Suggestions for High Holy Days

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sundown Friday. This holiday and Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown Sept. 22, are known as the High Holy Days and are the most revered times of the Jewish year.

For Rosh Hashanah, “Easy Kosher Cooking” suggests this menu: wine, challah, apple slices with honey, gefilte fish salad, lentil vegetable soup, roast chicken or turkey, carrot tzimmes, potatoes, fresh fruit and honey cake.

The challah is baked in a round rather than the usual braid to symbolize the coming around of another year, Rosalyn Manesse says. Apples with honey and honey cake are eaten to wish for a sweet year. The holiday lasts two days, and on the second, the custom is to eat fruit that has just come into season or is not ordinarily eaten in the home.

Another Rosh Hashanah custom is to eat fish, which symbolizes abundance. On the second day, celebrants offer prayers of thanks for reaching the new year.

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, adults fast until sunset, spending the day in prayer and reflection.

Another fall holiday is Sukkot, the harvest festival that starts the evening of Sept. 27 and ends the night of Oct. 6.

On this holiday, observant Jews build an outdoor structure called a sukkah and dine there. This tradition recaptures the way the Israelites lived as they wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt.

Manesse recommends casseroles, sandwiches, salads or barbecues for Sukkot because they are convenient for outdoor meals. Fresh fruits and vegetables suit the harvest theme.

The Sukkot menu in “Easy Kosher Cooking” suggests wine or grape juice, challah, coleslaw, arroz con pollo or crock pot stew, fresh fruit cake, beverage, nuts and fresh fruits.