(א) דברים שנוהגים לאכול בליל ר"ה ובו ב"ס:
יהא אדם רגיל לאכול בראש השנה רוביא דהיינו תלתן כרתי סילקא תמרי קרא וכשיאכל רוביא יאמר יהי רצון שירבו זכיותינו כרתי יכרתו שונאינו סלקא יסתלקו אויבינו תמרי יתמו שונאינו קרא יקרע גזר דיננו ויקראו לפניך זכיותינו: הגה ויש נוהגין לאכול תפוח מתוק בדבש (טור) ואומרים תתחדש עלינו שנה מתוקה (אבודרהם) וכן נוהגין ויש אוכלים רימונים ואומרים נרבה זכיות כרמון ונוהגין לאכול בשר שמן וכל מיני מתיקה: (מרדכי דיומא):
(ב) אוכלים ראש כבש לומר נהיה לראש ולא לזנב וזכר לאילו של יצחק: הגה יש מדקדקים שלא לאכול אגוזים שאגוז בגימטריא חט ועוד שהן מרבים כיחה וניעה ומבטלים התפלה (מהרי"ל) והולכין אל הנהר לומר פסוק ותשליך במצולות ים כל חטאתינו וגומר (מנהגים) וגם נוהגים שלא לישן ביום ראש השנה (ירושלמי) ומנהג נכון הוא:
Foods that we customaily eat on the eve of Rosh Hahshanah: 2 subsections
(1) One should be accustomed on Rosh Hashanah to eat Rubia which is black-eyed beans, leek, beets, dates and squash. When he eats Rubia he should say: may it be Your will that our merits become many, leek: that our enemies be cut down, beets: that our enemies disappear, dates: that our enemies cease, squash: tear up the decree about us and call out before You our merits. Gloss of Rema: and some have the custom of eating sweet apples in honey and they say may it be renewed for us a sweet year, and that is the custom. Some eat pomegranates and say: may we increase our merits like the pomegranate. It is also customary to eat fatty meats and all types of sweet foods. (2) Eat 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. Gloss of 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.
והנה כל אלו הענינים עושין הכל לסימן טוב, ולכן פשיטא שיזהר מאד שלא יכעוס בימים האלו מלבד גודל האיסור, כדי שיהיה לסימן טוב, רק יהיה שמח לבו ובטוח בד' עם התשובה ומעשים טובים.והנה כל אלו הענינים עושין הכל לסימן טוב, ולכן פשיטא שיזהר מאד שלא יכעוס בימים האלו מלבד גודל האיסור, כדי שיהיה לסימן טוב, רק יהיה שמח לבו ובטוח בד' עם התשובה ומעשים טובים.
Mishnah Berurah:
All of these practices are done as a good sign. Therefore, it is obvious that we do not get angry during these days in order that this too should be for a good sign. We should be happy and trust in God with our repentance and good deeds.
Rav Menachem Meiri
In order to arouse themselves to focus on God and to place the awe of Him in their consciousness without sinning, they developed the practice of placing gourd, fenugreek, leek, cabbage, and dates on the table. This was done corresponding to that which was cited in Tractate Horiyot and Tractate Kritot: “Now that you have determined that omens are significant, at the beginning of every year every person should …”
And in order not to mistake this practice for sorcery, God forbid, they would pronounce upon these things words that highlighted forgiveness and awaken feelings of repentance. When they said that an omen is significant they meant that it could affect a person just by him being aware of the omens placed before him, even without explicitly reciting prayers over them. That is why at first they would simply look at them during the meal. However, because the Sages were concerned that people might become preoccupied with satisfying their appetites and become distracted from focusing on the spiritual importance of the day and the awe of judgment, therefore they began to recite special prayers over these foods in order to raise people’s consciousness.
They began to say on the gourd that our merits should be mentioned, on the fenugreek that our merits should increase, on the leek that our enemies should be cut off … and also on the beet (silka) that our sins should be removed (yistalku), and on dates that our sins should be removed. The intent is, as we explained, that since engaging in eating makes one forget the meaning of the day, therefore one should see these foods and gain awareness by virtue of them. In that way the omens would strengthen a person’s consciousness and be inspirational.
The meaning behind the cutting off of our enemies is that it refers to foreign ideologies and heresies that cause people to transgress, for those are the enemies that cause the purest form of hatred. We are not praying at this
point for the downfall of our enemies; we have enough to pray for on our own account.