Foods of Rosh Hashanah and Breaking the Yom Kippur Fast the Healthy Way

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a holiday of celebration, yet it also is the beginning of a process of self-examination and internal reflection and contemplation, which ends ten days later with Yom Kippur.

The traditional foods that are eaten on Rosh Hashanah hold a great deal of symbolism (and, if you are not careful, many calories). Apples and honey are perhaps the most well known traditional new year’s foods; they represent a sweet new year ahead. It is also a tradition for Jews to eat a slow-cooked stew, which may be made from the head of an animal, like fish heads, or cooked cows’ tongue. This symbolizes the “head,” or start, of the year.

Pomegranates are eaten during this holiday because of their many seeds, which symbolize fruitfulness. Not only do pomegranates symbolize good things, they are full of goodness. They are high in vitamin A and potassium, and a good source of fiber. They are also rich in polyphenols, a potent class of anti-aging and heart-healthy antioxidants.

Challah, a typical Jewish bread, is baked in a round shape on Rosh Hashanah. This is then dipped in honey. The roundness symbolizes wholeness and continuity, and again, the honey represents wishes for a sweet year ahead. It’s particularly important to keep challah and honey to symbolic portions — enough to respect your tradition, but not so much as to upset the balance of your diet.

Ten days after Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown on Wednesday, September 28, comes Yom Kippur. This is the holiest day of the year in the Jewish faith. It is otherwise known as “the Day of Atonement.” Jews will fast for a period of 25 hours (from sundown to sundown) on Yom Kippur. This is thought to help one focus on well being, asking forgiveness, and praying for a better year ahead.

Traditional foods eaten to break the fast on Yom Kippur are eggs, cheese and bread. Many times, a family will prepare the break-fast meal a day ahead, so they don’t have to deal with any food the actual day of fasting. Other families will only break the fast with cold foods, such as boiled eggs, cheese, bread, and cold meats. Again, the traditional foods might not exactly be up to your usual low-fat and low-carb standards. Boiled eggs, in moderation, are, of course, a wholesome food (you may even want to prepare my “deviled” eggs, where the yolk is scooped and replaced with hummus, a day in advance). Try to eat whole wheat bread and or bread made with other whole grains instead of their white-flour counterparts.

Keeping healthy foods on hand is important, as the urge to over-indulge and make the wrong food choices is always a danger when you are very hungry (as you might be at the end of a fast).

Find the recipe for my “deviled” eggs and five other quick, prepare-ahead snacks that would be ideal for breaking your fast here.

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