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September 10, 2004
New take on New Year's
Children and adults will enjoy book on family seder.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Sometimes the best thing an adult can do for their mental health
is to read a children's book. The experience can be refreshing,
offering a simpler and more optimistic view of the world. Especially
at Rosh Hashanah, when we are supposed to be evaluating the person
we are and the person we could be, anything that helps simplify
the task or at least provides some direction is of value. This is
why Rahel Musleah's Apples and Pomegranates: A Family Seder for
Rosh Hashanah isn't only for families with children. Anyone
with even a grain of curiosity about other cultures and a sense
of fun will take pleasure from this joyfully illustrated book.
Apples and Pomegranates is, as the title states, about the
Rosh Hashanah seder, a tradition that dates back 2,000 years, that
many communities follow, usually on the first night of the holiday.
Musleah explains that, in the Talmud (Horayot 12a), Rabbi Abaye
suggests that people should eat the following foods at the beginning
of each new year: pumpkin, rubia (a bean-like vegetable), leeks,
beets and dates. Because of the relative abundance of these foods,
they symbolize prosperity and, therefore, are incorporated into
the seder, especially by Sephardi and mizrachi communities from
Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East. Apples and
Pomegranates describes the seder Musleah's family conducted
in their native Calcutta, India. They trace their ancestry back
to Baghdadi Jews from Iraq.
Each of the book's sections includes a description of the symbolic
food (of which there are eight), the blessing to be recited, a story,
an activity and/or craft, and at least one question to ponder. It
starts with a shopping list and suggested serving presentations,
and includes at the end, the blessings before and after the meal,
a brief discussion of New Year's customs from around the world,
a few Rosh Hashanah songs and a number of vegetarian recipes.
The content and design of Apples and Pomegranates reinforce
the dual nature of Rosh Hashanah as both a sombre and happy holiday.
Each food represents a different wish: for peace (dates), mitzvot
(pomegranate), sweetness (apples in honey), prosperity (rubia),
happiness (pumpkin or gourd), freedom (beetroot leaves), friendship
(leeks, scallions or chives) and leadership (lettuce). But, as Musleah
asks in the "Think!" box that accompanies the temarim
(dates) part of the seder, "Wishes are great, but how do we
translate them into action? What can you do to bring peace to your
own family? Your community? Can one person help bring peace to the
world?" On the more playful side, the "Word Play"
circle points out that the word for "end," yitamu,
sounds like tamar, the Hebrew word for date. The artwork
by Judy Jarrett adds to the joyful aspect in that it is colorful,
imaginative and childlike, and the stories that accompany most sections
are perfect for this type of book – easy-to-read, not too long,
interesting and with a clear moral lesson.
Apples and Pomegranates is available from Kar-Ben Publishing,
www.karben.com.
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