Should Tashlich include the throwing of bread and/or coins?
Question submitted to “Ask the Rabbi” by:
Name: Bill McNiff
City: Lancaster, PA
Age: 80
Full Question:
“When I was a young boy, living in lower Manhattan, I remember a Jewish custom of throwing bread from the New York bridges on one of their holy days. I also recall some of the people threw coins. One of my Jewish pals told me it was to acknowledge past sins, etc. I was sharing this with another friend today, a secular Jew, and he said I was mistaken. Did I make a mistake and did they use only bread, coins or both?
If this question is worthy of a reply I would appreciate your input.”
Rabbi Tully Bryks responds:
From my perspective, all questions are worthy of a reply!
Tashlich is customarily performed on the first day of Rosh Hoshanah (unless it coincides with Shabbos), but can be done on any day through Hoshanah Rabbah (roughly three weeks later – on the last day of the Sukkos holiday). The ceremony prayers focus on the 13 attributes of G-d, which highlight His love for us and desire to forgive our sins. There are various customs regarding other prayers, which often include different sections of Tehilim (Psalms), supplications and Kabbalistic prayers. Tashlich should ideally be performed by a natural, flowing body of water, like a river or stream and should contain fish. If no such body of water is accessible, one can still perform the ritual by a well or small pond, even without fish. There is much symbolism to both the water and the fish. Here are just a few examples:
- Just as fish swim freely and can suddenly be ensnared by a net, we can also be ensnared by our Yetzer Horah (evil inclination) and be led to sin.
- The water recalls the merit of Akeidas Yitzchak (sacrifice of Issac) as a river blocked the path of Avraham (Abraham) and Yitchak when they were on the way to pass that difficult test.
- Just like fish procreate, we should have the blessing of children and be fruitful and multiply.
- Seeing the water and the beauty of G-d’s creations can inspire us to change our ways for the better.
What about throwing bread or coins? When standing by the water, we are supposed to shake out our pockets, symbolically throwing away our sins into the water and resolving to be a better person going forward. While it is possible that the people you saw were throwing bread (a fairly common custom) or throwing coins (not a common custom, but could certainly happen if someone was emptying their pockets over the water), neither should be done on Rosh Hoshanah. On Yom Tov (Holidays), we are not allowed to feed animals, unless they depend on us for food (such as our pets), and coins or Muktzah (prohibited to transport). As such, most authorities would only support throwing bread into water with fish if one delayed Tashlich until a weekday and none would allow the use of coins.
Regardless of one’s particular custom in the performance of Tashlich, it is important to note that the Tashlich ceremony does not magically erase our sins. But if Tashlich motivates us to genuine Teshuvah (repentance), then our sins really would be erased as we become better people.
2 Comments
The scientific community has determined that throwing bread in bodies of water disrupts the ecosystem, causing algae blooms, depriving the water of oxygen, negatively impacting the fish, and the water birds that live there. Consuming large amounts of bread is toxic to birds and results in illness. According to the Director of the Wild Bird Fund: “An overload of bread can make ducks and geese ill. In general, bread is quite awful for many reasons: Polluting the water, causing algae blooms, reducing oxygen for the fish and plants, and congenital defects for growing birds.”
During this time of Teshuvah, let us be only a blessing to our Earth and all who dwell on it. Safe Alternatives to bread are:
Chopped lettuce;
Grated carrots;
Pumpkin seeds, Unsalted (dry roasted or raw, in shell or hulled);
Dry Oats of any form that are unflavored and unsalted;
Dry grains such as Unflavored Quinoa, Spelt, Amaranth or Wheat berries;
Or small pebbles from the surrounding local environment.
Thank you for sharing this! Our sensitivity to animals would be yet another reason NOT to throw bread during Tashlich on Rosh Hoshanah. While we would not adjust Jewish law to bend to subjective and constantly-evolving scientific theories and “facts”, since those who throw bread (or any other food) at Tashlich on Rosh Hoshanah are actually committing a violation of Jewish law (as noted in my article), it is always helpful to provide extra motives for people to do the right thing, even if they grew up in communities where throwing bread on Rosh Hoshanah was erroneously practiced.
For questions relating to apparent contradictions between Torah and science, see here – https://rabbiwithanswers.com/age-of-the-world/