Guide to the Simanim - symbolic foods for Rosh Hashanah

Simanim are the symbolic foods that we eat at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. They represent our prayers for a sweet, good, and fruitful year ahead, filled with many blessings and good things.

There are numerous simanim – symbolic foods – that are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah. Delicious, meaningful morsels are a part of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions. The word ‘simanim’ means signs or omens. So people consider that eating these foods is auspicious for the year ahead.

Typically these foods represent virtues or good wishes, and may have names that play on our desires for the coming year. These puns exist in Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish and other languages besides! In some cases the simanim foods have a visual resemblance to some beneficial outcome. For instance some people say that the thinly sliced carrots in tsimmes or carrot salads look like golden coins, representing a wish for financial success in the year ahead.

Hands spooning honey over slices of challah on a plate as part of a rosh hashanah meal.

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What are the simanim?

There are many different simanim, but the most common ones include:

• Apple and honey

These sweet foods reflect our wish for a sweet year ahead. I like to buy different varieties of honey, especially local flower honeys. For an equally sweet vegan option choose date honey (silan), maple syrup or agave nectar.

• Carrots

The Hebrew word for carrot – gezer – sounds similar to gezera, meaning decree. We ask for any negative decrees against us to be removed, and only good outcomes decreed. In addition, the Yiddish words for “carrots” and “more” – meren and mer – are also similar. So for Ashkenazim carrots can also symbolise our desire for more blessings (and plenty good things generally) in the year ahead.

• Leeks

In Aramaic, the word for leeks is karti, a similar word to yikartu, which expresses a desire for our enemies to be destroyed.

• Beets or spinach

In Hebrew, beet is selek/salka, a similar word to yistalku, or ‘remove’. With beets, we wish that our enemies be removed. In English, we also want to ‘beet’ (beat!) our enemies!

• Dates

Another enemy-quashing symbol. Dates or tamarim, sound like yitamu – the wish that our enemies and detractors be consumed. There is also the tradition that the original ‘honey’ of Land of Milk and Honey fame, was actually silan or date honey. (Singeltons might also be wishing for a good ‘date’ in the year ahead!)

• Pumpkin, squash or courgette

Karra is the Aramaic word for pumpkin/squash, which is similar to yikaru, meaning proclaim. We wish for our merits to be proclaimed!

• Pomegranate

As one of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel, pomegranates already have a special meaning in Jewish tradition. At Rosh Hashanah, we particularly ask that we be as full of mitzvot (good deeds) as a pomegranate is of seeds. You can read more about the significance of pomegranates in the introduction to this recipe for beetroot and pomegranate salad.

• Black eyed peas or fenugreek

The Hebrew word rubia means black eyed peas or fenugreek seeds. It is similar to yirbu, meaning to increase. We eat these foods with the hope for year of increased merit.

• Head of a fish

A visual reminder that we should be like the head and not the tail! I’ve gone into more details about this particular symbol in the introduction to my recipe for head of a fish cookies. They’re much more palatable than the real thing! Vegetarians and vegans may also prefer to include a head of lettuce or cabbage on the Rosh Hashanah table.

• Round challah

Even the round challah traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah can be thought of as one of the simanim. Its round shape evokes renewal, the cycles of the year, and the turning seasons.

More than apples and honey

Of course the most well known of the simanim is apples dipped in honey. These sweet mouthfuls symbolise our wishes for a sweet new year. Apple dipped in honey was the only one of the traditional simanim that my family ate when I was growing up. However as an adult, I’ve embraced the concept of simanim. I love adding fun traditions to our celebrations, reflecting our rich and interesting heritage.

Over the years, I’ve created and collected recipes that incorporate these delicious symbolic foods. We enjoy planning our menus to include as many of them as possible throughout our Rosh Hashanah meals.

Slices of a red apple on a white plate with a glass dish of honey. A wooden honey drizzle is in the honey. Apples and honey are one of the simanim for rosh hashanah.

Simanim seder

While I prefer to keep our simanim consumption relatively informal, others enjoy a more structured approach. They begin their Rosh Hashanah feast with a ‘seder’ – eating each of their simanim foods individually and saying the relevant “ye’hi ratzon…” or “may it be your will….”

Last year, we had a hybrid approach – serving dishes including the simanim, and encouraging our guests to chime in with a yehi ratzon… whenever they felt the urge. We also took the opportunity to express our personal wishes for the year ahead, and if we could make a food-based pun around it, so much the better!

This year, I think we’ll be wishing for peas (peace), saying olive you (I love you) and trying to stay out of a pickle!

Pieces of pomegranate on a metal plate, drizzled with honey. In the background is a jar of honey with a wooden honey drizzler, and an apple.

Traditional wishes for the simanim

The traditional wishes associated with the symbolic Rosh Hashanah foods are as follows:

Apple and honey – for a year as sweet as honey.
Carrots – for a decree of good outcomes.
Leeks – that our enemies be destroyed.
Beets or spinach – the removal of those who hate us.
Dates – that our detractors be consumed.
Pumpkin, squash or courgette – for our merits to be proclaimed.
Pomegranate – that we be full of mitzvot (good deeds).
Black eyed peas or fenugreek – that our merits increase.
Head of a fish – that we be like the head and not the tail.

Below is a card featuring all of the wishes in Hebrew with their English translation. You can download and print the card here.

Delicious recipes using the simanim

Over the years, I’ve made many different dishes that feature the simanim. It helps that some of them, such as carrots, beets, spinach and squash, are in season in the Autumn! Here are some of my family’s favourite recipes that include at least one of Rosh Hashanah’s symbolic foods:

Beetroot and pomegranate salad

Beetroot salad with pomegranate

Earthy beets and sweet and crunchy pomegranate seeds make this delicious salad perfect for Rosh Hashanah.