What Does an Apple Have to Do with Rosh Hashana?



“Life consists of cycles–even when it seems that it is a straight line.”


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The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah literally translates to the “Head of the Year”. This day also signifies the birth date of Adam—the first person God created (according to the Torah). Thus, if Adam would listen to his father—God, and not to his wife Eve, and not eat the fruit from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”, he would have lived forever and celebrated his 5,774th birthday by staying in the Garden of Eden, living the quiet life of a gardener without any excitement or turbulence. As a result, you and I would probably not exist and you would not be reading this story.

We do not know what kind of fruit was on the tree which for Eve “was good for eating and was a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3/16). Nevertheless, according to the Kabbalah (Jewish Esoteric knowledge), the Garden of Eden is called “The Holy Apple Orchard: In addition, King Solomon wrote ‘Beneath the apple I aroused you[r] love” (Song of Songs 8:5). There are other stories connecting apples to Rosh Hashanah. 

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Apples have another remarkable quality. From the ancient times, they were known to have healing properties. Apparently, when King Herod (73-4 B.C.E) felt faint, he would eat an apple. There is a reason for saying “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away”.

To attest to this, there is an article in the recent “The Intelligent Optimist”magazine. Researchers at California State University and other scientists, the article reported, discovered that there are many relationships between apples and our well-being (including helping us lose weight).

For the Rosh Hashanah celebration, the Challah—which is a braided bread traditionally eaten on the Sabbath, is baked round on Rosh Hashanah, and the first piece of it is dipped into honey followed by eating a slice of apple, and reciting the blessing “Shana tova ve matoka” (Bless us with a good and sweet year).

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The apple adds to the symbolism of roundness on this holiday. For me, it signifies a cycle where the end and the beginning are connected together, like seasons in the year. An apple ripens at the beginning of the fall when life slows down after an exuberant summer. After the harvest is collected, everything goes into a dormant winter. In the spring, trees bloom again, attracting bees that produce honey to be reconnected with the fruit that it came from.

We see this cyclical process clearly in the mortgage business. When the interest rates went down, there was an abundance of loans (the harvest). And then the rates went up, the business slowed down. Now we have to work harder on our marketing and asking for referrals. By spring, the market will improve and the world will become alive again.

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I wish you a very good and a very sweet New Year.

Shana tova ve matoka 

P.S.

I decided to visit a farmer’s market in the Civic Center to photograph apples for this newsletter. I wanted to have images with a smile—I was lucky.


Do not keep me as a secret.

 SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND