for a festive meal on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to mark the beginning of the new year with symbolic foods and prayers. These traditions, known as "Yehi Ratzon," involve specific blessings and customs associated with various dishes, each carrying significant meaning.

Dates are eaten with a prayer for an end to enemies and those who wish harm, stemming from the Hebrew root "tam" meaning to reach an end. Green beans, or "lubia," are consumed with a wish for increased merits and strengthened hearts, linking the word to "rav" (many) and "lev" (heart). Leeks, or "karti," are torn, not eaten, with a prayer for the severance of enemies, connected to the Hebrew root "karet" meaning to cut off.

Swiss chard, or "silka," is prepared with a wish for ill intentions to depart, relating to the Hebrew word "salesk" meaning to remove. A dish called "kera," made from pumpkin or zucchini, is eaten with prayers for the tearing up of harsh decrees and the remembrance of good deeds. Instead of the common Ashkenazi tradition of dipping an apple in honey, many Iraqi Jewish families prepare apple-rosewater jam for a sweet new year.

Another symbolic food is pomegranate, with its many seeds representing the hope for abundant good deeds. The head of a lamb or cow, or in Israel, a fish head, is eaten with the wish to be at the "head and not the tail" in the coming year. The article also includes a recipe for traditional Iraqi apple jam, passed down through generations, featuring apples, sugar, water, cardamom pods, rosewater, and lemon juice.