The Jewish New Year is full of rich traditions and sweet customs.

And of course, food.

The Journal News/lohud checked in with the women who participated in the Rockland Jewish Women series to talk about Rosh Hashana, which started Sunday evening and runs through Tuesday.

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Shofar and simanim are two aspects of Rosh Hashana that the women talk about.

The shofar is a ram's horn that emits a mournful sound. There are many reasons for blowing it on Rosh Hashana, including to herald the new year, God and eventually the messiah, as a remembrance of the sacrifice of Isaac and to mourn the destruction of the holy temple.

Simanim are symbolic foods that many people serve on the holiday to represent the different blessings and the sweet new year. They include round challah (bread), leeks, pomegranates, gourds, dates, light colored beans, apples and honey, beets, carrots and a fish or ram’s head.

The women shared their favorite traditions, customs, memories and recipes:

“Shanah tovah u’metuka!”

(Have a good, sweet year)!

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Rosh Hashana inspires Friedman.

She is inspired when she walks around Central Park with her husband blowing shofar for people who wouldn’t otherwise hear it or walking over 50 blocks to visit a sick woman.

It’s inspiring for her to watch her husband lead the songs and prayers at their local synagogue or host a multitude of guests at her holiday table.

“It’s just beautiful,” she said. "Very special.”

She even found inspiration when her husband had trouble blowing the shofar one year, despite being adept at it, in front of hundreds of people.

“He kept trying,” she said, adding that a famed Holocaust survivor, Esther Jungreis, later used the anecdote in her sermon to illustrate the importance of perseverance. “She turned it into something so beautiful.”

Davening (praying) in New Square on Rosh Hashana is quite the experience, Rosengarten said.

Starting early in the morning and lasting all day, the melodic songs of thousands praying stick with her throughout the holiday.

“The entire day is spent on and focused on davening,” she said. “It’s very long and beautiful … those special songs that are associated with Rosh Hashana.”

She’s also a fan of the sweet foods traditionally served on the holiday.

“I don’t love raisins, but for some reason, having those round challahs (bread) with raisins and honey is just so special.”

She also has fun buying unusual fruits so her family can make a special blessing called shechiyanu.

“We didn't go all out. … but whatever we had was sweet and traditional,” she said.

Feiner also goes out of her way to get unusual fruit, but she said she also tries to get as many simanim on her table as she can.

“It’s a special thing for the family,” she said. “We really try to elaborate on that. We like to do a whole bunch of them.”

She said she incorporates all kinds of different backgrounds and customs into her search for simanim.

“As many as there are out there, we try to do,” she said. “The table is covered in all these different fruits. It’s a lot of fun as a family.”

This year, her eldest daughter took over a lot of the cooking, including the honey cake using a recipe passed down through several generations.

Grossman said she keeps her fare simple on Rosh Hashana and doesn’t invite a lot of family over.

She instead focuses on prayer since many of her family members don’t have the opportunity to do so. She also invites her 90-year-old mother-in-law, who she said doesn’t get to spend many holidays with them.

“I remember what it was like when I was younger and had little kids and couldn’t get to shul (synagogue),” she said. “I take the achrayus (responsibility) for davening for my children and grandchildren as well throughout the whole Yom Tov (holiday).”

She also opens her home to guests who would otherwise be on their own.

“I’m sharing the holiday with people who feel like they want to celebrate with family but they don’t have family,” she said.

She makes up individual simanim seder plates full of dates, figs, cabbage kugel, squash, carrots, fish and a stick of honey. She also provides a shot glass of honey for dipping purposes.

“That way we don't have to pass everything around,” she said. “Their own little seder plate.”

A seder plate is traditionally used on Passover as part of the symbolic retelling of the exodus from Egypt.

Rosh Hashana is a time of celebration, blessings and reflection for Fuerst.

“It’s a time to pause and reflect and see what are the good things that we did and of the bad things that we did and ask forgiveness,” she said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to start fresh.”

It’s something she is always reminded of when she recollects the chaos and joy surrounding her grandson’s birth.

He was born 45 minutes before Rosh Hashana started and it was several days before Fuerst got to meet her grandson. There are restrictions on driving on the holiday and the hospital was too far away to walk, so Fuerst asked a non-Jewish friend to help her, both by bringing hot food to her son and daughter-in-law at the hospital and by bringing home pictures of the newborn.

Friends and neighbors also helped put together the boy’s welcoming party (shalom brocha).

“We made it from scratch from all the neighbors,” she said. “Everybody brought stuff. We made a whole party out of nothing.”

So when Fuerst puts simanim on her table, she is reminded of all the blessings in her life.

Twitter: @ReporterRox