We are all familiar with the song, the action, and the message of a timeless Rosh Hashana favorite:
“Dip the apple in the honey, say a bracha loud and clear…” [Ask your LOR which fruit to make the bracha on first, and the song can always be adjusted to “we said a bracha loud and clear!”] “L’Shana Tova U’Mesukah, have a happy, sweet New Year!”
This fan favorite is the kickoff to a whole lineup of simanim. We identify different foods on our tables and plates and connect a tefillah to each one. Often, the name of the food sounds like a word that we work into the Yehi Ratzon, a holy pun of sorts. Inspired by the fruit, vegetable, or head of the animal of choice, we pray, “May it be Your Will, Hashem, that…” and then take a scrumptious bite [or give a queasy glance and point].
This practice is sourced in the Gemara, Krisus 6a, and is brought in Shulchan Aruch, O.C. 583, as the accepted minhag.
In fact, in yeshiva we were taught to “make our own simanim,” based on the Mishnah Berurah on this halacha. He explains that it doesn’t have to work only in Lashon HaKodesh. In any language, words that sound alike can be used as a siman.
Perhaps this Mishnah Berurah is the source of the famous Rosh Hashana salad of lettuce, raisins, and celery. [For anyone who has never heard this one: “Lettuce have a raisin celery!”] This idea has inspired many great Rosh Hashana pun-tefillos around Rosh Hashana tables throughout the years.
The Sfas Emes (Rosh Hashana, תרל”ב) asks a fascinating question. We are taught in the Zohar [Tikkun 6, 22:1] that on Rosh Hashana, our davening is not supposed to focus on our worldly needs. Instead, we focus on Malchus Shomayim, just as we do throughout the Rosh Hashana Shemoneh Esrei.
Rosh Hashana is the day when Hashem’s Kingship is front and center, and we focus on our role as His faithful servants, the stewards, knights, and princes of His Kingdom.
So why do we use the simanim to daven for so many physical things?
“Destroy all of our haters.” “Remove all of our enemies.” “May all of our haters perish.” And, of course, the famous “raisin salary!” These are certainly important things to daven for, but they don’t seem to fit with the Zohar’s message that our Rosh Hashana tefillos should be focused on Malchus Shomayim.
And simanim are also a pretty unusual way to make a tefillah. Is this some kind of trick? We can’t ask outright for our worldly needs, but if a beet, carrot, or other food inspires the request, suddenly it’s okay?
The Sfas Emes gives an answer that changes the way we look at simanim:
וי”ל דלכך מרמזין על צורכי עוה”ז שהם באמת רק רמזים להוציא מכל ענין רמיזא דחכמתא לעבודת השי”ת
“This is why we allude to the needs of this world, which in truth are only allusions. From everything in this world, we can extract a hint of wisdom that can be used for Avodas Hashem.”
In other words, simanim are not just a way to make certain requests on Rosh Hashana. They are teaching us how to interact with the physical world all year long.
This helps us with a struggle that every oved Hashem faces. We live in a very physical world, but we were given a very spiritual mission. How do we make sure that all the gashmiyus around us doesn’t get in the way of our ruchniyus mission?
The answer is: We need to learn to see the physical world as remazim and simanim. Everything around us can be a tool and an opportunity to connect to ruchniyus, if we learn how to notice the simanim. That is exactly what we practice at the Rosh Hashana table.
The minhag of simanim is really a very spiritual exercise. It trains us in the art of looking at the world and seeing a siman pointing toward Hashem. It also teaches us how to look at the things we need and the things we ask Hashem for. On Rosh Hashana, Hashem gives us a new lease on life for the coming year. At that moment, we want to put every part of our new year — including all of our physical needs — into the right frame. We want everything we receive to become part of our Avodas Hashem.
That is why we use this unusual method of simanim. It reminds us that this whole world, and all the things we need while we are here, are really all hints and signs pointing us toward our Avodas Hashem.
The Sfas Emes continues:
ובאופן זה שיהי’ רק לסימן ולרמז רשאין לבקש שכן רצונו ית’ שע”ז נבראו. ובר”ה שנותן השי”ת חיות חדש לכל הנבראים על כל השנה צריך כל אחד להיות מוכן לקבל החיים רק לעבודתו יתברך שמו בלבד וכפי רצונו כן נותנים לכ”א
“And in this way, when it is only as a sign and a hint, we are permitted to ask, because this is His Will, this is what these things were created for. And on Rosh Hashana, when Hashem gives new life to all creations for the entire year, each person must be ready to receive that life for His service alone. According to that readiness, each person is given.”
All the worldly things we need in order to live a life of Avodas Hashem have to be put in their proper place and used for our mission in Hashem’s Malchus, which we accept on Rosh Hashana.
When we do that, something amazing happens. The physical things in our lives are no longer just temporary pieces of this world. They become part of something lasting. Bringing the physical world into Avodas Hashem is like raising Hashem’s flag on new territory. We are bringing more Malchus Shomayim into the world in real time!
This whole world is filled with things waiting to be looked at a little deeper. There is the pnimiyus — or, in the spirit of simanim, the pun-imiyus — that is just one step beyond the surface.
So this Rosh Hashana, let’s look around the table — and then keep looking beyond it. Smile, maybe chuckle at your own pun, and try to see Avodas Hashem in the things all around you.
May we all be blessed this year, and every year, with everything we need in this world — and with the strength and wisdom to use it all for Avodas Hashem and to bring more Kavod Shomayim into the world.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 98 – Rosh Hashana.
