Rosh Hashanah Rainbow

 

 

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.  Genesis 9:13

Teshuvah Diary

(note:`Teshuvah` is the Hebrew word for `return` as in `return to G-d.  It is a word for the Fall Feasts which are all about returning to G-d. )

My Dad said it never rains on the Jewish holidays. 

When I was a child we always walked together as a family to the synagogue on the Jewish Holidays.  Note that we always called them that, but in my `Return` to G-d` all these years later, I understand that these are the Feasts of the LORD and for all His children and for all who would walk in His ways!

As my Dad declared that it never rains, so it was, anyway to my memory it never did rain on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah＊ and Yom Kippur!  So this year, when at last I made it to celebrate the High Holidays with my Dad in Long Island, NY where we are from, we found ourselves on the way to shul (synagogue) on the eve of the first of the holidays, the new month of Tishrei, and it was raining.

Before I get to the rainbow, I just want to tell a little of the back story which is that my Dad and I had this `appointment` since June,  to meet on G-d`s appointed days and to spend the High Holidays together.  I almost went back to the US in June, as I wanted to see my Dad, who recently turned 90. As these days with our parents are precioius and I live so far~ Japan, if anyone is just joining in~  I wanted to go and spend the spring Holiday of Shavout there with him, but we both realized it would be too much to make the trip twice and that we would wait for this `appointed time` in the Fall. 

So after waiting a half of year, at last I was here and thankful to be going to the synagogue with my Dad.  We were on our way, at the entance to the month-long feasts.  

And here it was, raining. 

I said to my Dad, `You said it never rains on the Jewish Holidays`.  And my Dad almost matter-of-factly replied, `yes, but... there`s a rainbow`.  

A rainbow? I didn`t see any rainbow.

I looked in front of me and just saw rain on the windshield (we live a little too far now from the synagogue to walk, and so we were in the car).  I was like a kid in disbelief in that moment, not knowing where he was coming from in saying that.  Its possible in all my years I may never have even heard my Dad speak of a rainbow ever.  We are alike in certain ways, but he is the opposite of me in one sense that he is very practical, and his vocabulary is more nuts and bolts, and less rainbows.  I love my Dad.

I looked again and didn`t see any rainbow and felt a great dissonance in that moment.  It was raining and we were on the way to the synagogue with my Dad and here he was bringing up a rainbow?!

Then we curved around the road and a burst of light shined in front of us and my Dad, who was driving, said that he couldn`t see.  It was dangerous as the light was so bright!  At this hour of the sunset, the setting sun appeared in a glow.  The Glory of G-d was bursting through.  Just in the nick of time!

And then as we were going over the bridge over a small canal to enter the town, there it was, over us, the hugest rainbow I ever saw.  

A full rainbow!   I was so excited now like a child whose hopes were returned and faith affirmed,  proud of a father who wasn`t letting me down, and who saw it first.   I exclaimed my excitement and must have started Praising G-d who put it there for us so clearly!　

My Dad stopped the car for me to take a picture.  Even though I had been rushing him not to be late to shul, in this moment we both were suspended in time under the rainbow.  

The rain had stopped!! When we continued on, we saw the sun going down over the small town where the synagogue is, in such a perfect glow of radiance.  Again it was the LORD showing His Glory on this eve of the Rosh HaShanah, and this Rosh Chodesh.  

I can say clearly that this was no doubt Him showing us that it was a very special `Rosh Chodesh` and even Rosh HaShanah, as the new month and all holidays start at sunset on the Jewish calendar.  He was so clearly showing the sunset and the rainbow entrance to the month and year. ＊＊

With that we continued on through the town as G-d brought the rainbow in front of us, and highlighted each view putting the rainbow there scene after scene: over the town, over the supermarket, over the fire department, it was such a gracious unfolding as we were now in His peace and in His Holy Spirit presence.   When we arrived at the synagogue, the rainbow was now hidden from view from clouds, and we entered the service.

Dad and I have to sit on opposite sides as it is an Orthodox synagogue and the women are on one side and men on the other.  My dad signaled me to sit in the aisle opposite him so we were near, and when the Cantor sang the Shehechiyanu blessing, I don`t know if my Dad noticed, but I was completeley in tears!!   We made it!

Shehechiyanu is a blessing where we thank God for the miracle of  sustaining us and bringing  us to this day. It is said on the `first` of something and is said on most of the Holidays to mark the special occasion with thanksgiving.

 בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech ha-olam, shehecheyanu, v'kiy'manu, v'higiyanu laz'man ha-zeh. 

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.

I must also add, when the Cantor sung the blessing, in his amazing cantorial voice and the first time I`d heard him in 3 years, I also saw not only the miracle of my being here in this generation with my Dad, but I felt all the history of the Jewish people of our nation of Israel, since the beginning of Creation and since Abraham, and even before.  And continuing God`s Covenant Promises to the Jewish people to return them to the Promised Land, as God is bringing us home.

Amen and Amen!  With all thanks in Yeshua who brings us back to the Father and who returns the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children, to prepare the way and make a prepared people! ***

Blessings and Love, 

Shayndel

❤️

A few notes:

1.  As I write this it will be the new month of Cheshvan, when we have come out of the Fall Feasts, and we land into a month where we have rolled back the Torah Scroll and start at the beginning.   We just read the story of Creation, in Bereishit and now It happens that this week we are in Parsha Noah, the second portion in the Torah.  A connection to the rainbow!

 2. ＊Rosh Hashanah is another name given to what is actually the Biblical Feast of Trumpets, and begins on the First day of the Seventh Month of Tishrei.  Jewish people refer to it as the Jewish New Year, and the shofar is blown throughout the holiday in a pattern of blasts culminating on the last great trumpet at Yom Kippur.  

3.  ＊＊Note also that the actual Biblical New Year is in Spring! When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, G-d gave the first commandment to them which was to observe the first month of spring time.  (see Exodus 12)

4.  ***As I post this, I am reminded of the verse from Malachi 4:6 about the fathers returning to the children and the children to the fathers.  That verse is also repeated and referred to in the gospel of Luke.  I just was shown a teaching explaining this verse as it speaks about the `return` (Teshuvah!) of the Jewish people to their Messiah and physically to the land of Israel which is necessary preparations for Messiah`s return!  

And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to the children and the disobedient ones to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for Adonai a prepared people.

Luke 1:17

Choose Your Mask!!! Purim is almost Here

These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family and in every province and every city.  These days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants.        Book of Esther 9:28 

Choose your mask!!

Purim is almost here!! Proclaim His Name and His Victories from every province and every city!!

Let the Hamantashen making begin!!!

May we joyously move into the next Feast, the feast of Purim!!

You still have time to prepare!!

Stay tuned for an invitation to the banquet:))

Blessings and Shalom!

♡Love, Shayndel

(post edited)

Teshuva and the Ice Cream Truck

Challah  and Cherry Blossoms diary

Winding down, or up the posts from my LI visit and celebrating the fall feasts in this season of "return".
I know this post out of sequence, but for my records, I had to put in this photo of the butterscotch ice cream sundae and just wanted to include the story to go with it.

You will teach me the path of life.

In Your presence is perfect joy;

delights are ever in Your right hand.

--Psalm 16:11

At the Tashlich ceremony (part of the New Year celebration and observances, a Jewish tradition of symbolically casting our sins into the sea), there were two ice cream trucks!!  After the ceremony, where we read certain scriptures that are chosen for this day, and then throw crusts of bread into the sea to symbolize casting off sins, everyone lined up for ice cream.  Young and old.   Hearts were lightened from the blowing of the shofar the previous day at Rosh Hashanah. 

There at the marina, it was a joy to be part of.   Small children with their fathers in excitement for what kind of ice cream to have, and older people who were also joyously enjoying a treat that they might not ordinarily indulge in.   And I can't tell you when was the last time I had an ice cream sundae!  With butterscotch yet!   We all were eating and enjoying ice cream that was from a man in a truck,  but there was a wonderous unity and beauty in  how it was clearly understood that everything is provided from God. 

( somehow the spiral shape  of the soft ice cream even reminded me of the spiraling round challahs of return often made at this time of the year.  The whole experience being shaped by the Holy Spirit and filled with the sweet taste of return...)
 
Teshuva = Return

＊
Post Script

The photos below are from another day, after the butterscotch sundae story above.  I suppose I had butterscotch sundae on my mind sometime after the Tashlich!  One day after that I was driving into the village and  surprised to find myself behind an ice cream truck.  I wanted to stop him but didn't quite know how from the car, so I  followed it through the winding streets of the neighborhood.  Finally he stopped in a cul de sac.   I stopped behind him and  got out and ordered... guess what?... a butterscotch sundae.  I had completely forgotten that I had almost no money and was on the way to the bank!  but he had already made the sundae and said not to worry about it!

I don't know if you or I will find an ice cream truck at the next feast of the Lord but I will say that  we enter new doors and new roads open to treasures and delights that God will reveal exquisitely ....and I might add, in unique ways...to each one who follows after His heart.

Love and blessings from your Challah and Cherry Blossoms correspondent,

♡

Shayndel

Kreplach in Dashi

The first time I ever made Kreplach was last year  for the meal before the fast for Yom Kippur.  Since then I have made them several times for other holidays and feasts.   I think this was the third time.

Kreplach are like dumplings that you can make boiled and served in soup or fried.
They are a traditional Jewish food to make on some of the holidays and Feasts, including Purim and before the fast of Yom Kippur.

When I started observing the holidays in Japan, I longed for the traditional foods from the holidays that I grew up with, and as there is nowhere to get any of the foods here in Southern Japan,   I started making them myself.  Foods like kugel, kreplach, bagels, and ...as you well know...challah!!

The foods started taking on a mixture of Jewish / Japanese just naturally.  As  I would go to make them using ingredients and seasonal items that we can find locally, the combinations just started to happen...  For example , a  Cherry Blossms Challah in springtime,  other Challah such as a Red Bean Challah, and Cherry Blossoms Hamentashen for Purim.

The Kreplach in Dashi became another such mix!

Dashi means soup stock. In Japan there are many kinds of soup stock.   I use a dashi in a `tea bag` form that is made from bonito fish base. Its light and natural and makes a good soup for miso soup or clear soup and it goes well with Kreplach too!!

 I read that Kreplach is a good food to eat before the fast.  It is filling, filled with protein, so you keep full for a while.   Melon is a good too,  as the melon gives the body water to store during the fast.







As I was making the Kreplach, I looked at the renkon (lotus root) and the writing on the package of dashi and Japanese ingredients,   I wanted to share some of the taste of God`s goodness and provision that we experience in Japan!  So I  jotted down some notes as a recipe, and am  finally sitting down to share it now as the fast is finished and we are `full` of  peace  after the High Holy Days!

I hope you enjoy it and might try making Kreplach in Dashi, using variations with what is grown where you are!   What are some of the tastes of the season where you are ?

Notes on how to make  Kreplach in Dashi! 

1. Filling


For the filling.  I used minced chicken, renkon (lotus root), and spinach. Renkon is readily available in Japan, and is a root vegetable with holes---a holey root vegetable you might say! Its become one of my favorite vegetables.  Its also good to eat at this time of year, as root vegetables are warming and good for change of seasons and all winter for immunity.  If you don`t have renkon where you are, use root vegetables native to your locale.

250 g. minced chicken

1 small renkon (about 60 grams)

a bunch of spinach

sliced ginger

Sautee all ingredients together.

2.
Dough:

Use your favorite recipe for Kreplach dough.  With thanks to those who provide so many recipes that we are able to use! I used this Basic Kreplach Recipe HERE for the dough. 

3.
Soup:

Place one Dashi `Tea Bag` in a pot of water, bring to a boil, and after boiling two minutes, turn off heat and remove Dashi `Tea Bag`.

Bring to a boil again,  Add about a few tablespoons, or up to a quarter cup of Japanese Sake to soup.
Cut up root vegetables of your choice, and add them to soup, let them cook and make a nice broth while you assemble Kreplach. I also add sliced ginger to the soup at this point.

Remove Dashi `tea bag` after boiling about 2 minutes, or make dashi to your liking from other stock

Add Japanese Sake to the soup to taste

4.  Assemble the Kreplach

Cut rounds or squares, I used rounds to keep with the `round` theme of the cycle of the year in the Fall Feasts.

Add one teaspoon of filling, and fold.  You can see the way to fold on the Basic Kreplach Recipe Here, or find on your favorite recipe.

Note:  In my photo I hadn`t yet sealed all the seams.  You must seal the seams or the ingredients will not stay when you boil them!!

Note:  Be careful! I took this photo before realizing we have to seal the edges!  I had a moment of mixing up Kreplach with Hamentashen!  Shayndel`s caution:  Seal the edges when you are making Kreplach!! (see finished photo of the Kreplach in Dashi, whew! Sealed just in time!!)

5.
Add them to soup, and boil about 15 minutes

6.

 Have some melon to follow, and seal it will a few glasses of water. 

Have a good fast!



 notes:Thank you Duta for the advice about sealing it with water! And for encouraging me to post about meals before and after fast, see the `after` to follow!


Link:
to try this Japanese dashi, the site to order is here: Kayano Dashi

Related posts on this blog:  Kreplach with Chopsticks

An Interview with my Brother! Challah and Cherry Blossoms Guest Interview

This interview took place live on Skype! My brother Jim is in the U.S.  I am in Japan.
I wasn`t quite sure what the interview would be about when we started.  Jim was recently interviewed on his local radio station in NY about a walk he  particpated in just last week for Alzheimers, in honor of our mom who passed away two years ago.  So as I have been doing some interviews on my blog, I thought it would be nice to do an interview with my very own brother, while he was making the circuit!
When I asked about the walk, Jim turned the interview around and asked me a question--he asked how that connected with my blog and the themes of Challah and Cherry blossoms.
So I went with another line of questions, and asked him about.... Yes!
Challah , and Cherry blossoms!

It turned out to be a nice time to wish each other a Happy New Year, and to remember our mom who passed away two years ago. She loved cherry blossoms .. ..

Abbreviations used are Sh=Shayndel, J=Jim.  My brother calls me `Jo`.

Shayndel:  Hi Jim!
  Welcome to Challah and Cherry Blossoms.  It`s an honor to have you here.

Jim:  Hi  Jo.   Thank you very much.

S:  Jim,  I`ll start by asking,  do you have any memories of Challah from our childhood? 

J:  At any Jewish Holiday celebration there was always a challah.  But I don`t think they were homemade.

S: Oh!   I don`t even remember there was challah, so thanks for sharing that memory. 

What about cherry blossoms.  What comes to mind when you think of cherry blossoms?

J:  My times in college in Washington D.C.

S:  Did you know the cherry trees there come from a gift of friendship from Japan...

J:    I didn`t know they were a gift from Japan!
Now when I see them, I will always think how they came from Japan.

S:  Jim,  I know in this past year you have taken on a lot of new challenges...  as we are coming to a New Year with Rosh Hashanah this week, do you have anything that you are looking to better about yourself in the New Year, challenges, etc?

J:  Continuing to open up my heart in new ways, take one day at a time, stay positive,
and always keeping love for mom alive every day.
And to have lots of Challah and honey to start the New Year.

S:  That`s great! So Jim, you will be visiting Japan for the first time next year, and at Cherry Blossoms time!

J:  Yes! And now I remember, Mom used to love cherry blossoms in Japan.  It was one of her favorite things about visiting.  The best was seeing her daughter and granddaughter and son-in-law but then after that it was the Cherry Blossoms!

S:  She loved the Cherry Blossoms! That was so special.  
You will love them too...(note to readers, our mom passed away two years ago, and until the last years of her life, she always came to Japan to visit us every year at Cherry Blossoms season!)

This was great having you, Jim, thanks so much!!
We look forward to seeing you in Japan for the Cherry Blossoms!

And, to round out the interview,

Please accept this round challah as a thanks for being our guest here today.  It`s a sweet raisin challah, for a sweet New Year!  You should receive it on time for Rosh Hashanah.

Sorry though, it`s not homemade!

round Challah from Challah Connection!

J:  Thank you Jo!   Happy New Year.

S:  Happy New Year!

Link notes:
Chabad article HERE are some reasons for having a round challah 
on the New Year !

Last scenes before Pesach!!

Sing to ADONAI a new song!

Sing to ADONAI all the earth.

--Psalm 96:1 TLV

The day before Passover  is full of the excitement of knowing that  we are about to enter into into a set apart time.  Today almost had the quality of a technicolor movie as we scurried to give away the last chametz in the foreground of the fully blooming cherry trees!

My daughter offered to take a bag of still good `chametz` to her workplace and keep it out of our house during Passover. 

Stopping to enjoy the cherry blossoms
No one would ever know, inside the bag is fulled with...chametz!!

Today was such a splendid day, both the day of the full blossoms and the day before Passover, turtles too were enjoying a sumptuous sunny spot

Between the blossoms and having finished the chametz clearing, we were getting a little giddy.

she rode off into the blossoms with the bag of chametz!

Scene 2, Take 1

After doing the Passover cleaning at the last minute, a few new plates for Passover.  Using new dishes for the Passover meal is another way of acknowledging the set-apart-ness of the Feast days, and keeping that time `separate`.
May our spirits be re-newed!

Scene 3

The amazing thing is, the full blossoms of Cherry Blossoms and `Hana-mi` (Cherry Blossoms season) corresponded this year exactly with the beginning of  Passover.

 I am so excited for when these come fully together.  When people of Japan will know Yeshua, and that this Cherry Blossoms season will become a time when people will be celebrating new life in Him, and a Messianic re-birth in Japan.  The scenes then will be people eating matzah, praising ADONAI, and singing worship songs under the pink canopy, tasting the Bread of Life and drinking from the cup of Redemption!!  A whole nation celebrating the Passover under the cherry blossoms!!

＊

Declare His glory among the nations,

His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

---Psalm 96:3

＊

As the sliding doors slide on into the Passover Holiday,  wishing you Blessings and Shalom!

Chag Sameach from Japan!  (Happy Holiday)

♡

Shayndel

Purim Round-up

 With Purim now forming into a triangle-shaped memory, the parties are winding down and we can start to see towards  Passover just over the horizon.  

These photos are from today, as Purim extended into the week for a last party with a few of my students.  Studying English while getting a taste of Purim.

I hope you enjoyed Purim at Challah and Cherry Blossoms, thank you for celebrating it with us through the posts below.  It has been fun to share the festivities and hamentashen  with you.

costume credit:  I am wearing an Esther mask, printable courtesy of Alpha Mom, Here!
Blessings and Shalom!

Then Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail, and also Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.  He sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of shalom and truth, to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them and just as they had established for themselves and their descendants, matters regarding their times of fasting and lamentations.  Esther`s command confirmed these regulations about Purim and it was written into the records.   

---Esther, 9:29~32

Cherry Blossom Hamentashen!

On top of both you can place a cherry blossom flower, before or in the middle of baking time.

Nothing says `Purim in Japan` like Cherry Blossom Hamentashen!

Cherry Blossom is the perfect filling for this holiday that falls just before spring, the holiday before the Passover.  Purim is a time to celebration the deliverance of the Jewish people in Persia by Esther`s annulment of the terrible decree set out by Haman (see post below).

Hamentashen are the cookies that are traditional to eat on Purim.  They can be filled with all different kinds of filling, and there are many ideas as to what these little triangular filled pastries mean.  You can read ten of them in an article HERE that offers ten possible meanings.

This year I just couldn`t resist trying my first Cherry Blossoms Hamentashen.
 
 I also made  the classic, prune, which is often made for this Jewish holiday.
Two flavors.  Prune and Cherry Blossom. A fun mix of cultures.  With special meaning for me as they combine the place where I live with the faith that I`m from.

 I have come to also see the cherry blossoms through a Messianic lens, and the pink color of the spring blossoms that burst forth over all Japan has the expectation of Messiah and resurrection.
 Messianic Jewish and Japanese!
However you say it,  Prune and Cherry Blossom Hamentashen say "Purim in Japan!!"

To make Cherry Blossom Hamentashen:

For the dough I started with the recipe from Torey Avey`s Non-dairy Hamentashen recipe.
 I used Natane Oil for the `oil`, which is or is like Canola Oil.
And one sublime Challah and Cherry Blossoms addition:
 Sprinkle cherry blossom flakes into the dough.

For the filling, I used Sakura-an, which is a cherry blossom paste with a white bean base which is used for wa-gashi, Japanese traditional sweets.  I added a teaspoon of the filling into each triangle and the dough wraps around the filling.  You can follow the recipe and photos on how to fold Here.


To make prune Hamentashen:

I used the recipe directly from Tori Avey`s Non-dairy Hamentashen recipe.
With one sublime addition, I sprinkled cherry blossom flakes into the dough so they are
cherry blossom-infused Prune Hamentashen!!  For the filling I used her recipe for delicious Prune Filling HERE.

(You can read about the use of cherry blossom flakes and how they `dissolve` into the dough in THIS recent post on my first Cherry Blossoms Challah!)

Hope everyone had an extra-special Purim and new revelations of some of the treasures that fill the Book of Esther and all the Word of God!!  Blessings and Shalom!!

Subtitle:

Messianic Japan!!

Welcoming Messiah Yeshua to Japan!!

Yeshua, Japan welcomes you!!

Japan leading nations into the Messianic Age as the Revelation of Yeshua comes to be known and spread through out the nation this Cherry Blossoms season!!

The obstacles and principalities of the air  have been trampled and stepped on and no longer have power in Japan in the name of Yeshua!!

Declaration!!! The Island nations receive the Torah of the LORD!! We've been waiting!! Thank you LORD Yeshua!!

xoxo Declared with Love, 

by Shayndel

Happy Purim!

Mordechai 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.  
  
---from the Book of Esther, 9:20~22

 in Progress:  Shushan Photo Booth!!

 Shushan Photo Booth, Grab a prop and strike a pose.

Idea from Joyfully Jewish blog, link to follow!

I`m so excited about Purim! 

I say `Happy Purim` but I realize not everyone knows about Purim!
Thank you for asking!! I will see if I can tell you a little to start...

Oh, and first to give credit to the Joyfully Jewish blog, whose Post `Purim Photo Booth` inspired me so much, I made a Shushan Photo Booth. Possibly the first in Japan!! Very possibly!!

Before you grab a prop and jump in the booth, to know about Purim, the very first thing is to do a little advance reading in the Book of Esther!  Actually, reading the Book of Esther is one of the things to do during  Purim, but if you are new to Purim, then you would need to read it first so you know what you are in for.

 I will also  copy this description from Jerusalem News Network*  
to share a brief description of `What is Purim?"

It is a celebration of redemption and a time of great merry-making as Jews throughout the world remember the deliverance from the hands of the wicked Haman, who tried to instigate the annihilation of the Jews of Persia. The Biblical Book of Esther, recited on this holiday by Jews throughout the world, tells the story of how the Jewish woman Esther and her uncle Mordecai saved the Persian Jewish community from destruction. Families and neighbors give gifts of sweets to each other, and many dress-up in costumes for festive events.

The date of Purim is the 14th day of the month of Adar on the Hebrew Calendar. 
This year it is March 12, and as all holidays on the Hebrew calendar, begins on the evening so it will be this week from just after Shabbat! Saturday March 11, to the evening on March 12.

The things we are supposed to do are told to us right there in the Book of Esther!

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

There is lots of hidden intrigue in this story and perhaps that is why we eat things that have filling `hidden` in them like Kreplach and Hamentashen, two traditional foods eaten on Purim.  Can you guess what filling I will put in the Hamentashen?!  See post to follow!

I believe that the hidden surprises in Purim will be revealed to us more and more as we  prepare the feast and party hearty.  There is also a day of fasting the day before Purim which is a good time to join in hearts of prayer for Israel and our nations, and to seek God during this special feast time.

The Book of Esther is the only book in all the Bible where God`s name doesn`t appear at all, and God Himself doesn`t seemingly appear, but of course He is in the foreground orchestrating all the characters, choreographing their moves, and the One who makes all the divine timings and appointments that all so perfectly make the story what it is.

In our lives, too, even when we don`t `see` God of course He is always there and the One who is orchestrating all we do and the timings, appointments, people in our lives, and where we are.  Something to think about too as we read the Book of Esther, where we see that within that,  we have responsiblity and we have to make choices.  Esther chose to not be silent.  She makes a choice, and what she did saves her people.  She annuls the decree that the wicked Haman set out.  I learned during this season that the word Purim which the holiday is named after has two meanings.  One is `lots`.   It also means `annul` in Hebrew. Many places say the holiday is named Purim for Haman`s lots, but actually it is named for the great irony that Haman thought he could control the fate of people through the lots, but his plan was turned around and he is hanged in the end by the gallows he himself made, so after all it is Esther`s `lots` that the Holiday is named for.  

So now that you know a little of Purim, there is still time, don`t delay!! Hamentashen recipe HERE
Kreplach HERE, the Purim Photo Booth and all the specifications on how to make it HERE!!

*

Please also know and remember that To send gifts and contributions is also an important part of the holiday.  HERE is a link where we can send donations to aid Israel, from education to aid to the poor to medical aid and more, there are many needs.

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Happy Purim!! Boo Haman!  We love you Esther.

Praise God for His Mighty Outstretched Arm that continues to save and protect, comfort and love, bring joy and goodness to all who call upon His name, and that He alone is the One who brings about Righteousness and Judgement.   May we realize through the Feast days like Hannukah and Purim, seemingly `minor` Feasts, how essential it is to grab and grasp the TORAH of ADONAI and keep it in our heats, return to God, and declare His praises from all corners of the Earth!!

May the festival of Purim be known and celebrated throughout Japan in Purims to come!! And throughout the lands! You don`t have to be Jewish to Celebrate Purim, everyone can join in the special feast, and reach out to those who are in need to share food and giving.  As you eat your hamentashen and read the book of Esther, may  God reveal to you something about this holiday and may you know the  joy that comes in celebrating His victories!

Note on Kreplach:  For Purim you can make KREPLACH! Filled with meat or your choice filling, they are a traditional favorite on this holiday. I wanted to make them a little in advance,  so I made them and  froze them .  I had never done `freezing` before, so I was a little nervous to get it right.  Thank you my friend Debbie for telling me the steps on how to freeze kreplach! 

How to freeze kreplach and use for soup:   First make the dough and cook the filling.  Once the filling cools, fill them, shape them, then line them on parchment (cooking paper) on sheets  (for example, aluminum tray, cookie sheet etc) that can go in the freezer.  Put them in the freezer like that, uncooked and  UNCOVERED until they harden.  Once they are frozen, you put them in  ziplock freezer bags.  You can dust with a little flour to prevent them from sticking together.
To cook and use in soup, just take them out of the freezer when you are ready, put them in boiling water or directly into the soup broth, and cook about fifteen minutes.  You can now make a batch to freeze for Sunday!! Enjoy!Blessings and Shalom!