סימני ראש השנה

Parenthetical to this matter of performing an act as a fortuitous sign, the Gemara cites that which Rav Ami says: One who desires to know if he will live through this current year or not should bring a lit candle during those ten days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur and hang it in a house through which wind does not blow, and he should watch it carefully: If its light continues he shall know that he will live out his year. And one who desires to conduct business and wants to know if his business will succeed or not should raise a rooster. If the rooster gets fat and beautiful he shall know that the venture will succeed. This one who wishes to leave on a journey and wants to know whether he will return to his home should enter a dark house. If he sees the reflection [bavua] of a reflection of his reflection he shall know that he will return and come to his home. The Sages say about this: And this is nothing, i.e., one should not practice these divinations, as perhaps he will become despondent if he does not see the positive sign and his fortune will turn bad, and this itself will result in his failure. Abaye said: Now that you have said that a sign is a substantial matter, a person should be accustomed to eat, at the start of the year, gourd, fenugreek, leeks, beets, and dates, as each of these grow and multiply quickly, which is a good omen for the deeds of the upcoming year.

And from this (what Abaye said) grew the [various] customs, every place according to its custom; as in Germany, where they are accustomed to eating sweet apple with honey at the beginning of the meal, to say, "Let this new year be sweet for us." And in Provence they are accustomed to bring all types of novelties [to the meal] and to eat a sheep's head and lung, to say, "Let us be at the head and not at the tail;" and the lung because it is light. And our teacher, Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg was accustomed to eat the head of a ram to commemorate the ram of Yitzchak.

On Rosh Hashanah, one should eat in the following order (seder) on both nights: First, dates. One should recite the blessing of "creator of the fruit of the tree," and eat one date. After that, one should say: May it be your will that our enemies be destroyed (Yitamu = destroyed, sounds like tamar = date). The one should eat the second date, and have in mind "the enemies of the lower realms." After that, a person should eat fenugreek (rubya), which we call "luvya" in Arabic, and says "may it be Your will that our merits increase (yirbu)." But as Magen Avraham (17th century legal scholar) says, one should make requests in the language that makes sense wherever you are, and so we in Baghdad who call it "luvya" have to say, "that our merits may increase and and become beloved (tilvaveynu)....