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The Apple
The Apple would like to set the record straight. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Even in the Garden of
Eden. The apple suggests that you turn to Genesis I:1-6:8 to see for yourself that the Torah never identifies the Tree of Knowledge (nor the Tree of Life). What do you think the forbidden fruit was? Send your
answers (and reasoning) to karen@njycamps.org. See Teachings of the Elders to see what our rabbis of old thought the forbidden fruit was.
While you're thinking up something creative, the Apple also asks you to remember that it is an honored guest at Jewish holiday meals. Apples are
half of the apple and honey duo we eat on Rosh Hashanah. We use honey as a symbol of hope for a sweet New Year, but why apples? Chances are because they are available, being harvested about the same time the New
Year occurs in the fall. More interesting is the fact that apples also end up on many of our Passover Seder tables, right along with matzah, bitter herbs and four cups of wine.
"Why," you might ask do we use apples for this spring holiday?" We turn to Jewish tradition for the answer. our Passover Seder tables, right along with matzah, bitter herbs and four cups of wine. "Why," you might ask, " do we use apples for this spring holiday?" We turn to Jewish tradition for the answer.
Tradition tells us that Pharaoh decreed that all male Israelite babies be tossed into the Nile.
To avoid the temptation of intimate relationships resulting in babies, the father of Moses and all of the Israelite men separated from their wives. However, the Israelite women had different ideas. They decided that this action was even harsher than Pharaoh's decree because now there would be no children at all - male or female. Consequently, the women dressed themselves in seductive clothing and went out to the apple orchards to attract the men and entice them. The ploy worked and the rest is history. In honor of the role the apple trees played in this tiny bit of Jewish history, they are added to the charoset in Ashkenazi recipes.
On behalf of The Apple we would like to remind you to compost apple cores along with your other compostable foods. And forget not the words of the person who
promoted the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO with those now infamous words: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"
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