Chanah Liora Wizenberg Sephardic Jewish colonists brought this tradition with them to the American South in the early 1700s. Due to a mistranslation in the Talmud, which confused rubia (fenugreek seeds) with lubia (black-eyed peas), Jews had included the beans on the Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, table for centuries. When they arrived in the States, the tradition continued and spread.