The Love of God

(the first picture from the book of Exodus!! Much Love!!)

♡

In days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and bud and fill 
the face of the world with fruit.

--Isaiah 27:6, first line from this week`s Haftarah reading

Finishing touches

Setting in the pomegranates, twelve on each to represent the twelve tribes, I am already thinking ahead to the book of Exodus, as cutting gemstones for setting, and the pomegranate detailing to come!!

Putting the finishing touches on the Pomegranate Challah

Delivering them to friends and family.

And sending these tastes to you,

After a dozen Pomegranate Challot and a few still in progress to be made,
The offices of Challah and Cherry Blossoms will take a break for the holidays and re-open in the New Year!!

Much love and thank you for all your visits, encouragement, love and blog fellowship/friendship in this year!

Wishing you joyous season, fruit-full and abundant in God's Love! and a Happy and Healthy New Year!! 

May mercy and shalom and love be multiplied to you!   Judah (Jude) 1:2

Blessings and Much Love,
Love,

♡

Shayndel

Adding a Note: on the Pomegranate Challah and "finishing touches" for this Challah and Parsha.
The Pomegranate Challah truly became a "Pomegranate Challah for Joseph" to go with the Torah cycle with the story of Joseph.  The seeds, the fruit, the Messianic connections, the twelve seeds on the top,  all give expression in this Challah.   I recommend making it around this time on the Torah Cycle perfectly, as long as you can find pomegranates "in season" where you are.

Now really finishing off this post and the  first book of Bereshit, Genesis, with these verses from Jacob's blessing to Joseph.  In the TLV version, the word "fruitful" is used twice, so I share it in that version,

A fruitful son is Joseph,
a fruitful son beside a spring--
daughters walk along a wall.  

 Genesis 49:22

"A Taste of Torah"

During  Hannukah  I received this book called A Taste of Torah from HIS ISRAEL blog.  The book is written by one of the authors of the blog, Keren Hannah Pryor.
It is a beautiful devotional with each chapter as a short "drash" (interpretation) of the weekly Torah Portion, or Parsha.   If you leave a comment on their blog, you are eligible to be selected for the monthly giveaway of a copy or download of the book.  I hadn't known that until I got the news that I was  recipient of a copy in Octoberrs draw!!  I am posting a little delayed, as it was sent to me from my Dad's--- to receive a hard copy you need to provide a US address!  So I wanted to say thank you to HIS ISRAEL, (and thanks to my Dad for receiving it and forwarding to Japan !)   and also to share their site with you.  Even visiting the blog is a wonderful taste of Torah as there is much to learn about the Torah readings, the Hebrew Calendar and Biblical feasts, and the experiences of the writers who are living and sharing their Messianic journeys in the Land of Israel.  And if you leave a comment on any post there, you are eligible for this months copy!!

No doubt, pomegranates go well with the readings!  

Taste and see that ADONAI is good.

Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.    Psalm 34:9

 Blessings and Love,

♡

Shayndel

Taste of Torah, for the record--received the second night of Hannukah♡thank you His Israel♡

Finishing the book of Genesis, Bread of Life picture

Yeshua said to them, "I am the bread of life.  
Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty."    
John 6:35

Trying out my new watercolors, at the end of the book of Genesis

The book of Genesis ends with  the story of Joseph in Egypt who reveals who he is to his brothers and his father.  He saves the nations of the world at that time and the family of Israel by bread.
He shows us a picture of the Salvation of Yeshua who was and who Is and who Is to come.
The Bread of Life.

This is the picture that spilled out.
Of  a pomegranate challah, no surprise!
With a cloth that says the name "Yeshua" in Hebrew,
on a plate or fabric adorned with pomegranate design. Three grape leaves on the vine came out looking a little like butterflies.

After finishing each book of the Torah on every cycle we say the words
Chazak
Chazak
Venitchazek!

Be strong be strong and let us strengthen one another.

Blessings and Love!

Love,♡ Shayndel

Paul Klee and Birthday

Be assembled and listen, sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father.
Genesis 49*2, from the first lines of Parsha Vayechi

Shayndel`s diary and connecting with Joanne

In the first lines of Parsha Vayechi, Jacob introduces the blessings for his sons.  Jacob is called both Jacob and Israel, and we learn from the sages that his names, both of which clearly remain with him up to his death and beyond, represent two different sides and purposes that God has given him.   In this diary I am not going to talk about that but used this first line as it is a fascinating study to keep in mind in the Torah study, and it also makes a link into something I want to talk about in my story in this post.  Even if we are not the grand characters of the stories of the Bible (and we don't even know really), we are living children of the living God and He shows us how we can learn from it for things in our own lives and helps us how we can see our own stories as we integrate the different parts of our lives in Him and for His purposes.

Like Jacob, I also have two names!!  One didn`t replace the other but I do use one for some things and one for others, and on my birthday--yesterday--I felt God showing me that they are joining together!
My name that I was born with is Joanne.  Or actually that is not the whole truth.  I also was born with the name Shayndel.  Its possible that I was Shayndel even before I was Joanne, as its the name I was given by my Grandmother, its a Yiddish name.  It means, beautiful.  Also I have seen it mean gracious gift from God.  Its possible that was my first name!! I kinda hope so!! The name my parents gave me and the name that was what I considered my name my whole life is Joanne.  I don`t know that I completely feel like a Joanne, but that is ok, its who I am!! Somehow once God showed me to use my Hebrew/Yiddish name Shayndel, just a few years ago, I felt it was a part of me that I was able to express myself in a new found way, and a few years ago I started using Shayndel for my blog, and then for signing my art, kind of like a pen name.

When I received salvation in Jesus, I didn`t yet know his other name. I had no idea the name *Yeshua*.  When I was saved, I thought I was no longer Jewish, as we as Jewish people were taught that Jesus is as far from us as.. .well, to use His terms...as far as the east is from the west!! Maybe farther.  So my surprise at becoming a believer in Jesus Christ almost 5 years ago was completely out of  a field I didn`t know exisited!!  FF a few years from that time, and God showed me back to my Jewish faith, my Jewish name,  my Jewish Messiah, the Jewish feasts, His Shabbat bread!! 

That`s around when I started this blog.

When I was "Joanne" only and didn`t yet know Jesus or Yeshua, I had a favorite artist.
His name is Paul Klee. He was born on the same day as me, (my natural b-day!), Dec. 18.
I always would search out a place to see his paintings on my birthday, and it was easy when I lived in NY, I would go to the Museum of Modern Art, or the Met, and sit with his works in the room or gallery they were displayed, and quietly wish him a happy birthday in thought and in song from my heart!!  Those were those days.

When I was saved, God showed me to basically get rid of all my artwork from my Before Christ days, and it was a kind of tormentous time, but I just did what I was told and in my house today there is not a trace of any thing I drew before my salvation.  And not a trace of practically anything material from that time, except of course those memories and photos of my daughter and family.  Those were safe!!  So too my favorite artists, writers, everything I felt close to before my Salvation was just swooped away, and I was being emptied, and what I now now the word I didn:t know then, consecrated.  We have to be emptied, consecrated, and surrender everything to God, though I didn`t know what was happening when it was happening, and surely still is happening, but I am sensing that I am able to walk now into something new, which is a time of being able to once again join up with parts of my past that weren:t really thrown away as I thought, but just reserved for a while until I was ready to see from God`s eyes.  I thought that being made a new creation in Christ, I would emerge unrecognizable to anything and anyone from my past, that my talents would be different, my whole way of being would change, and I wouldn`t be anything like the person I was.  But guess what?  I am seeing that its not exactly like that.  And to my surprise, I am coming closer to the person I "was", but a cleaned up version, having been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb!!

Whew!! Am I going to leave all that on this post?
Anyway, the Paul Klee and Birthday title is now going to be explained, so I have to keep on!!

When I checked my i-pad in the morning of my birthday, to my surprise, just under the Google banner, was a little picture of a Paul Klee paining!! (picture above)
Where in the world did that come from?
The only thing I could think of , was that it didn`t come from the world, it came from Heaven!!

God was showing me that its his birthday too!! It was almost like a direct connect between Shayndel and Joanne.  It was like I as Shayndel could now see Paul Klee from God`s eyes in a new and wonderful refreshed way!!   And God wanted me to remember that today is the day that is my birthday and shared with Paul Klee!

I was so happy!  To re-connect with Joanne who loved Paul Klee, now as Shayndel who knows Yeshua!! And guess what, the next painting he showed me was one I never saw or never noticed all the years I was looking at Paul Klee, it was this painting of a lamb!!!

I had such nourishing time looking at his paintings and even found (without really looking) this video of an art exercise to do inspired by Paul Klee (a lesson called Paul Klee Word Art Lesson by Katie Knutson ) !! And the woman who taught it was showing an example of putting a Bible Verse into the squares!! It was all too much !! In a perfect way!!  Of course this painting of the lamb is quite intense, and I realized a side of Paul Klee and the times he was living in in Europe at that time that I had never seen before.

For now  I wanted to share that  story as a birthday diary for today (yesterday) and now I really have to go back to the Pomegranates!!! They are just coming through the shute of heaven to our supermarkets and going into Challah bread for the season gifts!!  Once the pomegranates  are all sold out (bought out), I hope to do some painting!! I bought for myself a gift from God for my birthday, a set of watercolors !!

Much love to all and to all , do love much!!

♡ 　　♡

Love,
Joanne and Shayndel!!

(my two names just for this post, I am pretty sure I will go back to posting just as Shayndel!!)

Another picture from my screen yesterday, 12/18, Mt. Fuji.

 almost looks like its in Paul Klee colors!  From the weather report.

Drawing reflections

For with You is the source of Life.  

By Your light we shall see light.

Psalm 36:10

These are two drawings that reflect some of the past weeks highlights from my diary of life!!
And two favorite scriptures about Yeshua, the Light of the World!!

Blessings and Shalom to you as you keep shining your light in each day!

Love,

♡

Shayndel

And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, 

for the glory of God lights it up, 

and its lamp is the Lamb. 

Revelation 21:23

The Light of the Pomegranate, Listen!

Out of them will come thanksgiving

and the sound of celebration.

I will multiply them, so they will not decrease.

I will also honor them,

so they will not be insignificant.      ---Jeremiah 30:19

After the last day of Hannukah, well a bout two days later, I came home to my apartment and on the door there was a bag, someone had left something for me.

I knew what it was as I could see the red fruit through the vinyl bag.

But it wasn't just one fruit, it was three.
Three pomegranates!!

It was a surprise.  No one has ever given me a gift of pomegranates before! Well, I shouldn't say that as every pomegranate is a gift from God.
No person had ever given me one.  So seeing three really made me so full of joy.

I knew what I had to do.

Make Pomegranate Challah!

Or rather Challot!!

One for my neighbor who gave me the pomegranate.
And it will also be my holiday "gift" to others in my family and in my life.

Time to get to work!!

This was a gift from God for sure, like the ear dream in an earlier post where He wanted me to see inside the ear, this time He wanted me to see the inside of His precious Messianic fruit!!

He wanted me to cut it from the top, and split open the sides, to see the abundant juicy red seeds filling its white cavities!!

I wasn't afraid as there were more if I did it "wrong"!  Up to now I did a very labor intensive way of taking out the seeds, but now I was seeing how to do it in a simpler way that just pops out the seeds almost at once.!!

I must say I hugged the bowl and looked into the multitude of God's goodness!!

But for now I have to go and deliver one challah to my neighbor, and prepare for Shabbat!!
Shabbat Shalom !!  This post be continued!!

Love,
Shayndel

12 seeds on top of each , and both filled with pomegranate
"jam" in the middle.  A Messianic Challah? A Covenant Challah!?  A Challah for Channukah!  A Challah for Joseph!  A love thy Neighbor Challah.  ALL for Yeshua♡

  ?  All of the above!!!

♡

Let us go early to the vineyards;

Let us see if the vine has flowered,

If its blossoms have opened,

If the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give my love to you.

The mandrakes yield their fragrance,

At our doors are all choice fruits; 

Both freshly picked and long-stored

Have I kept, my beloved, for you.

Song of Songs 7:13~14

♡

Many Miracles (and pomegranates!)

 pomegranate challah french toast!

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.  Isaiah 43:4

pomegranates (from America!) alongside Japanese grown fruits--the orange color are persimmon

Matthew 6:21, wouldn't it be wonderful on a billboard over Tokyo!!

Mt. Fuji from the Shinkansen (bullet train)

I didn't notice this child was behind me until after I saw the picture!  I like the way he (she?) is smiling and seems to understand that the light of the Menorah and the miracle of Light  is Yeshua's light!!

A city on a hill

But the most wonderful of all, for a mother, is to make the journey and arrive just in time to light the candles and have latkes and a homemade Hannukah dinner together with her daughter!!

Hope you are all having a beautiful and light-filled season.

Love,

Shayndel

♡

 ........................................................................................................
PS note added from my notebook!♡
"This Hannukah did not go unnoticed in Heaven.  
This one menorah alone shone its light from Oita to Tokyo and back again!"