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The fig is the original first fruit, the first mentioned by name in the Torah. It is with fig leaves that Adam and Eve clothe themselves after eating from the Tree of Knowledge and realizing their nakedness. Figs take an age to ripen, and then refuse to do so all at once so that you need to harvest them daily. Torah is compared to a fig for this reason; just as a person always finds new ripe figs on the tree, so too will they always find a new taste in the Torah they are studying. The lengthy ripening means figs will also differ from one another in sweetness. In Meir Shalev’s A Pigeon and A Boy we learn that the best way to eat a fig is to share it with another person; that way everyone gets a taste of the sweetest.

Pomegranates are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah because they are said to have 613 seeds which corresponds to the number of mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah. While the actual number of seeds varies, the sheer volume is such that the pomegranate is powerful symbol of fertility, love, and sensuality. In Song of Songs, brows “[gleam] like a pomegranate split open,” thighs “shelter an orchard of pomegranates,” spiced wine is made and drunk from “the juice of my pomegranate”. A story in the Talmud tells of a rabbi’s wife who disguises herself as a sex worker and seduces her husband before demanding payment in the form of fresh pomegranates. Pomegranates are arousing, they are fecund, they are sex and desire neatly packaged as fruit. And yet, due to a quirk of form, the Hebrew word for pomegranate – rimon – is also the name given to a hand grenade. Many find this association widely inappropriate and absurd. How can an item that symbolizes life and abundance share a name with another that causes death and destruction? 

Grapes are harvested and transformed into wine which “gladdens the heart.” Wine is liberation, joy, and song. Kiddush over wine sanctifies the days of Shabbat and festivals, Havdalah over wine marks their end. A blessing over wine at Brit Milah bestows our names, a drop on the tongue soothes the child. Under the huppah we drink two cups, on Passover, four. Like Solomon, you can drink your wine while sitting in the shade of the grapevine. In Israel, some grandmothers make a traditional Romanian dish called saramle, vine leaves stuffed with meat, rice, vegetables, and seasoned with paprika. It is delicious and pairs well with wine.

Olives are a symbol of peace; it was an olive leaf that the dove carried back to Noah in his beak to show that the flood had receded from the earth. The Jewish people are also compared to an olive tree, ancient and enduring. In Kabbalah, olives correspond to the sephirah of yesod (foundation). It is fitting that olive oil is the foundation of Israeli and Mediterranean diets. In Israel, pubs used to serve a small dish of olives alongside your drink. Some people select a pub by the quality of the olives they provided. It’s a good idea to check what type of olives a person prefers before inviting them out for a drink.

Blessed are You, Eternal One, who brings forth bread from the earth. The blessing over wheat covers the eating of barley, but not the other way around. Wheat is bread, which is life. In Kabbalah it corresponds to the sephirah of hesed (loving, kindness); just as kindness nourishes the soul, so too does wheat nourish the body. In contrast, barley, with its seed enclosed in strong hull, is gevurah (restraint). Wheat is expansive and open, while barley is about boundaries and restrictions. Yet, in the field it is hard to distinguish one from the other. Kfar Uria in Israel is a small village surrounded by wheat and barley meadows. It can be uplifting to walking through a golden field of wheat. Or is that barley?