Rosh Hashanah is Hebrew. It translates to ‘beginning of the year’. It is the first day of the High Holidays. In essence it is the start of the Jewish spiritual New Year. The day is calculated by counting a 162 days from the first day of Pesach which is more commonly known as Passover. This gives it a changing date every year. It can be a one day event or a two day event. In Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism only the first day is recognized, however, in Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism both days are observed.
On Rosh Hashanah the holiday will be heralded by the blowing of the shofar which is a trumpet made from a rams horn. The blowing of this horn is to wake the listener up for judgment. Rosh Hashanah is a holiday of repentance. In the afternoon of the first day the tashlikh is performed. This practice is a casting away of sins. It is symbolic and is performed by throwing rocks or simple bread crumbs into water. It is believed that at this time God judges the good from the bad for the coming year. Those who are judged worthy are sealed into the Book Of Life but those who are judged bad have ten days to repent before Yom Kippur so they can also be sealed into the Book Of Life
This holiday is considered a day of rest and the same rules that apply to the Sabatt are also prohibited on Rosh Hashanah. At this time the traditional greeting is always ‘Shana Tova’ which translates simply “Happy New Year”.
Foods eaten on Rosh Hashanah are always Kosher. They always include honey and apples to symbolize a sweet New Year.
Here are two recipes for the main course of your Rosh Hashanah dinner. Remember that these meats must be Kosher so you will need to purchase your meats from a Kosher butcher or you can order them on line from one of the Kosher websites.
There are some excellent websites that can supply you with fresh excellent Kosher food that will be delivered right to your doorstep. Here are the links to a few. You can purchase all the ingredients for these recipes at these websites.
kosher.com
aviglatt.com
mykoshermarket.com
Here are a couple of recipes to help you prepare your Rosh Hashanah dinner.
Roast Beef
A wonderful recipe for a truly fantastic Roast Beef
Supplies that you will need.
1) Five pounds of Kosher Roast Beef.
2) 1 Cup Soy Sauce
3) 1 Cup of Honey
3) Half of a large fresh union that you dice into small pieces
4) 1 Cup of tightly packed brown sugar
5) 1 Garlic Clove that you will dice and crush.
6) A splash of Pepper.
Place your Roast in a large roasting pan.
Preheat your oven to 350
Mix 1 Cup Soy Sauce, 1 Cup Honey, the Onion diced up, 1 Cup Brown Sugar, 1 diced and crushed Garlic Clove and a splash of Pepper in a large mixing bowl. Once all of these ingredients are mixed pour them over the Roast in the roasting pan. Now cover the roast with a lid or tin foil. Place in oven for approximately 3 hours.
I have also used this same recipe in a Crockpot. I have combined the Roast and all ingredients and let it simmer for eight hours on high and then the one hour on low. This tends to tenderize the roast more then oven baking but it does soak up a great deal of the sauce. I also had to add two cups of water to the sauce ingredients. But it is another way to cook this meal.
Oven Baked Honey Skinless Chicken Breast
Here are the supplies that you will need for this wonderful main course.
1) 3 pounds of skinless chicken breast
2) 1 1/2 cup of honey
3) 2 Eggs Beaten
4) 1 Cup of Matzo meal
5) splash of pepper
6) 1/2 cup of olive oil
7) 1 cup water
8) 1/2 cup of orange juice
9) 1 cup packed brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 325
Place chicken in roasting pan.
Mix 1 1/2 cup of honey, 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup Matzo meal, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 cup brown sugar, and a touch of pepper in a large mixing bowl. Once thoroughly mixed pour over the chicken. Now cover the chicken with a lid or with tin foil. Place in oven and roast for 1 hour or until chicken is completely done. Please be sure to baste the chicken throughout the baking process.
These are two wonderful recipes for the main course of your Rosh Hashanah dinner. I’m sure that either one will be a success. I have personally made both of these meals with great success in the past. They were easy to create and turned out wonderfully.
