Illustration Credit: Noa Kelner
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
The Gemara explains that Yaakov was cooking lentil stew for Yitzhak because Yitzhak was mourning Avraham’s death (Bavli Bava Batra 16b). Rashi explains that Yaakov chose to cook lentils because round foods have symbolic meaning for mourners.
Round foods can represent the idea that everyone in the world is sometimes impacted by sadness or mourning, just like each part of a wheel will at some point touch the ground. Another explanation is that round foods have no opening (no “mouth”), and it is customary for mourners to speak very little at the beginning of their mourning period (Bavli Moed Kattan 21b). It’s really true - when you’re sad, it can be very hard to talk about anything.
Mourners often eat round foods, such as hard boiled eggs or lentils, at the first meal following their relative’s burial. This meal is known as the סְעוּדַת הַבְרָאָה (Seudat Havra’ah) (Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 378:9).
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