Hosting a more meaningful Rosh Hashanah dinner is possible - and easy! Here's our top 5 tips to make it happen, even if you only have 15 minutes. 

1. Each Passover we ask, "why is this night different from all other nights?" Your Rosh Hashanah dinner is another oppprtunity to get clear on your purpose and intention. What's special about tonight? You might be embracing the opportunity to be in community, marking this sacred moment in the Jewish calendar, or eating together as a way of being present. 

2. Include a small ritual around gratitude. Say a blessing of thanks or invite everyone to share something they're grateful for. Scroll down in this booklet for a short blessing of gratitude for each other. 

3. What's a Jewish holiday without food? Your Rosh Hashanah seder is the perfect time to include special foods on the menu. Traditional options include round challah, foods sweetened with honey or agave, pomegranates and dates. The Northern Hemisphere is shifting into fall, so don't be afraid to get creative with pumpkin, spices and all the foods that taste like fall. 

4. Embrace what you know and love. There's many Rosh Hashanah rituals you can incorporate into your seder such as lighting candles, washing your hands, blessing wine, eating new fruits or apples with honey. Bring something familiar into your seder. 

5. Create a new tradition that goes beyond the food. Rosh Hashanah is all about reflecting on the year that has passed and looking forward to the new year. You can bring these elements into your seder by - making a toast to the new year; offering a rose, thorn and bud to the past year; viewing a video reel or digital photo album to relive your year's highlights; or sharing intentions.

However you celebrate your Rosh Hashanah dinner - make this one to remember! 

For centuries, Sephardi Jewish families have gathered to celebrate a special Rosh Hashanah ceremony with a plate or meal of symbolic foods. Each food is eaten after requesting a specific kind of Divine blessing that sounds like the name of that food in Hebrew. 

Before eating dates ( tamar ):
May it be your will, God, that hatred will end. ( Tamar resembles the word for end, yitamu. )

Before eating pomegranate:
May we be as full of mitzvot as the pomegranate is full of seeds.

Before eating apple:
May it be Your will, God, to renew for us a good and sweet year.

Before eating black-eyed peas or string beans ( rubia ):
May it be Your will, God, that our merits increase. ( Rubia resembles the word for increase, yirbu. )

Before eating pumpkin or gourd ( k’ra ):
May it be Your will, God, to tear away all evil decrees against us, as our merits are proclaimed before you. ( K’ra resembles the word for tear and proclaimed, likroah. )

Before eating spinach or beet leaves ( selek ):
May it be Your will, God, that all the enemies who might beat us will retreat, and we will beat a path to freedom ( Selek resembles the word for retreat, yistalku ).

Before eating leeks, chives, or scallions ( karti ):
May it be Your will, God, that our enemies be cut off. ( Karti resembles the word for cut off,  yikartu. ) 

Since Rosh Hashanah means the head of the year, we eat foods that symbolize our wish to be heads, not tails in the year to come. Traditionally, families ate the head of a fish or sheep. You may want to instead enjoy a head of lettuce, or a more whimsical option involves gummy fish. 
May it be Your will, God, that our heads remain clear and focused on creating a better world this year.