AHAVA and Pure Heart e-Conference

Introducing AHAVA, Praying from the Parsha!!

 Dear Friends,

I am happy to share a project that God has put on my heart, that I will be sharing/ introducing at the Pure Heart E-conference that I posted about HERE!

Just wanted to give you one reminder that this is the last week to register for Free, and also in this post just to give you a little more detail of what I will be sharing about, and invite you to rejoice with me on completing the first phase of this AHAVA Prayer project, that I hope will bless you!!!  Also to thank you always for your encouragement along the way!

My session will be sharing about this AHAVA prayer ministry, which is based on a year of prayer sheets, to go with every week in a year to pray for our children, families, loved ones, schools, teachers, congregations, Israel, and the nations.    It has been a labor of LOVE, or in Hebrew AHAVA, that I have completed and compiled in collaboration with a prayer partner together over three years and am excited to share and bring forth starting here!

This Worship Arts conference is Free for three days this weekend.  There is also an option to get a paid Anytime Pass--which by the way I got because I will want to watch it all leisurely and may not get to be there fully this weekend which is Succot!! as there are many wonderful teachings on worship and life and balance, by my DFH sisters who will be sharing, anointed teachers whom I have gotten to know and learn from through the school--- Also note that it is open for three days, but you can just watch for one day, or one hour,  or as many as you would like and on the days that you would like--thats the beauty of the on-line format and watching from your own home!!

Anyway, I leave you with that and thank you for listening and for all your support just by reading.   Of course no pressure and I just wanted to share it with my blog friends here!  Sorry for always the last minute, but if you do decide you would like to register, there are still a few days, so please do it soon-ish (today or tomorrow!!) as to be sure to get the links in time for the start.  I`d also like to offer to anyone who goes ahead to sign up for the paid ANYTIME Pass, a free gift of one month of PDFs of the weekly prayer sheets, as well as a zoom enhanced coaching session with me on how to use the prayer sheets in a one-on one session!!

 Link to Register for the FREE Conference  

HERE 

where you can find all the details!! Below are just some screenshots of what the registration page looks like to help navigate the site!! 

Blessings and AHAVA!! Much love and peace and strength to you and your loved ones in the coming season and this new year 5781!!

Love, ♡ Shayndel

The Return

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

 Joining hearts with all the prayers and praise going up from the nation`s capital in the USA!

A great `Teshuvah` and `homecoming` to welcome the God of Israel back to the USA.

May it be an amazing year like none we`ve seen before in the US, Israel, and all the world!

We welcome you LORD Yeshua in Japan too!!!♡

Jonah and rounding up the cycle of Teshuvah!

A song of Ascents.

Out of the depths I cry to You, ADONAI!

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my supplications.   Psalm 130:1~2

 

On the day before Yom Kippur, I saw this little girl feeding pigeons out of her hand.   I stopped on  my bicycle, and asked her mom if I could take a picture, and she said it was ok. 

Just earlier in that morning I had been reading the book of Jonah, because the book of Jonah is read in the synagogue on Yom Kippur services,  so I wanted to read it in advance.   When I was reading it this time, I saw more than ever how amazing it is as a story of `Teshuvah`.  That of course is why it is read at this time of year.  I  love hearing it, and reading it , partly because I relate to Jonah in my own story of `teshuvah`, or `return.  I relate especially to how he thought he could run away from God, and of course, was found! This year after having been thinking a lot about Teshuvah, I noticed in the text of Jonah`s prayer how it is such an amazing `model` of teshuvah with the way the `turn` back to God is so clearly depicted in that prayer.  

When I saw the girl with the pigeons I knew God was making a connection that He wanted me to see see in that moment!

He knew that I knew that I would see the connection of Jonah and the pigeons!!

Jonah and the pigeons, you ask?

well, yes! Because in Hebrew, the word Jonah

(actually its Yonah in Hebrew), means dove, or pigeon!!

dove, pigeon = יוֹנָה

 Its something I learned this year, and I even call pigeons now `Yonahי

So I saw something in the little girl that was this peace she had and joy in feeding the pigeons, in being so at one with God`s creation!  

Part of our `Teshuvah` is a sense of coming home to who we are in Him, or returning to God as who He meant for us to be, and it can be a little like connecting to the childlike parts of ourselves.   I think that in showing me that little girl, He wanted to show me something of the joy that He has been wanting to return in me.

 I made an on-the-spot upload to express something about that, and just to share a little `pre-Yom Kippur` message, here is the upload and the scenes of little girl!! 

 G`mar Chatima Tovah!

May you be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year!

Hope you have/had a good and smooth fast and meaningful Yom Kippur!! Blessings and Love, Shayndel

Round Challah Part 2 and Rosh Hashanah・Shabbat Shuvah diary

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.  James 1:17

Would you believe it, this challah  was a gift, sent to me from Tokyo!!  A good and perfect gift from our Father in Heaven, who sent it through the synagogue ,  surprise and touched my heart in ways that only He knows how!! (the perfect round challah in a perfect square box, the box had my name on it hand written all around the box!!!)

L`Shana Tova! A card for you!

This one I made! A three strand braid shaped in a circle like a crown

. 

Praise is awaiting You in Zion, O God,

and to You the vow will be fulfilled.

Psalm 65:2

A few friends asked about how to make the round challah and to see `part 2` of shaping the challah, so I am popping in to share the upload for Part 2,  and share a few reflections on the Feast days and the Ten days of Awe that we are in, as well as about the challah!!

So without further ado, here is Part 2.  Sorry it doesn`t include the receiving of the challah gift described and pictured in top photos above!! I had already filmed the video!! But if you can, just imagine another doorbell ring, like in Part 1 when the sukkah was delivered from Abram the tent maker.  This time it was a Japan postman at the door delivering a Round challah from the King!!!  

 

 Joanne`s Challah-Cast channel!

As I have shared before, the round challah is my recommendation for all the fall `chag` (chag-im) feasts!!   I am thankful for master challah teacher Tamar, who I got a lot of tips from for making the challah this year.   I learned a few new things, including sifting the flour first, using oil instead of flour on the board for rolling and kneading if needed.  I made three of the shapes she taught about (see upload!).  I gave the ones I made to others, including of course one for my daughter, and to neighbors or friends to share about the holiday and God`s goodness.  So I was extra grateful for receiving the challah (from) above! 

The next feast is Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, and the holiest day on the Kingdom calendar, with the Shabbat of Return (Shabbat Shuvah, or Shabbat Teshuvah!) before that.  It is very wonderful to see this year here in Asia, and many people now in the body of Messiah everywhere around the world,  are  beginning to more and more understand and enter into God`s appointed feasts.   And to  pray for Israel during these days.   Many Jewish people still do not know their (our) Messiah Yeshua.  Over hundreds, thousands, of years of history,  He has become unrecognizable to the Jewish people,  so removed even from His own feasts (*actually another word is `moedim` which means God`s appointed times and seasons).   The Feasts of the LORD are the appointed days that Yeshua  made as part of His plan of creation and redemption and for heaven and earth to meet in Him.  From the beginning it was all in place.  At the Restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth they will be continue to be celebrated and they will be fulfilled by Yeshua Himself, the coming King.   On this Shabbat of Return, and in this year 5781, May He reveal Himself to the Jewish people and to the world that He is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World!!  This is a time of restoration of all things and its exciting that we each have a part to play!!! 

 

And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

" The Deliverer shall come out of Zion.

He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

Romans 11:26~27 (referencing Isaiah 59:20~21, 27:9, and Jeremiah 31:31~34)

 

Oh, so of course no challah on Yom Kippur as it is a complete fast, for 25 hours, but you can have a challah prepared in advance for the break-fast, or for the continuing days of the feasts through Succot!! 

By the way I started putting up my Succah today!! Its my first real succah, and I can recall how it harkens back to the Tabernacle and forward to the wonderful day when God will dwell with us here on earth!!!

Blessings and Chag Sameach!

G`mar Chatimah Tovah!!

May you be sealed and inscribed for a good year!!

Love,♡

Shayndel

O the depth of the riches, 

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are His judgments

and how incomprehensible His ways! 

Romans 11:33

You are invited to a Biblical Hebrew Class! From anywhere in the world!

Simcha in Challah!! or Challah Simchah

The LORD your God is in your midst.  He is mighty to save.  He will rejoice over you with gladness.  He will quiet you with His love.  He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

 

Hi Friends and Happy 5781!! Thank you for your kind greetings and comments!!!  Thanks to you, and all your encouragement on my challah adventures, at the start of the year I will be assisting in a class of Biblical Hebrew, using the Hebrew letters in Challah as part of the  class. 

 The class is open to all who are interested to start learning Biblical Hebrew in this new season, you are welcome to join! Please let me know if you would like more details, as it is still open to join up to this coming week.

The class will meet for 9 Sundays at 8:30 PM Japan time, that is 7:30 AM Eastern Standard time, and for other time zones according to where you are.   I will be sharing for part of the lesson by using the Hebrew letters in challah to introduce words, in this class given by TAV Ministries in Western Australia.  I`m excited to be starting the season using the challah,  bread of life to teach the Hebrew letters and to being able share the Word of God in this way. 

Does anyone know the word in Challah above?  You have seen it before in recent posts. Yes, it is Simcha!  It means `joy`, or as in the scripture above, gladness!! 

May your JOY be full and your New Year Sweet!

♡

Love, Shayndel

These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you 

and that your joy may be full.

John 15:11

Shanah Tovah!

Shanah Tovah u`metukah! K`sivah vechasimah tovah.  Wishing everyone a good and  sweet, healthy, fruitful and joyous New Year 5781! May God`s peace and Salvation be upon all Israel and all the world and may He bless us all for a good year in His great Shalom! Much Love!  ♡ Shayndel 

 

 

                                                     

Round Challah 1 for Rosh Hashanah

 

For the LORD Most High is to be feared, 

A great King over all the earth.

Psalm 47:2

 

And He will lift up a standard for the nations

And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah.

From the four corners of the earth.   Isaiah 11:12

This week I took a challah class on line through a master challah maker named Tamar in Israel.

She taught how to make 10 shapes of round challah!!

For my “round one” (first round!) I just made it to three variations.  My favorite is this four strand that weaves together on a crown-like round.  I like to see it also as expressing the gathering of all Gods people from the four corners of the earth to bring us back to Him and to the land of Israel!!!

 This year when I read these scriptures about Him gathering us back, here in Japan, sometimes wondering how ever did I get here--reading these words of the scripture helps me to understand that we do get where we are in the four corneres of the world by His hand and are waiting to be brought back!

I made a few! (round challah)

I made a Challah-cast too but only got as far as getting ready so far!! You can see that Part 1 below.  It has the scene where the succah delivery comes, so the mood is one of getting ready.  With the added suspense of whether all the dough for this full recipe will fit into my bowl!!  The actual shaping/making will be in Part 2!  Enjoy, and stay tuned!!

 
 

As we are coming around to the end of 5780 and preparation for the New Year on the biblical calendar of God, may we stand solid in the center of His love.   Abide in His Love!

Shana Tova!  Wishing you A good year!! May it be a healthy, fruitful, sweet, and joyous year for you and your Loved ones.

May we pray for all Israel and the world for Salvation, for healing, for Shalom. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  

May those who love you be at peace.

Psalm 122:6

 

The challah master teacher I took the course from is named Tamar, which means Palm Tree! So I just put in this photo (above top) as I was sitting by the `palm tree` when making the challah!! The photo directly above shows how to braid the first four strand variation.  And below, is my original `Hebrew letters` in Challah in anticipation of the beginning of the new year and new start of the Torah cycle !!

The word above is `Bara` and it is the second word of the Torah (in the Hebrew line up).  

In the beginning, God created...

(note*  the making of Hebrew letters in challah is my own variation, and was not something that was taught in the Master class! )

 Much Love!!♡

Shayndel

 #challahandcherryblossoms, #messianicjapan

25th of Elul! on the first day of Creation!

This day, making round challah (above), when the doorbell rang and a `sukkah` package arrived from Abram the tent maker

Today is the 25th of Elul, in Jewish history this day marks the first day of creation

Just as I was starting to make a round challah to practice for Rosh Hashanah, I remembered that Elul 25th is said to be the first day God created the world, and I thought, oh, I better check what day today is, and I looked, and I saw on the Hebrew calendar...!! It is Elul 25th.  

On Friday sundown it will be Rosh Hashanah--called Yom Teruah or Day of Trumpets in the Biblical Feasts, and known as the New Year on the Jewish calendar.  We celebrate the anniversary of when God created the world, by honoring Him, the creator and King! It is also the day of the coronation of the King and of course will be the Coronation of the King and Messiah upon His return.  Every year there is this Coronation celebration honoring the King of Glory, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

 I hadn`t realized though until this year, that this anniversary of  creation, is actually day 6, when God created mankind! 

Of course we, mankind, were banished the next day from the Garden, but if not for that, we wouldn`t have this amazing time of Return!  All a part of God`s great plan of redemption.

I`m starting a little early on the Rosh Hashanah round Challah!!!   We make a round challah at this time of year shaped like a crown.  The round shape also could be said to represent the cycle of time.  Our  Eternal Creator is without beginning and without end! 

As I was starting the challah---and yes, a new challah-cast--- the doorbell rang!! A delivery of the building materials for the succah!! Sent from Abram!! Abram, the tent maker.  Yes, this is all true!! 

Praise God!! The Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Master of all things!!

Stay tuned for more on the round challah (challot!!) for Rosh Hashanah!! Back to the making, and hopefully there will be a challah-cast to follow as well!!!

Many blessings to you on this day

Love and Blessings,

Shayndel/Joanne

 PS officially my first post (in progress) on the `new blogger`!!!  Thank you friends for the encouragements in your postings!! xoxo

Elul Moon, Psalm 81, and sharing a Testimony of Teshuvah

Sing for joy to God our strength,

shout to the God of Jacob!

Lift up a song and sound a tambourine, a sweet lyre with a harp.

Blow the shofar at the New Moon,

at the full moon for the day of our festival.

Psalm 81:2~4

 

Dear friends,

 I will be sharing a testimony this Shabbat at Tav about my story of `Teshuvah`, Return! If you are in a time zone that you are up during these hours, please do stop in!! The time is 3PM in Japan, and sorry friends in the U.S. as its middle of the night, 2AM in the morning!! For other time zones, please check and if its a reasonable time zone, hope to see you then !!

 

＊

Enjoy the Elul Moon!  Below is another on the spot upload, the exciting thing is how while there I saw the full moon coming up as I was blowing the shofar.  It felt like something out of a Psalm!!!

Shabbat Shalom!!

♡

Love,
Shayndel

Blessings and Love , Shabbat Shalom!!

Fans show Praise Report!Beloved Fans!

Can you see the word `Beloved` written on this fan? A highlight of the show!

Visitor in Pink! The color of AHAVA=Love

Another highlight, The words, `Ani LeDodi VeDodi Li` written on the wall with the Hebrew letters cut out from Origami paper

Thank you for your encouragement for the fans exhibit! It went well, already almost 2 weeks ago and I just am catching up to post, Some Highlights included this fan pair (yes, like fan fare), I was so excited how this mother and son entered in and made their fans.

Because of the regulations and concerns in the pandemic we made everything user friendly and `individually created sets` for making your own fan, with each set containing a blank side to draw on, a patterned side  prepared in advance that you can choose, and four colors, as well as a sheet of stickers and ribbon if you would like for decorationg!!

Everything is `take home` so that there was no need to worry about many people handling the materials.    It could have been daunting and discouraging from having it, but I am glad we did it!! There were many precious moments.






Back to the beloved...
This mother and son worked on their fans, each with their set of colors and created a beautiful fan.  When I asked if they would like to add a word, anything that comes to their heart to put on the fan, the mother said she wanted to use the word Beloved!!! She had just learned this word from looking through the exhibit and seeing the word on the fan in the show and the theme scripture which I explained to her, I am the Beloved`s and the Beloved is mine.

They didn`t have this word in their vocabulary until this day!!

Praise God!!

Truly the words we use, the words we say, the words we write on our fans and express even here on our blogs, have significance.  I was joyous and my heart lept for joy when she chose that word to express and then doubly when I saw her son also chose this word Beloved!!!

This was the second annual Elul `Shalom fans` Exhibit!! You may recall the first annual from my post here! It seems like yesterday when we had the first one year ago!! HERE*

Other highlights:  writing the Psalm 27 on the Palm trees was much fun as well as at the end of the day having an Elul communion in fellowship.

You can see photos of Israel interspersed between the fans.!!! I wanted to also share about my trip to Israel last May and include an Israel awareness theme to the exhibit as well, as a celebration of Elul!!!  As you know it is my prayer for the Japanese people to know their Messiah and Saviour Yeshua, and to share His love with them and introduce Him to them through His word and His love.  I am so excited for when the Knowledge of the LORD fills the earth as the waters cover the sea.    The island nations wait for His Torah!!

...the way it works is, you choose your pattern for the back, and draw on the front with the 4 colors you select!! Then option to decorate with stickers or a ribbon!! The mother and son both chose to write the word `Beloved` on their fan.  I believe they experienced God`s love in the fans making workshop today.  Thank you Yeshua. 

Psalm trees!! For the celebration of the month of Elul, we wrote the words of the Psalms 27 on the Palm Trees in the exhibion space!! This one in Hebrew, in progress!! two photos down a friend completed the words in English on another Psalm tree!!!

Today!! This day!!

Photo of me in Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, 2019, holding a Shalom fan

a visitor to our exhibition with the Smile fan she made!!

Fellowship is wonderful! Helping to set up!

A photo of an olive tree that I took in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Part of the exhibit of Photos from my Israel trip that were displayed with the fans

Nice choice of ribbon!!

You know this, is the Eastern Gate where Messiah Yeshua is said to return. 

He is with us! He is with you!

The day this time was a little scaled down due to the circumstances, but the Glory of God was there and we could feel His LOVE maybe even more so as His presence filled the day.



♡

Love,
Shayndel