17 Elul: Pomegranate

In a dream: “...seeing small ones portends business being as fruitful as a pomegranate, while seeing large ones means that business will multiply like pomegranates. If, in the dream, the pomegranates are split open, if the dreamer is a scholar he may hope to learn more Torah … while if he is unlearned, he can hope to perform mitzvot ….”

 - Talmud

Another symbolic fruit we eat over Rosh Hashanah is the pomegranate.  The fruit is sweet and full of seeds, and we enjoy it on the holiday to represent the hopefully many Mitzvot we will do throughout the year.  

I have always had a hard time peeling pomegranates.  I end up making a mess, seeds everywhere.  I read to peel them in water, but I still end up with bits everywhere.  I think it is worth the effort.  They are a different kind of sweetness. 

Some people have a hard time with the seeds.  Do you crunch them?  I kind of swoosh them and swallow them whole.  I wonder what that says about personalities or how you see doing all these Mitzvahs...

I don't think I've ever made specific recipes with pomegranates.  I just eat them raw, on their own.  I guess after Rosh Hashanah I might add them to some salads.  How about you?  Any interesting recipes?  

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15 Elul: Apple

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons; in his shade I delighted and sat, and his fruit was sweet to my palate. - Shir HaShirim Chapter 2

Like golden apples on silverplated vessels, is a word spoken with proper basis. - Proverbs Chapter 25

Wow, half way there!  An apple for making it this far :)

We eat apples dipped with honey on Rosh Hashanah, to symbolize the sweetness we hope the new year will bring.  Apples are crunchy and sweet, and maybe there is some connection on working hard to get to the sweetness of life?

I didn't think I would find any Torah quotes on apples, but I guess apples appear a few times in Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs).  Don't forget an apple a day keeps the doctor a way.  And, the apple of my eye.  Isn't there something about bringing an apple for teacher?  In case you were wondering, Adam and Even did not eat an apple and get evicted from the garden of Eden (I think it was an artist's rendition of the whole scene, and ever since...).

If I were to pick the prettiest of fruit, I think I probably would pick the apple.  It comes in so many colours and varieties.  It has a beautiful shine and the shape is appealing.

The apple is perfect snack food for our human hands.  It fits right in the palm of our hand.  It isn't too messy, and it's recycleable ;)

We can make some pretty tasty apple-based desserts...apple crisp, apple pie, apple cake, baked apples...

Apples come into season this time of year, which makes it an obvious choice for fruits in any kind of Rosh Hashanah ritual/tradition.

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