Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 583

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 583 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1Customary foods for the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Containing two sections: One should eat beans, leeks, beets, dates, and pumpkin. And as one eats the beans ( rubiya ), they say: God, may our merits increase (yirbu)! Eating leeks ( karti ), they say: God, may our enemies be wiped out ( yekartu )! Eating dates ( tamari ), say: God, may our enemies disappear ( yetamu )! Eating pumpkin ( kra ), say: God, may our judgement be ripped up ( yikra' ) and may our merits be called out ( yikaru ) before You! Rema: Some have a custom of eating a sweet apple in honey (Tur), and saying: May a sweet year be renewed on us! (Abudarham) This is what we do. Some eat pomegranates, and say: may our merits be as many as pomegranate seeds! And we are accustomed to eat fatty meat and all sorts of sweets (Mordechai on Yoma).
2. 2Eat a head of a lamb saying: Let us be as a head and not a tail. It is also a remembrance of the ram of Isaac. Rema: There are those who are careful not to eat nuts, as the word "egoz" in gematriah [is equal to the value of] chet (sin). They also cause a lot of excess saliva and phloem and cause abrogation of prayers. They also go to a river and say the verse: And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). There are also those who do not sleep during Rosh Hashana during the day, and this is the correct thing to do.

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