Rosh Hashana Custom Questions

Questions on the customs of Rosh Hashana:

1. How can we do the simonim, with the different types of food on the night of Rosh Hashana. There is a Torah prohibition of Nichush, where they take things and say that they symbolise different things that will happen? How is the simonim different to this and is allowed?
2. What lies behind each different fruit that we take?
3. Why do we do Tashlich, going down to the river and saying prayers?
4. Why is there the custom not to eat nuts?
5. Why is there is a custom not to sleep on Rosh Hashana by day?
6. Why dip the apple more than any other fruit into honey?
7. What is the special greeting said on the night of Rosh Hashana and why?
8. Why is there a custom to say Sefer Tehilim, Psalms, on Rosh Hashana?
9. Why when we bow down on Rosh Hashana during davening do we place something first on the ground?

Ideas for answers to the customs of Rosh Hashana:

1. The Meiri (Gemora Hoiriyos 12a) says that nichush is when you do an action and interpret it to mean a certain thing. However, with the custom of simonim we accompany the action with saying things that the words we say should arouse us to do teshuva and thereby it is a good sign.
3. The Zohar (P’ Vayikra) says that the Akeida took place on Rosh Hashana. The Midrash (Yalkut Shemoni Vayeira 99) brings how the Soton tried stopping Avrohom and one of the ways was by putting a river in his way. Avrohom pushed his way through and continued to do the Akeida. Therefore this act comes to act as a merit for us. The Beis Meir (583) brings that water is a sign for submissiveness and this is what we must do on Rosh Hashana being servants to carry out the will of Hashem. Perhaps another idea is that since it is the coronation day of Hashem and the custom was that the Kings when inaugurated they went down to the river we do the same.
4. The Rema brings that the gematria for nuts is the same as sin – אגו”ז=חטא. The problem is that egoz equals seventeen while cheit equals eighteen? …
5. Rosh Hashana being the first day of the year is like the seed and root for the coming year. Man was created to do things. Sleep, as seen that it is one sixtieth of death, is when man is inactive and not productive. We want the year to be a fruitful one full of action and therefore hold back from sleeping. However, since sleep can refresh a person, after midday a person if need me can sleep.
7. It is to greet people to have a new year and be written (and signed) into the book of life and tzadikim. Perhaps there are a few ideas behind this. One never knows the power of blessings from people and therefore we greet everyone. There is also the idea of drawing people together in unity and when people are friendly and say nice things to each other this enhances this.
8. Sefer Tehilim was written (mainly) by Dovid Hamelech who epitomises in this world Malchus. Rosh Hashana is the day of Hashem’s coronation as King. Tehilim expresses his relationship with Hashem through the different phases in his life and Rosh Hashana is the time when we will have decreed the different phases in our life. Perhaps another idea is that usually Torah only counts if you understand what you saying. However, the exception is Sefer Tehilim, that counts even without understanding it. On Rosh Hashana we want ourselves to do something that will count and therefore busy ourselves that will work even if we do not concentrate on the words.
9. There is a commandment of not prostrating on the stone ground like the idol worshippers did. Even though we do not necessarily bow down fully during Rosh Hashana on stone floors, nevertheless, there is the chance someone will and therefore everyone has the custom to place something to separate between the person and the ground.