Is the siman of the rimon indeed only a repetition or reaffirmation? Or is there perhaps a deeper meaning to this siman?
Klal Yisrael has unanimously adopted the minhag of performing the simanim on Rosh Hashanah. Based on Abaye’s recommendation in Horayos 12a, we eat various foods whose names or characteristics have a positive connotation, accompanied with a short Yehi ratzon asking Hashem to realize this positive association in the coming year.
While the Gemara mentions only qara, rubya, kartai, silka, and tamari (and esrog, according to the Tur), more simanim were added over the years. One of the “newer” simanim is rimon, pomegranate, mentioned in the Abudraham in the name of the Teshuvos Hageonim, with the accompanying Yehi ratzon ending with “shenirbeh zechuyos k’rimon.” This Abudraham is quoted in the Beis Yosef (Orach Chayim 583, s.v. v’chasav od) and brought in the Rema (Orach Chayim 583:1).
The question arises on the siman of the pomegranate that its symbolic meaning is seemingly redundant. The desired abundance in zechuyos is already demonstrated by rubya, mentioned in the aforementioned Gemara, and its Yehi ratzon … sheyirbu zechuyoseinu sounds almost identical. Is the siman of the rimon indeed only a repetition or reaffirmation? Or is there perhaps a deeper meaning to this siman?
We find in the Acharonim that the pomegranate doesn’t merely signify the abundance of mitzvos; rather, it signifies the entirety of all mitzvos. In fact, both the Chasam Sofer in his Derashos and the Malbim in his commentary on the bigdei kehunah write that the pomegranate contains exactly 613 seeds — the number of mitzvos aseh and mitzvos lo saaseh. Interestingly, a Columbia University student, Alexander Haubold, conducted an experiment to determine the average number of seeds in a pomegranate, and counted all the seeds in over 200 pomegranates. His sample gave a range of between 165 and 1,370 seeds, but the average was exactly 613.
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