Hineni, Abba*

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.  ---James 4:8a

Blessings and Love,
Shabbat Shalom!
       Shavua Tov!
                Have a great week/weekend!

♡

Shayndel

 *Here I am , Father 

Tulip, part Two! & The Mighty Works of Jesus

 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and Your wonders.   
 ---Psalm 145:5

The tulip remained the `protagonist` this week.*

And I heard of another tulip doing similar things.**

It opened in a way I never saw a tulip open! 

Fully in splendor!

On my Shabbat table, I also had a book open called The Mighty Works of Jesus.

This Tulip opened so splendidly!! Next to the tulip, on my table I had been reading THE MIGHTY WORKS OF JESUS. It is a book by Wesley Scott Amos we are reading in my worship dance studies. Seeing the Tulip open like that was so wonderful, an expression of His Mighty Works of Creation!! 

This week with watching the tulip I realized how my Shabbat table takes on new life in the week, as the things seem to have a new light after having partaken in Shabbat! 

So I share a few views of the Shabbat table from this week, including some drawings and an Israeli grapefuit, now we see them in almost all the supermarkets!  and of course, the Tulip!
Give praise to our Maker, Glory to God! Praise the LORD Jesus, Yeshua our Messiah,  for His Mighty Works!!

For by Him all things were created--
in heaven and on earth,
the seen and the unseen,
whether thrones or angelic powers
or rulers or authorities.
All was created through Him and for Him.
He exists before everything
and in Him all holds together.      ---Colossions 1:16

Challah, like Manna, raining down from heaven over our city!!

Remember the construction worker with the gold helmet, painting planks gold under the blossoms during the week of Parsha Terumah!

An Israeli grapefruit, mid-week!

Yeshua

Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God breaking into history and showed what kingdom presence looks like as He exercised authority over nature, healed the sick, broke demonic oppression, raised the dead, forgave the guilty and bestowed everlasting life on all who believed in Him....---from The Mighty Works of Jesus, by Wesley Scott Amos***

*Thank you Duta for your giving this `protagonist` expression for the tulip!
**I heard that my blog friend Sandi had a similar tulip, just the reverse in colors. 
*** for The MIGHTY WORKS OF JESUS by Wesley Scott Amos, follow this link HERE.
*****for the first post about the Tulip, see two posts down!

Blessings and Love,
Shabbat Shalom!
 ♡
Shayndel

Diary--Parsha Terumah, and a Bee in the Ume tree

And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.  
Exactly as I show you--the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of its furnishings---so shall you make it.  
--Exodus 25:8~9, from Parsha Terumah

I walked by the Castle garden, smelled the blossoms on the ume tree.
A bee came by and did the same, so I moved out of the way, as he, the bee,
had work to do.

Then I saw there was not just one but two, no three,
there were many bees
buzzing around the ume tree!!  The first bee got most of the honey (pollen?) and so the next one to come had to try another blossom.

Things were busy at the ume tree, and then some men came and said it was a construction site and I would need to move outside the limits of the construction.
They had work to do.

So I moved outside the fence and did a little sketch.
This scene with the workers and  wood beams beneath the Ume tree reminds me of this week we are reading in Parsha Terumah about the Tabernacle and the description of the materials, all the acacia wood to make the various structures, everything laid out,  and what is to be done to make the sanctuary where God will dwell.  The descriptions about the menorah are so wonderful, and the design of the menorah is patterned with almond blossoms, and its branches are like a tree.

The description of the menorah starts out,

You shall make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its base and its shaft, its cups, calyxes, and petals shall be of one piece.   --Exodus 25:31

and continues, 

Six branches shall issue from its sides; three branches from one side of the lampstand and three branches from the other side of the lampstand.  On one branch there shall be three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals; so for all six branches issuing from the lampstand.  --Exodus 25:32, from Parsha Terumah

I noticed that one construction worker's hat was spray painted gold.
And they were painting the beams with a roller dipped in gold paint.
 Unusual details.
And they were all dressed in camoflauge.

(I am struggling to write the last sum up line here, something about the way we receive our instructions from our Boss up in heaven.  I will see if I can get a good sentence to follow, leaving this in parenthesis for now)

Note well, and follow the patterns for them that are being shown you on the mountain.  
---Exodus 25:40

Blessings and Shavua Tov!!

Have a great week.
Love,
Shayndel

Note:  Ume Tree, Ume = Plum, so the Ume tree is the Plum tree.  Ume is pronounced oo-may and written like this in Japanese: 梅　or  phonetically, うめ.  Can you see the bee, and the man with the gold construction hat?

You shall make bars of acacia wood; five for the planks on the one side wall of the Tabernacle, five bars for the planks of the other side wall of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks of the wall of the Tabernacle at the rear to the west.  The center bar halfway up the planks shall run from and to end.  Overlay the planks with gold,                                                                            ---from Exodus 26:26

Shabbat Tulip

Shabbat Shalom!!♡

Matthew 14

And He took the five loaves and the two fish; and looking up to heaven, He offered the bracha and broke them.  And He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  Then they all ate and were satisfied.    ---from Matthew 14:19~20

*bracha=  blessing

Sakura Challah

there is a subtle swirl of pink in each slice, a different pattern or curve in each slice

 I offered two kinds of Challah during the week at the Bread Shop.
Plain
and Cherry Blossoms Challah.


In Japanese, the word for Cherry Blossoms is "Sakura"

It is written like this (two ways to write it):

桜 　    This is the Chinese character, or  "kanji"  which you read as `Sakura`         


   さくら    this says  sa-ku-ra in the phonetic "hiragana" Japanese alphabet, you can see it written like this in the sign below for `Sakura Series` supplies to use in this season.

Sakura supplies have just started being sold in the food shops, so I was able to find  Cherry Blossom Flakes, Sakura Paste, and even Cherry Blossom flowers to use on the Challah!  Seeing them in the shop is like a pre-seasonal sign of spring and the excitement for the Cherry Blossoms!!

The dough even has a spring-y quality when you sprinkle in and fold in the Sakura flakes.
In Japan at this time of year we can find many sweets and foods that come out for spring in a cherry blossoms variation, so the Cherry Blossoms Challah , even though it is something new, almost seems like a natural!  I was happy to be able to introduce it at the bread shop.

We gave out sample tastes.  A customer who tried a taste of the  Cherry Blossoms Challah commented and said he could taste the cherry blossoms!

note on making a Cherry Blossoms Challah: a related post on this blog about how to make a Cherry Blossoms Challah HERE:  Recipe for a Cherry Blossoms Challah

Blessings and appreciation,

Love, Shayndel

This is Challah!

The first of your dough, challah, you shall offer as a gift....

--Numbers 15:19~20

To start this series of posts about the week of making Challah for the bread shop, I want to share something about Challah.

We think of Challah as meaning the loaves of Challah, which is the way I use it too, but there is a scriptural mention of Challah that goes all the way back to biblical times. In the scripture above from the book of Numbers, the word Challah appears in the Hebrew scripture.

There it refers to the first part of the dough that was to be offered as a gift to God when the Children of Israel fist enter the land of Israel.

You shall make a gift to the LORD from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.

--Numbers 15:21

Since making challah, I have known that even though this scripture applies to bread that is offered in the land of Israel, many  Jewish women in their homes and bakers in other parts of the world make a remembrance of this by  taking a first piece of the dough and refer to this as `taking challah`. In the Jewish observance there is a specification that you have to make a large enough quantity of dough to take challah, and as I only make a small amount, I have never done it.

 But when I realized that the amount of flour I would be using every day to make the loaves would be large enough to `take challah` and make a `bracha` blessing I felt that I wanted to do this observance which comes from the rememberance of when the `challah` commandment was given.

The opportunity this week to make challah  came as  a gift from God, so  it seemed that taking challah in this way would be a way to offer my thanks. 

I became excited to `take challah` for the first time!

My sister gave me a beautiful Challah book for my birthday this past December, and in the book, in addition to recipes, there  are explanations and significance in the steps of making challah.  It also shows with simple explanations about when you are to `take challah`, and make the blessing.  So this week when I made enough loaves with enough flour to take challah, I separated the piece and make a blessing.

 When we take a small part of the dough off the big whole dough, it is like a tithe, an acknowledgement of giving the first of everything we do to God, the one who provides us with everything.

I offered of the first dough, and raised it up to the heavens with the blessing.

From there started the adventure week of the 20 loaves!!  Hope you enjoy a few photos and a little of the story in this series of posts.

I  included a little card  with the Challah, with a message in Japanese on the front about how we make Challah on Shabbat, and on the other side the above scripture from Numbers.
And then I set off down my street with four loaves each morning for the shop....

 


related post: CHALLAH, here

At the Bread Shop this week

First Challah in Oita!

Melon Pan is a favorite bread in Japan, it is sweet and here there are two kinds in addition to plain-- maple and green tea Melon Pan

Bagels ! are among the popular breads now in Japan.  The bread shop name is Perma Rossa, and all the breads are stamped with her shop name

there are many kinds of wonderful and creative breads in Japan!

This is the label for my Challah, made in Japan! 

featuring two kinds of Challah-- plain and Cherry Blossom

Welome!  Introducing Challah!

Amongst the breads at the bread shop this week, there was a newcomer, a traditional Jewish bread that is made for Shabbat, called Challah!

I made handmade labels to introduce it, that said
Challah by Joanne
made in Japan.

It was an honor to be able to share my homemade challah at the bakery. As you can see in the photos, there are so many wonderful kinds of bread in Japan!   In this bake shop some of the kinds that the baker made include...bagels!! And the more Japanese breads like an-pan (red bean.
 bread), melon pan (a sweet crusted round bread favorite of children), Kinako Croissants, several kinds of `Shoku-pan`(loaf bread),  and sandwhiches.

Actually a part of the story that is poignant is that this past week was the bread shop`s last week in business.  The baker worked hard for 6 years, and as you can see she makes so many wonderful kinds of bread in each day...and after six years of hard work, she needed a ...rest!! I just realized that about 6 years and now the 7th year rest. This is like a Shabbat year  rest, isn`t it!! I just realized that as I write this.

It was so kind of her to give me this chance in her last week, and it made the week very special in many ways.  Good news is that a new bread shop will be coming there, so even as it is sad for us in the neighborhood that the bread shop is closing,  it is also a story of renewal as well as rest!!

Love,
Your Challah and Cherry Blossoms Correspondent,

Shayndel
aka Joanne♡