The first night of the Jewish New Year is just around the corner. You've bought new clothes for the children, invited guests to dinner, and even prepared the holiday meal. Now what? How do you do Rosh HaShana?

As in other Jewish holidays, a large part of the Rosh HaShana celebration takes place around the table.

Kiddish (blessing over the wine)
standard holiday Kiddush Hamotzi (blessing over the challah bread)

• Round or Ladder Shaped Challah
  It is tradition to put a challah which is round in shape on the Rosh HaShana table. This shape symbolizes the cycle of life and how we should be aware of it on this day. In some communities, the challah is shaped like a ladder, symbolizing the fortunes of people for the year ahead - some ascend and some descend life's ladder.
• Honey Dipped Challah
  It is traditional on Rosh HaShana to dip pieces of challah in honey before eating.
  This custom symbolizes hope for a sweet year. For added sweetness, many people eat challah with raisins in it on Rosh HaShana.

Apple Dipped in Honey
Next, it is traditional to dip pieces of apple into honey. After dipping and before eating, the blessing over fruit and the shechiyanu blessing is recited. Again, honey is used with the hope for a sweet year. Some believe an apple is used because the numerical value of "tapuach" (apple in Hebrew) is numerically equivalent to "seh akeida" which comes from the Biblical story of Abraham's binding of Isaac took place on Rosh Hashana. By eating the apple, we are symbolically expressing our hope that some of the merit generated through Abraham's and Isaac's testing will trickle down to our generation and help us be granted a sweet new year. "Shehecheyanu" ("thanks, G-d, for allowing us to be here and doing what we are doing on this day").

Pomegranates

One takes a piece of this fruit (watch out - pomegranate juice stains in the worst way!) and says, "May it be Your will that our merits be numerous as (the seeds of) the pomegranate."

What's the deal? There are 613 commandments in the Torah for a Jew to fulfill. An individual pomegranate supposedly has 613 seeds. (Try counting them.... I did once, and though we lost exact count, there were more than 600 and less and 625 seeds - so it was awfully close!) By eating the pomegranate, we figuratively show our desire and hope to fulfill all 613 commandments, and by doing so, we will be able to accrue a nice amount of merit.

One more thing: On the second night specifically, most families have a custom to eat a "new" fruit and say the blessing called "Shehecheyanu" ("thanks, G-d, for allowing us to be here and doing what we are doing on this day").

When I say a "new" fruit, I mean a fruit that has recently come back into season and you have not had it yet, or a fruit you have not eaten for at least 30 days (some say even for a year - this depends on the individual's custom). The point is to make sure that the second day of Rosh Hashana (which seems redundant because it IS the second day) has something new about it. In addition or in place of the fruit, some people will make sure they are wearing new clothing to give that same element of novelty to the second day.

Though the whole thing may seem silly to some, partaking of these symbolic foods and reciting the appropriate prayers add a profound level of reverence and meaning to the festive meal on this important day.

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