Rosh Hashanah: A Mizrahi & Sephardic Guide to the New Year

The Rosh Hashanah Seder

New to the seder? Three quick ways in:

Hosting your own seder? We love Rahel Musleah's Apples and Pomegranates: A Family Seder for Rosh Hashanah. The prayers below come straight from its pages.

The Simanim & Their Blessings

For over 2,000 years, Middle Eastern, North African, and Mediterranean Jews have ushered in the Jewish New Year by joyously blessing and eating symbolic foods. In Hebrew, these foods are called simanim, literally "signs": each one is a delicious little prayer for the year ahead, chosen for its sweetness, its abundance, or a clever pun hiding in its name.

Each siman comes with its own short blessing called a yehi ratzon (plural: yehi ratzones), named for its opening words in Hebrew: "May it be Your will." Taste a date and ask for peace. Hold up a pomegranate and ask to be as full of good deeds as it is full of seeds. The wordplay behind each pairing runs through Hebrew, Aramaic, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic, which is why the seder plate can look a little different from Baghdad to Salonika to Marrakesh, and why every version is authentic.

And this tradition is old. Really old. The Rosh Hashanah seder has its roots in the Talmud, which recommends eating certain symbolic foods (simanim) at the beginning of the year. In the later Sephardic tradition, these foods became associated with Yehi Ratzon prayers, many built around wordplay between the food's Hebrew or Aramaic name and a hope for the year ahead (primary sources: Babylonian Talmud, Keritot 6a and Horayot 12a; Tur, Orach Chaim §583; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 583:1–2). In the flow of the holiday, the seder comes at the start of the festive evening meal on Rosh Hashanah: after Kiddush, families move through the simanim one by one, blessing by blessing (in many homes, on both nights), and then the feast begins.

Above all, this is a joyous tradition, and it should feel like one: singing, laughing, passing plates, kids calling out the blessings. Educators, this belongs in your classroom too; the simanim are a ready-made, hands-on lesson in Jewish history, language, and food, and the resources below will get you started. And wherever you celebrate, feel free to get creative. Families have been adding their own simanim and puns for generations. Make it yours, and keep the heart of the tradition beating.

Apples for Sweetness

תפוח · Tapuach

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁתְּחַדֵּשׁ עָלֵינוּ שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה כַּדְּבָשׁ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that You renew for us a year good and sweet like honey.

Dates for Peace

תמרים · Tamarim

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָעֵץ

Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.

After eating the date, take another one and say:

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁיִּתַּמּוּ אוֹיְבֵינוּ וְשׂוֹנְאֵינוּ וְכָל מְבַקְשֵׁי רָעָתֵנוּ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that there come an end to our enemies, haters and those who wish evil upon us.

Green Beans for Prosperity

רוביא · Rubia

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁיִּרְבּוּ זָכִיּוֹתֵינוּ וּתְלַבְּבֵנוּ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that our merits shall increase and that You hearten us.

Pomegranate for Mitzvot

רימון · Rimon

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁנִּהְיֶה מְלֵאִים מִצְוֹת כָּרִמּוֹן

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that we be filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate [is filled with seeds].

Pumpkin for Happiness

קרא · Kara

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁתִּקְרַע רוֹעַ גְּזַר דִּינֵנוּ, וְיִקָּרְאוּ לְפָנֶיךָ זָכִיּוֹתֵינוּ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that the evil of our verdicts be ripped, and that our merits be announced before you.

Beetroot Leaves for Freedom

סלקא · Silka

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁיִּסְתַּלְּקוּ אוֹיְבֵינוּ וְשׂוֹנְאֵינוּ וְכָל מְבַקְשֵׁי רָעָתֵנוּ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that our enemies, haters and those who wish evil upon us shall depart.

Leeks for Friendship

כרתי · Karti

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁיִּכָּרְתוּ אוֹיְבֵינוּ וְשׂוֹנְאֵינוּ וְכָל מְבַקְשֵׁי רָעָתֵנוּ

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that our enemies, haters, and those who wish evil upon us shall be cut down.

Head of Lettuce for Leadership

ראש חסה · Rosh Chasa

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהינוּ וֵאלֵֹהי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁנִּהְיֶה לְרֹאשׁ וְלֹא לְזָנָב

May it be Your will, Lord our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that we be a head and not a tail.

Recipes for the New Year

Starters

Main Course

Sides

Dessert

Breaking the Yom Kippur Fast

Family Menus & Stories

Lesson Plans & Curriculum Materials

Bring Sephardic and Mizrahi New Year traditions into your classroom, congregation, or community program.

Further Reading