The rosh hashana seder's origins are found in the Talmud. Abaye is quoted twice in the Talmud regarding the power of symbolism. In one instance, he says that since symbols have meaning, one should eat squash, beans, leeks, beats, and dates on Rosh Hashanah. In the second, he is quoted as saying that one should look at the symbolic foods, not eat them. While most of the rishonim agree with the later text, it is the former one that has taken hold as common practice, and so today it is common to eat the foods and not merely look at them. The first reported eating of these foods was done by rabbi Hai Gaon (10th century), who also added the practice of reciting a passage from the Tanach relevant to each food. Since then numerous rishonim and achronim have incorporated eating these or other symbolic foods into their Rosh Hashanah customs, and the practice has been included by some of the great halachic codes - the Tur, the Shulchan Arukh, and the Rema.

The matter of which foods are included in the seder has varied over time and place and continues to evolve today with people adding and subtracting foods as they wish. What follows here is the family tradition I grew up with.