Rosh Hashana (1)

Rosh Hashana (1) - the greengrocer's favourite!

Make sure that you do not forget to get some fruit for Rosh Hashana. Perhaps the best known custom is dipping apple in honey, but different Jewish communities have incorporated a whole plantation worth of different fruits into their Rosh Hashana evening meals (see the Artscroll Rosh Hashana machzor p96-98 and feel good about yourself if you can identify fenugreek, for example, let alone have it at your table!)

Why though do we eat these fruits? From the perspective of the laws of blessings, it is unusual to make a beracha (blessing) on bread and then almost immediately make another blessing on apple, since we avoid making unnecessary berachot (blessings).

Rashi http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rashi.htm, the premier commentator on the Talmud http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Gemara.html explains (Tractate Keritut 6a) that there are two primary reasons for eating specific kinds of fruits.

We eat fruits that either (a) ripen quickly indicating increased merit through doing so or (b) are sweet tasting and so symbolise our hopes for a sweet year.

Rav Hai Gaon, http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/haigaon.htmone of the famous group of Rabbis called the Ga'onim http://www.chabad.org/library/article.htm/aid/115539/jewish/The-Age-of-Scholarship.html
enacted the recitation of a specific short prayer before each fruit, in addition to the beracha made on the apple. (For those of you who like to delve into the texts - ok, it might only be me! - look at Beit Yosaif, Orach Chayim, 583 quoting the Mordechai). These recitations alert us as to the significance of each fruit, why we are eating them and the prayers that they represent. See the Artscroll machzor as quoted above for the prayers.

Conclusion
Rav Hai Gaon gets to the heart of the matter. Eating the fruits is designed to make us think. Understanding what they represent and using them to enhance our internalisation of Rosh Hashana are the real reasons for eating the fruit.

And yes, it's good they also count for your 5-a-day!

Ps - I raised the question earlier of saying an unnecessary beracha. Since the fruits are not really 'part' of the meal, since they are eaten for their symbolic value, they require a separate beracha.