Foods to Avoid on Rosh Hashanah: Minhagim and Halachic Sources

I’m getting ready for our Rosh Hashanah meals, and I’ve heard that some foods are avoided because they’re not considered a good sign. What’s the story behind this? Which foods should I actually be careful about, according to halacha?

Thank you for your question.

It is an important subject, and not everyone is familiar with the types of food we should avoid eating on Rosh Hashanah. There are also some interesting discussions on the topic, so I would like to share with you the halachot which are based on the psak of HaGaon HaRav Amrom Fried, shlit”a (Azamrah L’Shimech Mo’adim, pp. 4–5).

Nuts

One should not eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah. This includes pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds. (However, chestnuts are not included in this.) There are those who are lenient if the nuts are ground and mixed into food in a way that they are not noticeable.

There are two reasons for this Halacha, brought in the Remoh as follows:

שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות ראש השנה סימן תקפג סעיף ב

יש מדקדקים שלא לאכול אגוזים, שאגוז בגימטריא חטא, ועוד שהן מרבים כיחה וניעה ומבטלים התפלה (מהרי"ל). 

Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Laws of Rosh Hashanah, Siman 583, Se’if 2:
There are those who are particular not to eat nuts, since the word egoz (nut) has the numerical value of chet (sin). In addition, they increase phlegm and coughing, which disturbs a person from praying (Mahari”l).

The numerical value of חטא is 18, and אגוז, with the kolel, is also 18.

There is an interesting question, since egoz by itself, without the kolel, equals 17, which is the same numerical value as tov (also 17), so why then don’t we eat egoz on Rosh Hashanah? 

This question is brought by the editor who wrote the commentary on Rashi to Yeshayahu.

רש"י ישעיהו פרק יא פסוק א

אמר המעתיק בימי חורפי הקשיתי לשאול לכמה גאונים על מה שכתב א"מ זקני הרמ"א בהגה"ה בהל' ר"ה שאגוז בגי' ח"ט והלא הוא גם גי' טו"ב, ותרצתי על פי הזוהר מה שהקשה ר"א את אביו רשב"י: 

The editor writes: Back in my younger days, I asked several leading sages about something my teacher and elder, the Rema, wrote in his notes on the laws of Rosh Hashanah, that the word egoz (nut) equals the numerical value of chet (sin). But isn’t it also the value of tov (good)? I explained, based on the Zohar, the very question that Rabbi Elazar asked his father, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai….

…….The explanation given is from the verse (Kohelet 7:14): “זה לעומת זה” — meaning that even though there can be holiness paralleled by impurity, it is still forbidden to study it. As it says (Bereishit 2:17): “From the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.”

And so, even though the word egoz (nut) equals the value of tov (good), since it also has a ‘klipah’ whose value equals chet (sin), we don’t eat it on Rosh Hashanah. And the great sages accepted this explanation...

Bitter / sour foods

One should not eat bitter or sour foods, such as cranberries, pickled cucumbers, or foods mixed with vinegar or lemon juice, when the taste is noticeable. However, it is permitted to eat sharp (charif) foods.

Grapes

Some have the minhag not to eat grapes on Rosh Hashanah 

Mitsvah to eat meat and wine

Although there is a mitzvah of simcha on Rosh Hashanah, it is not the same as on the other Yomim Tovim, where one is required to gladden his wife and children with new clothing, etc. Nevertheless, even though there is no obligation to eat meat and drink wine on Rosh Hashanah, it is good to do so.

HaGaon Harav Fried, shlit”a, explains that the reason for is because we find differing opinions on this matter, whether one should eat meat and wine on Rosh Hashanah:

1. Rashi, Tractate Avodah Zarah 5b

רש"י מסכת עבודה זרה דף ה עמוד ב
 וכן לר"ה - יום טוב הוא ואוכלין בשר.

Rashi, Avodah Zarah 5b: “And so too for Rosh Hashanah – it is a festival, and one eats meat.”

1. Magen Avraham, Siman 597 (citing the Hagahot Maimoniyot)

מגן אברהם סימן תקצז
 ובמגמ"יי כ' בפ' נצבים שלא לאכול בשר ולשתות יין בר"ה:
Magen Avraham, Siman 597: In the Hagahot Maimoniyot, it is written in Parashat Nitzavim not to eat meat and not to drink wine on Rosh Hashanah.

Therefore, lehalacha, HaGaon Harav Fried, shlit”a, rules that even though there is no obligation to do so as on the other Yomim Tovim, nevertheless it is considered a good thing to eat meat and drink wine on Rosh Hashanah — "טוב לעשות כן"

Salt 

Many have the minhag to dip one side of the challah in honey and the other side in salt. Some do not dip the challah in salt at all, but keep the salt on the table.

Wishing you a Kesivah v’Chasimah Tovah!

• Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Siman 583:2
• Mahari”l, cited in Rema ad loc.
• Rashi, Yeshayahu 11:1 (editor’s commentary)
• Zohar (Kohelet 7:14, Bereishit 2:17 references)
• Rashi, Avodah Zarah 5b
• Magen Avraham, Siman 597 (citing Hagahot Maimoniyot)
• Azamrah L’Shimech Mo’adim, page. 4–5 (psak of HaGaon Rav Amrom Fried shlit”a)