Tonight is the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In the Jewish tradition we begin the celebration on the eve of the holiday after sundown. Unfortunately our Jewish Adoption blogger is no longer blogging as I’m sure she’d do a fine job of explaining this holiday and its traditions.

Rosh Hashanah literally means the “head of the year” or the “first of the year.” Unlike the American New Year, it is a holy day of introspection spent reviewing the mistakes of the last year, planning the next year and making resolutions. It is also traditional to blow the “Shofar” or ram’s horn.

Several of the Jewish holidays include certain foods. On the Jewish New Year we dip an apple in honey to symbolize the wish for a “sweet year.” In Israel we always ate honey cake as well. Today I whipped up a really tasty one from scratch, found in a very old recipe book. There is nothing quite like the aroma of a honey cake baking in the oven. The whole house smelled divine.

In Israel there is a two day holiday for the New Year. Families often visit each other and spend time together. Usually the heavy summer heat, particularly oppressive in August breaks around this time and people often feel a new surge of energy.

Last year at this time Ella was not even a year old. and I’m sure I didn’t let her have any honey. Time has flown by and a young toddler sat at the table with us tonight trying to grab everything in sight and demanding to be noticed and involved. She was not willing to dip her apple in honey as it was something new and she had to think about it, however she ate lots of slices of apples and a significant amount of honey cake.

I love celebrating holidays with a young child around; their curiosity and enthusiasm is contagious. I can’t wait to see what Ella will do when we start lighting the candles at Chanukah.