Enjoying traditional foods is part of any Jewish holiday celebration. In Israel, where a majority of the Jewish population is of Mizrahi descent, don’t look for tzimmes or potato kugel on Rosh Hashanah tables on the evening of September 15.

The customary Mizrahi Rosh Hashanah dinner, often called a seder, begins with a series of “Yehi ratzon/May it be Your will” blessings made over prescribed foods that symbolize different hopes for the new year.

The foods (referred to assimanim, or signs, in Hebrew) include dates, beans, leeks, beets, gourds, pomegranates, apples and honey, and a fish or sheep’s head—or head of lettuce