Pomegranate is one of the holiest foods in the Judaism.
According to Jewish tradition, the number of seeds in one fruit matches 613 commandments in the Torah, the religion's core book, making it a popular fruit to eat during the Jewish New Year.
These and other traditions are coming alive in September during the two most important Jewish holidays of the year: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The Hebrew calendar has four new-year dates, but Rosh Hashanah is considered the most important one. It fell on Sept. 8 on the Gregorian calendar this year and lasted for two days.
Believers are expected to spend the following 10 days in prayer and repentance. The New Year marks the creation of the world, which took place 5,771 years ago, based on the lunar calculations.
“It is the day when God decides the fate of all the creatures for the year to come: If they get sick or healthy, make money or grow poor,” said David Milman from the Brodsky Synagogue. “Everything is decided on this day.”
Rosh Hashanah’s popularity equals that of New Year’s Eve in the secular world. “Even those people who usually don’t observe the law much during the year come to the synagogue and we struggle to fit them all in,” Milman said. Despite the belief that God rules fates on this day, it is possible to change his will through a prayer.
One of the most important traditions during Rosh Hashanah is blowing the ram’s horn, or shofar. Rabbi Jacob Dov Bleich performs this duty in the Podil Synagogue.
Carefully picking up a polished, dark-brown horn, he demonstrates a deep sound, which ends abruptly. It announces the start of the 10-day holiday and alerts everyone of the coming judgment. Another tradition is clearing pockets in the nearest water reservoir for “God to take away our sins and throw them into the sea.” Bleich said Ukrainian Jewish traditions vary little from those abroad.
“Maybe there were some [peculiarities,] but they all vanished during the Soviet times,” he said.
Rosh Hashanah is also a popular time to take time off work for devout Jews. “The rabbis are the only people who are supposed to work at Shabbath, although they tell everyone that working is forbidden,” said Bleich.
According to the Torah, there are 39 different kinds of work forbidden during religious holidays. It’s not allowed to light a fire or even press a light switch, carry things outside home or drive a car, among other things.
To follow the code, Milman and his family rented an apartment near the synagogue to avoid travel on this holiday. He said he leaves the light on for two days. Lighting the candles to mark the beginning of a celebration, along with blowing the horn, is also a great honor. Milman said that women usually light candles as “they are more perfect creatures,” and can purify themselves in this way, whereas men can do it only by prayer.
There are also special meals and fasting. Rosh Hashanah is a sweet occasion encouraging Jews to forsake sour and spicy foods. Apples with honey, cakes, fruit and round egg bread called challah are a part of a traditional meal. “Also, the head of a fish or that of a male sheep in other countries is served with a message to always be at the front of things, not in the tail in the upcoming year,” said Milman.
On Sept. 18, the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is celebrated. Right on the eve, a special kaparot ritual is performed when Jews pick up an object, usually a chicken, and cross their head with it three times to transfer sins. It’s then given to the poor or cooked for a pre-Yom Kippur meal, which is followed by a 25-hour fast.
Apart from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there’s another important date for the Breslov Jews, a branch of the Hasidic movement.
Thousands of Jewish men come to Ukraine annually to pray at the grave of the founder and spiritual leader Rabbi Nachman.
No one really knows the exact date of his death, but pilgrimages to his burial site in Uman, some 200 kilometers from Kyiv, fall some time on Rosh Hashanah.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of his death, and airports throughout Ukraine have already started receiving many Jews in traditional attire. “It is important for the Jewish people to be with their rabbi during the Rosh Hashanah, so they travel around the world to be with their rabbi,” said rabbi Bleich explaining the pilgrimage. It is believed that praying at Nachman’s grave will help clearing all sins of the devout.
Anyone who wants to see the Jewish celebrations can visit synagogues but will be expected to observe all the rules. With a few hundred thousand Jews living in Ukraine, synagogues have prepared for a major convergence. The festivities, however, may vary just as the actual number of pomegranate seeds varies with individual fruits.
