Simanim for protesters & selichot for all
The Rosh HaShana evening meal traditionally begins with a set of symbolic foods, each of which is a siman, a sign. The first and best-known of these, apples and honey, is based on qualities of the food – goodness and sweetness. We’re hoping for a good and sweet new year ahead. Similarly, the simanim include a pomegranate, because we hope our merits will be as numerous as its seeds, and the head of a sheep or fish (in our case, a head of garlic), because we want to be ‘the head and not the tail’ (Deuteronomy 28:23).
The other simanim are based on wordplays. We eat gezer, which means both ‘carrot’ and ‘decree’, because we hope for good decrees in the new year, and we eat rubia, runner beans or black eyed peas, because we hope our merits will increase, yirbu. Served together on a large platter at the beginning of the meal, the simanim are beautiful and delicious, and black-eyed peas make a great soup.
The prayers that have customarily accompanied the simanim since medieval times focus on the harm we hope will befall our enemies and the good we want for ourselves. Although I love the simanim, I find it hard to say some of these prayers. So a few years ago, I created my own version, adapting the Hebrew slightly to emphasize actions (and attitudes) over actors — destroy what is hateful, not who we hate — and offering a free English rendering that reflected issues of the day.
This year, when Israelis are fighting for their democratic rights, I’ve taken a few more liberties with the Hebrew text, emphasizing the themes of the pro-democracy protests, especially the demonstrations I attend in Jerusalem: a shared home; legal equality for all; human rights; reasonableness; checks and balances; ending oppression of minorities and attempts to divide through hatred; and, of course, democracy.
If you’re interested, here, in Hebrew and English, are my Rosh Hashana Simanim for Protesters 5784. You can also find them here via academia.edu. For Hebrew only, click here: סימני ראש השנה למפגינים 5784. If you like the idea of moderate simanim without the protest element, the version I made last year is here: Rosh Hashana Simanim Renewed 5783. The themes I chose then are, unfortunately, still relevant.
May this year’s curses cease, and the New Year’s blessings begin!
!תִכְלֶה שָנָה וְקלְלותֶיה ותָחֵל שָנָה ובִרכותֶיה
You can hear the wonderful Rabbi Hayim Louk sing the beautiful piyut, liturgical poem, that’s the source of this wish here. The words, in Hebrew with transliteration and English translation, are here.
Speaking of Rabbi Hayim Louk and piyutim, look out for Selichot Journey, a magnificent new book (in Hebrew) celebrating the selichot, penitential prayers, mainly as they are sung in Sephardi synagogues during the month of Elul and the Yamim Noraim. Full disclosure: expert contributors to the volume include my husband’s son-in-law, Itay Marienberg-Milikowsky! In addition to the short essays, it’s lavishly illustrated with photographs of manuscripts and performers, and with QR codes for each piyut so you can listen on YouTube or Spotify. You can choose between selichot as they are sung in the synagogue or as they are performed at this time of year in popular venues around Israel. Highly recommended!
Shana tova!