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

 

 

Purim Sending and giving -- Mishloach Manot!

 Mordecai recorded these events.  And he sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far, charging them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, every year---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.  They were to observe them as days of feasting and merry making, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor.            --Book of Esther 9:20~22

The month of Adar on the Hebrew calendar is a month of joy, and as the scripture above from the book of Esther states, it is "transformative" joy, as the days of mourning and grief were turned to those of festive joy.

Giving and sending Mishloach Manot--food gifts-- is a wonderful part of Purim.
Just as the scripture says, it is part and parcel of the Purim holiday to "send gifts to one another and presents to the poor."

I have been making Hamantashen and packing them to to send to those who are far and made some to give out to those near!!  Where I live no one in the "province" knows about Purim, so its also a way of sharing about Purim and about the God of Purim!! The God of Israel!!

Sometimes the best way to share about Him is simply to do an act of kindness.   I think that is a lot of what Purim is about!! 

"The Blossoming Challah" seasonal delivery---Hamantashen anywhere in Japan!!

A lot is "hidden" in the holiday of Purim!

Guess who this one is going to?  Hint it's from "Mom" ♡

You can read about the Feast of Purim in the Book of Esther, which is read on the holiday of Purim!!!

This year is the first time I sent Hamantashen, for sending I sent them by "frozen " shipping! Thankful for the TakyuBin Delivery service in Japan!

There is a lot that is "hidden" in Purim, including the fillings in the Hamantashen!!

From Shayndel, to YOU!!!

Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen and Prune Hamantashen are the varieties made here at Challah and Cherry blossoms!!

Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen! Made in Japan!!

Chag Sameach!!

Happy Purim!!

There are still a few days to prepare for Purim, if you would like to try making Hamantashen,
please see this my favorite Hamantashen recipe which is also in the "recipes" sidebar at right,
or click HERE for a tutorial for my
Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen
uniquely from Challah and Cherry Blossoms!! 

Much Love,

♡

Shayndel

The Purim Challah, and now, the Feast!

Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year as the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into celebration.  These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor.        

Esther 9:20~22

 The Feasts of the LORD are called feasts for good reason.
They are to be feasts!! And at the same time, we are not to neglect those who cannot feast or have not enough, and it is also a big part of Purim to give to those who are in need, as well as share gifts of food with one another.

When it is time to move to the feast, we give thanks to the LORD for all He provides, and for bringing us to this day.
And always, always, have you noticed, everything we make on a Shabbat or Feast day is more delicious than on an "ordinary" day on the calendar.  My daughter notices ! Those who join in the feast do too!! Its like God gives us an extra anointing in cooking on those days!!

I love making a special Challah on Purim.
This year I hadn't decided what  the Challah would be, until I began to shape it and roll out the dough.

 I had the Prune and Sakura fillings (see post below) prepared, so in a moment, I saw to make a Sakura and Prune Challah for Purim!!

As described in the post below, the two fillings together have a special significance for me and in our house in Japan.  They express something about my walk with the LORD and hopes for His Salvation for our family.   As my daughter is home and here for Purim, I was also thinking about how in a way she is like the Sakura , or cherry blossom, as she is born and grew up in Japan, and even under the cherry blossoms! And the prune is.... me!

Ok, that may not have come out so pretty!! But what I meant is well, yes, there is something generational there too!! Sakura is new and fresh and young and renewing, and Prune as I have explained below, is something as  Jewish people we seem to like for as far back as I can remember!!  And they are preserved to last a long time!! How is that for a mix!! The new and renewing and the long lasting through the generations!!

We are here because of Esther.  In the sense that, if the Jews in the exile had been wiped out by the wicked plan at that time, we wouldn't be here.  And I think too what about our Messiah Yeshua?  If all the Jews were wiped out?  There is so much to think about in one Challah!!

So here is the challah, a special Purim challah.  When I shaped it I used the Star of David as my inspiration for shape, but as you can see it rose and baked into a shape of its own!! I thought it looked like a crown!! My daughter said to her it looked like a blossom....yes! A cherry blossom.  Oh, that pleased me to hear!!

A few other guests also stopped by for a pre-feast before my daughter came home, dressed as Queen  Esther and Mordecai--- no Purim is complete without them!---  we read the Book of Esther together, using our best character-like voices for all the parts.  I made the additional challah which also contains  sakura and prune for our guests.  As Esther kept vegetarian in the palace, to keep her Jewish identity hidden as she couldn't express being kosher, I didn't want to offend our guests and thus served a vegetarian Esther's bean stew for the pre-feast.  It was followed up when my daughter came home with Kreplach (  non-vegetarian! ) which are another Purim specialty!!

Kreplach in Japanese Dashi and Esther's Persion Bean stew are Purim favorites here! 

Recipe links to follow!

 A Purim table should express joy!
 And speaks of God bringing together all His people into One in our Messiah Yeshua, the Bread of Life and the Saviour of the world!

His name was not mentioned in the book of Esther, but His hand of Deliverance is forever upon His people!!

Shouts of joy and victory
are in the tents of the righteous:
ADONAI's right hand is mighty!   Psalm 118:15

Blessed be His Name!

Purim Sameach!! Happy Purim!

Love,
 ♡
Shayndel

Prune and Cherry Blossom, can you see the hidden fillings revealed!?

PS note to my blog friends!
 Thank you friends for your comments on my Purim posts below!!
So happy to share in the gladness of the holiday with YOU and blessed by your comments!!
I am still in a Purim whirlwind and now going into Shabbat , so will look forward to reply to follow once I settle !!Much love and a blessed weekend ! Filled with joy and God's great peace..
Shabbat Shalom!!!♡

Hamantashen! Yeah! Boo! New!

 This year on the day before Purim, I read the book of Esther in my Japanese class with my Japanese teacher.  Or rather, he read most of it and I followed and listened!! He got so into it and loved it so much that he just took over the reading!! Surely he had never read the Purim story before, and his newness to it made me so excited to see how enthusiastic he was in reading it!! He saw all the intricacies in it and was cheering and booing.   I believe God gave him a quickening of the spirit somehow as he seemed to follow how the workings of God's hand behind it make it indeed an extra-ordinary story!!

My teacher didn't know that when we read the Book of Esther every year at Purim (or listen to a reading of the Megilla as those who are in a synagogue), it is always a very lively reading!! We hiss and boo and roll noisemakers at every mention of Haman's name, and cheer on Esther and Mordecai with joyous cheers at their names!!  So when he was so animated in his reactions, it really made me glad to see him doing that without any prompting!! And when I read it this year I too had a new excitement from his excitement!!

Ok, so how do I tie that into the Hamantashen?! As you know these triangle shaped cookies with "hidden" fillings are the traditional sweet to eat at Purim.  Named after the evil Haman... BOOO!!!!

Yet surely there are other revelations "hidden" in the Hamantashen.

Making Hamantashen is first of all  a joy, as though the victory in the salvation of the Jews is echoed three times in the three V's!  Of course if you put the two cookies overlapped on each other, there are two triangles, which make up the Star of David!! Well, those are just off the cuff.

The fillings that we use here at Challah and Cherry Blossoms are one "old" and one "new" combined into what I call Challah and Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen!  As we are in Japan, the sakura filling, or cherry blossom, is the taste of the season, and also the taste of renewal, resurrection, and the Messianic taste, speaking into life that which was not.

The prune filling is a traditional filling I associate with being  "Jewish".  Its substantial and deep in taste and has a history and probably generations have been eating hamantashen filled with prune filling, most likely my grandparents and before!!  Thus, the two together are my signature Challah and Cherry Blossoms Hamantashen!!
Japanese and Jewish folded into the taste of becoming new in Messiah Yeshua!!

Now the next discovery I made is a new meaning to the Hamantashen.
You know, that it is said that God is "hidden" in the book of Esther and the Purim story, as it is the only book in all the Bible where God is not mentioned by His name, or any of his names.

And yet, reading it this year, I found He is not hidden at all!! From my Japanese teacher clearly feeling His presence, to reading it with a clear knowing how 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.

The filling is "hidden" but its not hidden at all.  It is rich and delicious and full of good taste and surprise.  It is cherry blossoms, it is prune (from plums, like grapes), apricot, fruit of all kinds.
I think of the scripture, Taste and see how good the Lord is!!

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 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!!

Prune and Sakura filled hamantashen, signature Purim fare at our house at Challah and Cherry Blossoms

"Hidden" hamantashen

 Taste and see how good ADONAI is.

Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.

--Psalm 34:9

And as I look deeper into the Psalm, I see His deliverence, and his saving power! I see the Purim story and I see my Saviour .  I see how how those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.  And I see how he is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the face of the earth!! So this is the hamantashen! there in the Psalm!  The turning from evil to good!! They are about seeking Shalom!! Perhaps when we bite into them and taste how good HE is , we are also following the command to blot out Amalek, to blot out evil, and as Haman descends from Amalek, we remember never to forget!

The face of ADONAI is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out and ADONAI hears, and delivers them from all their troubles.

Many are the distresses of the righteous, but ADONAI delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones--

not one of them is broken.

Evil kills the wicked--

those who hate the righeous 

will be held guilty.

ADONAI redeems the soul of His servants

--no one who takes refuge in Him will be held guilty.

Yeah!! We can cheer with Amen!!  Praise the LORD!

  Who knew a post about a cookie would lead us into a Psalm, and a message of Shalom as we taste and see how good the LORD is!!

Blessings and a Happy Purim!!

Love, 
 ♡
Shayndel

Note:  For more on this blog about  recipes and how-to-make them, and how to share them,  posts and  tutorials,  about hamantashen, Please see my previous years posts on
Challah and Cherry Blossoms Sakura Hamantashen HERE (Purim Menu),
  HERE(Cherry Blossom Hamantashen)!, 
HERE (Sharing Purim)
and HERE(assorted Purim posts)

The Recipe base I use for the Hamantashen and the prune filling are from Tory Avey's blog and can be found HERE (Hamantashen)  and HERE (filling).   You can also find it at right on the sidebar. Thank you Tory Avey for this and other recipes, we are grateful for the inspiration and wonderful recipes that you share, some we have been using over the years as a base from which to create and add on with some Cherry Blossoms touches.  Happy Purim to all!

Happy Purim!!

These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor.   Esther 9:22b

"hidden" Hamantashen

Can you see there, the moon on the day before Purim. The Jewish holidays, or rather God's Feast Days, always coincide with the cycles of the moon, and as Purim is the 14th and 15th day of ADAR, it is always on a full moon.  It is exciting to look up in the sky as we approach the special appointed days of our God and be able to see as we are coming closer to the day of the Feast.  God appointed the times and He speaks through them on His eternal cycle.   I call this picture, Purim moon.  (though I missed seeing the actual full moon yesterday,on the actual Purim,  too busy feasting!)

These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family and in every province and in every city.  These days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants.

Book of Esther 10:28

I confess, I missed many Purims in the years when I was separated from God, the great sin that I know now is the greatest sin, to live our lives in separation from God. Perhaps that is why it has become an even greater joy to remember it and observe it in the years since my "return".  All the Jews in Shushan too at that time were living in exile, and many were giving in to the customs of their exiled country, not holding fast to the Torah and slipping away from their faith.  When Esther and Mordechai called for unity in the Jewish people, they were met with unity as all the Jewish people bonded together in fast and prayer, and we know the joyous victory that was achieved for the people of God in that time, after Esther spoke up and called the Fast and arranged the banquets!! 

Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, "Go!  Gather together all the Jews who are in Shushan and fast for me.  Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.  My maids and I will fast in the same way.  After wards, I will go to the king, even though it is not according to the law.  So if I perish, I perish!   

So Mordecai left and did all that Esther commanded him.   
Esther, 4:15~17

On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but contrary to expectations the Jews gained the upper hand over those that hated them.  Jews assembled in their cities through out all the provinces of King Ahaseurus in order to lay hands on those seeking their harm.  No one was able to stand against them, for fear of them had fallen on the peoples.  
 Esther, 9:1a~ 2

Praise God!! Hallelujah!! 

Wishing everyone a joyous Purim!! There is a day to fast on the day before Purim for those who choose to. After that one day fast there is the day of Purim (or two days depending), as recorded in the book of Esther, of celebration and joy!! 

Sadly there was news of terrorist attack in Israel in this week, as well as the spirit of Amalek alive and continuing in their evil plans to destroy the Jewish people with the firing of rockets by Hamas and other terrorist attacks. 

We are told in the Bible to remember to never forget Amalek,  and we read just at this time of year the scriptures about Amalek including the story of King Saul's disobedience to destroy all of Amalek.  May our prayers go up to rid this spirit of evil as embodied by Amalek and his descendants like Haman and those who are seeking to destroy Israel today. And at may many people who have gone far from God return to Him and that there rise up more unity in  God's people, both Jew and Gentile, as we are to be one in Messiah Yeshua. 

Stay tuned for a few more Purim posts and of course, those beloved cookies, though why do they call them Hamantashen??! It just makes you say "Boo!"

Sharing Purim

I love making these kinds of deliveries!

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.

--from the Book of Esther 9:31 &32

We celebrate Purim on the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Adar, which this year was this past week.

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

A dear friend recently shared that she would be celebrating her first Purim.   She wrote to ask me to confirm what it is we are supposed to do and if she was missing anything.  I was happy to hear that she would be sharing in the joy of Purim for all God`s people!!  If you are considering celebrating your first Purim, we can see right in the Book of Esther how to do so!

 We are told these things to do at Purim:

They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor.   ---Esther 9:22b

In this post I want to share one of them, that is sending gifts!
In Hebrew, it is `Mishloach Manot`!
Since I began celebrating Purim again in my born-again life in Japan, I have enjoyed choosing and sending them to my family in the US by internet, but this year I also wanted to connect with the people in my near community, so this was my first time in my adult life to make Mishloach Manot gifts to `send`.
There are different ways to do it, but the fun thing is, doing it!!
As you know I live in a city and in a state ( Prefecture) where I haven`t yet found even one other person who observes Shabbat or the Feast days of ADONAI, so it has been a challenge, and recently I have been seeking God to help me to find people and ways to share them with.

This time I didn`t have to look far for the way, its right there in His Word!!

The sending of portions, or Mishloach Manot, seemed  perfect  and it is something we are told to do, so I set out to get some supplies and make a few to start!

 I got some cute boxes from the 100 yen shop (thats like the dollar store!).
  I put in some homemade hamantashen.

Next, I had an inspriation because the Book of Esther is read as a `scroll` or `Megillah`, I took some pretty origami paper and made little scrolls with a few scriptures to include in the boxes.  I made an English version, and a Japanese version, depending on who would be the recipient.  It was also good practice to write scriptures in Japanese, as I recently purchased a new Japanese Bible!!

These Misloach-manot.  are unique Japanese Purim Gift boxes, as they include original Cherry Blossom hamantashen.(see post HERE and one to follow!) and some other Japanese touches like the origami paper.  You can make yours unique with what you have special where you are.

I delivered the first to a friend and neighbor just a short bicycle ride away.
I rang her bell, and it was such a nice face to face moment.  That is something wonderful too about this thousands of year old observance.  Of course, we can send through the internet too, but this year it was the face to face that I have been seeking!
 I even received  a food assortment as a gift in return!  Totally unexpected.   It  took me by surprise.

On the second gift box that I delivered I got an even greater surprise.  When I gave it to the person,  this one with a Japanese `scroll`, there just happened to be another person there who knew a little about the Bible, and so we got into a conversation.  I ran and got my Japanese Bible to share about the holiday with them. The person who I gave the box to hadn`t read the Bible before, so  I handed it her to look at, and once it was in her hands....  one thing led to another and in the most natural way,
I was able to leave her with not only the gift box but with the Japanese Bible as well!!

One of the things is that we see in the Purim story is God working behind the scenes in the exact timing of all the meetings and miracles.  In our everyday life we can also see how God is working out all the details and timings, and pouring His Spirit out on people at His timing, and it was clear in that brief moment of giving that he made hearts open to Him.  It was an unexpected and wonderful Purim surprise that the Bible would be a part of my first Mishloach manot!!  Praise God! I give thanks to His Salvation.  Yeshua.  For showing me that Purim is about preserving His word and making Him known in our world!!

Your word is a lamp to my feet, 

a light for my path.  

  

---Psalm 119:105

Blessings and Shalom! Love, Shayndel

This one also included Halvah, from Israel!!

I really need to practice my Japanese writing, but meanwhile this is where I am so I will include it in my Purim package!

Psalm 47:1 and Esther 9:28 are the scriptures I selected in this box

It also was a graduation week in Japan, and this recipient has a son who graduated from High School, same age as my daughter, so the scroll like this has a timely-ness!!  Below, you can see I added a cherry blossom on the box for a finishing touch.  These Misloach-manot.  are unique Japanese Purim Gift boxes, as they include Cherry Blossom hamantashen.

♡

Your decrees are my eternal heritage:
they are my heart`s delight.

--Psalm 119:111