>The custom among the Sefardic Jews of Egypt for the food "Rubia" was black-eyed peas because the Arabic term for the word was "Lubia," pronounce liked "Rubia."
Thanks for that. I inherited this minhag (along with leek for rubia) from my grandfather, and I never asked him why.
I wonder if the Japanese Jews have the same problem...
It just caught my eye when looking up another recipe on `erev hag that my Pakistani cookery book calls black-eyed peas "Lobhia". I'll make sure to use them next year -- the things usually sold in Israeli supermarkets as rubia are a kind of string bean with almost no taste.
It's interesting to note that a number of sources identify Rubia as Fenugreek, which anyone who has Yemenite Jewish friends or relatives knows as Hilba חילבה or حلبة in the Arabic original. However, Jewish Yemenite tradition, according to my in-laws, is to use Rubia (black-eyed peas) for Lubia.
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