Join us for the High Holidays

Gefilte fish. It’s one of those unique Jewish foods. Goyim don’t get it. For Jews, it means something more. Like Bessie. She is in her 90s.

She’s not well. She’s in hospice care. But when I bring over challah and gefilte fish, her eyes light up. She says it evokes memories of her grandma’s kitchen.

Some remember bonding with fish swimming in their bathtubs before Passover, only to watch them be killed and prepared for the Seder meal. Ouch — glad I never experienced that ritual.

What are gefilte fish? And why are we so into it?

“Gefilte” simply means “filled” or “stuffed.”

Stuffed fish, that’s it. Fish is traditionally eaten at the special Shabbat and holiday dinners. On the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah eve, we eat all sorts of symbolic food to evoke blessings from above for a good, sweet year. We eat apples dipped in honey, pomegranates and round challah to name a few. And we eat fish. We even place the head of a fish on the table and pray that we merit to be “a head, not a tail.”

Fish don’t have eyelids, which symbolize the divine watchful eye that never closes. We pray that God watch over this world this coming year.

We also visit a river on the first day of Rosh Hashanah to evoke the blessing of life and forgiveness, symbolized by the fresh flowing water and the open eyes of the ever-multiplying fish.

Jewish mystics, Kabbalists, shared with us that the souls of righteous individuals sometimes reincarnate into fish, and when they grace our holy Shabbat table, their souls are released and can rest in peace.

So why the “filled” fish? Well, apparently in times of hardship, our ancestors learned to stretch food to its maximum. They would clean out the inside of a fish, usually whitefish, stuff it with leftovers to make it more filling and bake it. Eventually someone got the idea that the stuffing itself was tasty, so they mixed it with a little fish and made it into a dish on its own.

Honestly, I’m a bit picky about my gefilte fish, and can see why someone wouldn’t care for it. But there are so many different types out there. There’s jarred, frozen, boiled, sweet, savory, my wife’s delicious, baked, frozen with tomato sauce and, of course, the ones made from scratch with whitefish.

Starting this Monday night, a 24-day celebration of the Jewish New Year begins. We mark 5,782 years since the creation of Adam and Eve, our first ancestors.

These 24 days include the Days of Awe, Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 6-8) and Yom Kippur (Sept. 15-16); and the Days of Joy, Sukkot (Sept. 20-27) and Simchat Torah (Sept. 27-29).

Unfortunately, we are celebrating in the shadows of another COVID-19 surge, but thank God for the miracle of the vaccine that, with the right precautions, will allow us to gather as a community. We need each other now more than ever and we need to connect, celebrate, and awaken the spirit within to rise above the hardships we are experiencing.

Join us for uplifting prayer services, sounding of the shofar, fasting, singing and dancing — a month of celebrations! Full schedule at santafejcc.com/hholidays.

Don’t like gefilte fish? Don’t worry. Kosher sushi eaten with the corresponding blessing will release those wandering souls as well.

L’shana Tovah Umetukah!