Tishrei on the table

First and foremost, before I elaborate on my design philosophy, it's important for me to wish all of us that, despite the coronavirus, we will be able to sit together around the holiday table, with the entire extended family.

Rosh Hashanah is such a family holiday, full of hope for a good year, for renewal, for blessing, for anticipation of what's to come, and for rectification.

This year, the holiday arrives when we are all a bit tired, preoccupied, wondering... The recent period has held up a mirror to us – who we are and how we choose to behave in the face of new challenges.

The coronavirus constantly makes us think differently, in all areas of life. It trains us for a different reality, forcing us to be creative.

So how do you celebrate a family holiday in a situation that doesn't allow physical closeness? How do you create a table that maintains distance? How do you set a festive table, distinct from everyday life, in an economically challenging period?

We chose to offer you ideas on how to celebrate the holiday festively, despite the situation.

Sitting in capsules

If in education - in schools, kindergartens, and universities, then why not in our private homes?

To sit together, but apart.

Create several small tables, according to the number of nuclear families, standing 2 meters apart from each other, either indoors (for those who can) or in the garden, or on the balcony. This way, you enjoy the family holiday experience, maintain everyone's health, and also save a choppy, collective Zoom call.

Of course, the serving dishes are also small and allow for a limited serving style.

An opportunity to discover modesty and humility

The general gloomy atmosphere dictated by the coronavirus period in Israel and around the world influenced us to design in a more modest, simple style, one that is not ostentatious and that every home can easily create, with fewer decorations and decorative elements, which also allowed more space for food on the table. And after all, that's why we gathered :)

The white dinnerware did a great job, as did the classic white cotton tablecloth and matching fabric napkins.

However, to slightly emphasize the festivity, we "popped" the whiteness with our gold cutlery, which almost always accompanies us in table settings. It's simply a winning horse, and you don't change a winning horse.

We put thought into the selection and arrangement of the flowers.

The game here was with airy, uncluttered touches and placing the flowers in vases with the same design language. We used, as required, our AV vases, with their clean and minimalist lines.

The recommendation is to choose loose flowers and not buy one tight "bouquet," flowers that last for a long time, like gypsophila, statice, and the like, so that the table will bloom throughout the holiday, and to incorporate wildflowers that grow around the house and various branches of trees from the Land of Israel, such as olive, for example.

We placed candlesticks on the table to emphasize the holiday atmosphere and sanctity.

TISHREY plate - Holiday blessings plate

The plate that symbolizes all the good we all long for, the blessings for the new year. We gave it pride of place in the center of the table. We arranged the blessing components on it simply, but with a lot of intention.

Uniform language

To create a uniform language across all tables and to avoid a jumble of styles, we chose white, "clean" dishes, without decorations, neutral, in a round or square shape, both for serving dishes and dinnerware.

To vary and add interest, while still maintaining neutrality, you can incorporate transparent glass dishes or wooden dishes.

We placed candlesticks on the table to emphasize the holiday atmosphere and sanctity.

This year, I chose to dedicate the Rosh Hashanah article and holiday table design to my team, which is family. The AV family.

As we said before, we left a lot of space on the table for food. So each team member chose a recipe from their home. For each one, the recipe symbolizes a personal story - family festivity, a taste of home, longing... Together we created a table full of flavors and stories. In our family, there is room for everyone, I invite you to our table:

Shiran's green salad

Michal's cauliflower bulgur salad

Oren's smoked meat

Amit's spicy fish

Avital's antipasti

Nida's grape leaves

Drama's Aloo Gobi Paratha

Grandma Nurit's sweet challah (Avital's mother)

Liron's apple cake

I wish us all a good year, that we may sit together around the holiday table with our loved ones, that we may weave exciting memories and experiences, that we may enjoy robust health. And that we remember to be good.

One good deed leads to another good deed. Please let's not lose ourselves, our greatness in such a time is to be the best we can be and to be responsible for one another.