Like a lot of couples my husband and I are, well, we don't always see eye to eye. He likes it cold, I like it hot, I think coffee should be taken intervenously, he thinks it is a posion whose only purpose is to keep one awake. He takes five teaspoons of sugar. I take one.
We differ also on our interpretation of Jewish law and what is important, what should be done.
Dh rule in this regard, but I am not voiceless.
Like all families we do the apple and honey and dip the Challah into honey instead of salt to indicate our wishes, hopes, prayers for a sweet year.
But there are also lots of other "simonim"which many other families do; foods put out on the table for Rosh Hashanah that are, well, I guess the best way to explain it would be little prayers.There's the pomegranate, because supposedly the pomegranate has 613 seeds, and there are 613 mitzvot, there's the beets, because the word for beet and the word for remove are similar (in Hebrew/Aramaic) and we are asking that our enemies be removed. Go here and here are places to explore more.
And then there is the head of a fish or sheep, that we would like to be like the head and not the tail.
Dh does not like all the little simonim. I like them. But for the most part they aren't done.
But every year I make a whole fish and serve that at the meal, head and all. (We are in agreement about the sheep head. BLECH!!!)
My dh doesn't really go for fish all that much.
Which brings us to Steve.
I set out the fish. The Monkey covers her faces and screams; "I can't eat him! He's too cute!" The Agent claims the fish is staring at him. The Artist just sits there, quietly looking down at her plate.
And the Wit launches into a long story about how poor Steve was the head of the class till I caught him and cooked him, thus cutting short a promising and productive life.
All and all he was good tasting; he didn't even need salt..
And afterward we ate George, the chicken.
(yeah, this is how dinner goes in my house. Please tell me its like that at your house too!)
Posted by Rachel Ann at September 18, 2004 08:55 PMNo it is not like this in my home at all BUT I had a similar experience with a fish when I went home for Shabbat with my friend Rafi who lived in Ashdod. His mom had asked me if I liked white fish and I nearly drooled. I loved it!! When a huge fish, head and tail and all was placed on my plate I almost fell off the chair. What the hell??
When we ordered white fish from the deli at home it was headless and then Papa took ALL the bones out for us.What was I supposed to do with this scaley whole fish?I wanted to cry. In the end, I folded a napkin up as a blindfold and put it around the fish head so it wouldn't look at me and I tried to eat it. I don't like my food to look at me. That's just creepy!!
It wasn't the same as when Papa served white fish!!