Simanei Milsa or good omens find their origin in the Talmud (two places; Horayos 12a and Kerisos 5b-6a) with the statement of Abaye (referring to an earlier statement in the Gemara):
“Now that you say that omens are meaningful, one should eat at the beginning of the year the following: Kra – pumpkin; rubia – fenugreek; karsi – leek; silka – beet; and tamri – dates. We also find in Eruvin 19a that Resh Lakish compares the simple (or perhaps even the wicked) Jew to a rimon (pomegranate) that is so full of seeds – some say 613 compared to the commandments.
Each of these omens (those first five) are the only one’s found in the Talmud specifically relating to the Rosh Hashana meal. Indeed, the Mechaber (Orach Chayyim 583:1 based on the above citation) codifies only these five. Yet we find that later authorities – the Geonim, Rishonim, Acharonim – added more. The common denominator of all of these is that each portends a good omen for the person as we start a New Year with hopefully a wiped-clean slate.
Now since these are based on linguistic homonyms, it might seem that creating newer such omens in the lingua franca would be of value. Yet some that I have heard are really expressions in jest. For example, lettuce, raisins and celery – “let us have a raise in salary.”
My personal opinion is that our sages through the ages have given us sufficient such omens. Each prefaced with a “Yehi ratzon… – May it be His will…” that there is no need for us to add any additional ones.
Rabbi Yaakov Klass, rav of Congregation K’hal Bnei Matisyahu, Flatbush, Brooklyn; is Torah Editor of The Jewish Press; he also serves as chairman of the Presidium of the Rabbinical Alliance of America. He can be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected].
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There seems to be nothing wrong with creating new simanim; the real questions is, what is the significance of the simanim. The poskim explain to us, and the Mishnah Berurah says, that the simanim is not the sign as much as the tefillah we say along with it, and the intention.
So more than anything, we should be focused on the meaning and the request. Likewise, the Mishnah Berurah points out, surely we should understand that any act of getting angry, for example, will be more significant as a sign for anger during the year more than anything else. So keep in mind that the best idea is to focus on the teffilos as written by Chazal, the meanings and intentions of all minhagim and to use those properly.
– Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier is founder of The Shmuz and author of 10 Really Dumb Mistakes That Very Smart Couples Make (available at theshmuz.com).
