From the Purim Desk 1~~Hamentashen Notes!

Taste and see how good the LORD is.
Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. 

--Psalm 34:9

Your decrees are my eternal heritage:
they are my heart`s delight.   --Psalm 119:111

Happy Birthday Esther !

Did you know `Esther`s` name means `hidden`!!

Your choice of Sakura An (Cherry blossoms paste)  or Prune filling!

Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen, since 2017 on Challah and Cherry Blossoms, made in Japan with God`s love

from the Purim Desk of Shayndel!!

These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew--and now Queen Esther--has obligated them to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations.  And Esther`s ordinance validating these observances of Purim were recorded in a scroll.-the Book of Esther 9:31 &32

We celebrate Purim on the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Adar.  The day I am writing these notes it is the  11th of Adar.

The same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. --Esther 9:22a

God is said to be hidden in the Purim story and yet, as we read  on Purim in the book of Esther,  we find Him everywhere!   He is not hidden at all!!  His hand is upon everything, He seems so present there in every detail.  So my interpretation of the Hamantashen, with the delicious fillings inside, is that they speak of God and how He is the center of all things!   And the center of course of the center of all the events that are wrapped together in the Purim story.

These photos are from my in-home time of making as I was up to my ears in Hamentashen, and that is where I like to be on Purim!!  This year I also hosted an on-line Hamentashen bake!! We had participants from Malaysia, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. and respectively the fillings included Passion Fruit filling (Malaysia), Poppyseed (Australia) and Sakura (Cherry Blossoms paste!)(Japan).  Taste and see how good the LORD is!!

 Just a funny story for the record is that the night before the Hamantashan bake, I was up late preparing and finally got to sleep hoping that I would be rested for the next day.  In the middle of the night the phone rang.  I couldn`t imagine!  But I did go at pick it up, it must have been 3 or 4 in the morning.  It was a woman from the Challah company in New York from whom I had ordered Hamantashen to send for my Dad!! She asked me to confirm his address as they couldn`t send to a P.O. box.  I almost got angry and wanted to say, don`t you know its the middle of the night in Japan?? But I stopped myself and realized of course she didn`t, and kept a tone of gratitude, how wonderful that she was delivering the Purim treats to my Dad so he could have them in time!!

 When I returned to bed I realized there was the Hand of God, He wanted to show me that as I was so focused on sharing Purim with new friends in the nations here, He wanted me to know that He was also making sure Dad would be getting his!! Then a few days later I got another call from a delivery service checking on my daughters address! Again, it was God`s hand showing me that He was getting the Purim packages delivered to where they needed to go!! 

That is why we love these hamantashen!! They speak of God's delicious-ness, His taste of everything that is good, His being the one who is in the center of our very story, of our very being. The one who everything we do is centered around.  The horn of our Salvation, the God of our Deliverance.  The one who is in the center of our hearts and who fashions our hearts.

So when you taste the treats of Purim this year, taste deeply, taste intimately, taste with all the senses how very, very , very good our God is!!
 

to be continued.... recipe: HERE

 Much Love ♡ Shayndel