Simanim Seder

This Rosh Hashanah ritual centers around the custom of eating foods that carry symbolic wishes for the upcoming year.  It invites you to be reflective and creative and think about what you wish for the coming and how you can craft symbolic objects to express these dreams. You may want to print out the chart and have a pen with you.   You may want to perform this ritual in a peaceful, quiet place where you are alone and free from distractions.

On Rosh Hashanah there is a Sephardic custom to eat certain foods called simanim, which are symbolic for wishes expressing what one would like for the upcoming year. This includes apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year.  Some people have a ritual of eating many of these foods in a sequence and calling it a seder, like the Passover seder, which means order. 

As you think about your upcoming year, creating a similar ritual for yourself may offer an opportunity for healing and personal expression. 

The typical structure of the seder is that each food is matched with a blessing that expresses its particular symbolism.

For example:
Carrots

Blessing: Yehi ratzon mi’lefanecha, adonay elohaynu ve’elohay avotainu, she’yir’boo zchu’yotay’nu  

May it be your will Hashem, our G-d and G-d of our forefathers that our merits increase

Start this ritual by brainstorming and creating a list of your hopes for the coming. I encourage you to try to think of at least five things.  

You may want to experiment with the following phrasing or something similar to it: 

May this year be a year that is filled with ________________.
May it be your will G-d that this year is a year of _______________.

After you have created a list of what you hope for this year, be as creative as you can to come up with something that could symbolize this wish.  Choose foods and items to place on your Rosh Hashanah table, or create yourself. Anything that feels meaningful to you is perfect. Feel free to use the chart above. 

Before Rosh Hashanah, gather these items and designate a time and space when you can use them and acknowledge what they represent for you.  You may want to invite others to your simanim seder, or if you prefer, feel free to perform this ritual on your own.


Booklet Section: Introduction