Hod Ve Hadar! Splendor and Majesty ~~ Succah Reflections and Fragrant Beginnings

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works. Psalm 145:5

 

The Beautiful fruit of the beautiful tree

On the first day you are to take choice fruit of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before ADONAI your God for seven days.

Leviticus 23:40

I am lingering a little in the fragrance of the fruit called an etrog, which is a fruit associated with the Feast of Sukkot.  It has a fragrance that reaches my heart with the love of G-d and speaks of His Majesty.  I know, a heart cannot exactly `smell`, and a fragrance does not `speak`, but this fruit makes me think outside of the regular dimensions, and stretches my senses, that is how divine the fragrance is!  I hope to release even a little of that fragrance here in a blog post. 

In the verse that introduces the commandment to rejoice for Sukkot (Lev. 23:40 above), there is the mention of taking 4 species.  One of them as you can see in the verse (and in the photos as represented by the etrog), is the "choice fruit of the trees".  The Jewish sages have a discussion on this `choice fruit`, or sometimes translated as `beautiful fruit`.  They ask the question, does the modifier `beautiful` describe the fruit , or does it describe the tree?  That is the midrashic question around this fruit.

I don`t know the grammatical answer, but what spoke to me was the word itself in the Hebrew that describes the fruit, or the tree.  The word is HADAR.  It ultimately modifies and points us to the Majesty of the LORD God Almighty Himself!

This word, HADAR, הֲדַר~ which modifies the fruit or fruit tree, actually means splendor, honor, ornament, majesty!

The first time the word HADAR is used in the Torah (in all of the bible) is here in Leviticus 23:40, and after that we see this word HADAR is used to describe God`s splendor and majesty. We sometimes see it paired with HOD or KAVOD, as it speaks of God`s glory and His majesty.

הֲדַר, כְּבוֹד הוֹדֶךָ--    וְדִבְרֵי נִפְלְאֹתֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works. Psalm 145:5

The four species together are also said to represent different parts of the body.  The fruit which is called an Etrog represents the heart.  The palm leaves the spine, the myrtle the eyes, and the willow the lips.

Taken together we can see how they represent worshiping God with our whole self, with every part of us,  as in Deuteronomy 6:4,

 Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Connecting back to the Garden and forward to the Redemption!

We recently started in a new Torah cycle from the book of Genesis.  When I read about the fruit, that Eve took when tempted by the serpent, I noticed how It was described as pleasing to the eye.

I was thinking when I read it this time of this description of  `pleasing to the eye`,  as compared to the beauty of the fruit in Leviticus 23:40.  That which represents the deepest expression of God`s majesty, and His beauty that we see from the heart, is something that He reveals when we seek after intimacy with HIm... with all our heart.

I felt that G-d was speaking about how growing in obedience to Him is a way in which we grow into seeing His majesty and splendor.  

Those are some of my Succah reflections and fragrant beginnings.  As we start a new Torah cycle,  we are already in the third Parsha (Torah Portion)!  I will hope to catch up a little to where we are now, going into `Vayera` , which means `And He appeared` and comes from the root word `To see`!!

If anyone would like to join in following the Torah portions together, please let me know in the comment or in an e-mail (ahavaprayerandmovement@gmail.com).    I send out a weekly AHAVA  Parsha Prayer Sheet, which gives a short introduction to the Parsha and scriptures related to the weekly portion to pray for your loved ones, schools, community,  and for Israel!  

Blessings and LOVE ~  AHAVA!

Love,

Shayndel

Splendor and majesty are before Him.
Strength and beauty are in His Sanctuary. 

Psalm 96:6

PS Interestingly, after I wrote this post, I found that it was not just my discovery about the fruit representing God`s majesty!! I saw this article  on a Jewish website describing how each element is also describing an aspect of G-d, and relating to a verse in the Tanakh! I love that when the Holy Spirit leads us to our own discoveries, and then after we find the discovery that was already made!!

Each species has a particular reference to God, according to a Midrash in Leviticus Rabbah, 83: the etrog is symbolic of Psalm 104:1: “You are clothed in glory and majesty”; the palm is used because it is said Psalms 92:13: “The righteous bloom like date-palm”; the myrtle signifies Zechariah 1:8: “And he stood among the myrtle-trees”; the willow is significant because it is written in Psalms 68:5: “Extol Him who rides on the clouds (aravot), the Lord is His name.”

 PS notes to myself:

put a few photos of the succah here!

Article HERE  for how to make a fragrant spice box out of an etrog after Sukkot !!

 

 

Unleavened Raisin Cakes! Recipe!!

 

The Hebrew word `AHAVA` which means Love, with unleavenedd `raisin cakes`♡

Sustain me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples ---

for I am weak with love.          Song of Songs 2:5

 

Dear Friends,

As I linger in the `unleavened` state a little longer, I wanted to share with you the recipe for my `Unleavened Raisin Cakes!`.  As you may remember they were first made HERE!! Thank you for encouraging always, and  Without any further a-do , here it is!!

 This Recipe is for 12 Heart-shaped Raisin Cakes !!

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/8 teaspoon cloves
3/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons sugar (note: I use a kind of sugar we can find here in Japan called Ten-sai Tou, it is a healthy sugar made from radish (I think that is the base!) and is gentle on the stomach!  Use your preferred type of sugar if you cannot find Ten-sai Tou where you are
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil OR olive oil
  2 cups water (approx.)

1/3 cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390~400 degrees F)
Prepare baking sheets with waxed paper.

Mix together flour, spices, sugar, and salt.
Mix in the grapeseed oil.
Add water gradually and mix until it makes a soft and kneadable dough.  

Fold in the raisins!

Roll out onto a floured surface.
Roll out in to a large thin circle or oval.
Cut in half and then divide into "pie-shaped" 6ths on each side, so you have 12 pieces total from the "circle".
Separate each piece and shape into a heart by hand.
Line on baking sheets.
Bake for 28 minutes, turning the baking sheet once in the middle

Serve with delight, enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom!!

Love,
 ❤️　Shayndel 

Credit thanks:  I adapted mine from a recipe for Cinnamon Matzah you can find from Nazarene Israel.:

https://nazareneisrael.org/book/nazarene-israel-passover-study/unleavened-bread-recipes-v4-1/

PS you can also find continuing unleavened uploads at Joanne`s Challah-cast Channel.  Thank you for visiting! 

 

 

 

Challah Diary--Two Loaves for Shavuot! Part 1!

we each made two loaves, so actually there were 4 loaves in all!!

You are to bring out of your houses two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour.  They are to be baked with hametz as first fruits to ADONAI.   

                                                  Leviticus 23:17 TLV

Its always exciting to get to that day after the 49 days of counting and be ready for the holiday of Shavuot!!

I was preparing to make two loaves of Challah for Shavuot that morning, and had an unexpected surprise, which was that I had the chance to make the loaves together with a friend!

It was an extra blessing of having the chance to make the two loaves for Shavuot challah with my *AHAVA* prayer partner.  We had been praying together the morning before Shavuot, and both said almost at the same time that after our prayer time we were going to make challah, two loaves, for Shavout!! So we decided on the spot to do it together.  It was a wonderful time to make challah together and to meditate on the feast of Shavuot.  As one of the significances of the two loaves is that they can be said to represent Jew and Gentile together in Yeshua, we felt that making the challah together brought in that special meaning and it became a special time to make the loaves!!

I also made it *with you* as a way to share in the making and also that it could be my first "tutorial" on the whole process of making the challah from start to finish!! Some parts are more detailed than others, and some are just *tips* for how to make it, but overall I think it can give you a spring-board (seasonal pun intended!) to make challah for those who have always wanted to try it!!

I know we are already heading into weeks after the Feast of Weeks, hope you all had a blessed time for the Feast of Shavuot!!

There is also an exciting aspect of the spring feasts as a `challah maker` in that bread is featured so prominently in both Passover -- the unleavened bread, or Matzah--, and then Shavuot where two leavened loaves are waved as an offering. 
 
Blessings and stay tuned for parts 2&3!!  

Part 1 : making the dough from the start, including laying out the ingredients and getting started
Part 2 :  some behind the scenes and challah tips, showing the process as two of us did it together via `Zoom`!!
Part 3:  Finishing the loaves together,  our challah offering to the LORD 

Love (heart!)
Shayndel

PS I am on a new computer and this is embarassing to show my technical skills, I can`t find how to make my `heart`!! Should get it back soon, meanwhile sending extra Love!!

Omer and Emor and Sapphire!!

  וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם, מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת, מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם, אֶת-עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה:  שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת, תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete;  
                                                                                                            Leviticus 23:15

We just finished the Parsha Emor (note of posting delay!:  I wrote this draft some days ago, now as I am posting it   already we are finishing the book of Leviticus!!) in which the "moadim", or set appointed times of the LORD are outlined.  I love this parsha.    I should make a t-shirt,  that says , "I love the Moadim!!!" or "Lev 23!" (for Leviticus 23, the chapter they are outlined!!) .  

God's appointed times--Moadim, starting with Shabbat--- give so much meaning to our lives and to the whole cycle of connecting us back and forward until we are just moving in His eternal cycle!! I find the Moadim are like "cogs" on a wheel that click into place for it to move, and  it is  as though we "click" into place into His eternal time more and more as we connect with each of the modadim!!  As we are counting up from Passover to Shavuot, each day of counting of the Omer is a way of bringing more of the divine into "temporal" time! Or another way, we spiral up a little each day on the rungs of  "temporal" time into His heavenly purposes for us.

I was reading in one of my recent favorite "go-to" Parsha devotionals called "Parsha in Pink",  a weekly devotional for women about the weekly Torah readings, and in her discussion of  this week's parsha Emor,  the author writes about counting the omer .  She writes that the Hebrew word for "you shall count" comes from the root of the Hebrew word "sapphire", and that in Jewish teachings it is taught that the  tablets of the 10 Commandments were written on stones not of drab grey as I once imagined but on tablets made of Sapphire!!! (note in this passage "luchos" means "tablets")

The word "u'sfartem---and you shall count" (Vayikra 23:15) comes from the root word sapir--sapphire, the material that the second set of Luchos were made of.  Our souls are compared to sapphire, which loses its luster when it becomes dirty.  As a result of our sins, our souls also lose some of their light, their gleam.   The message of the word "u'sfartem" is that by counting we must "polish" our souls so that we can be untarnished in time to experience the revelation of Matan Torah (Noam Elimelech, Mareh Yechezkel).                   from Parsha in Pink, p.144

Reading this about the tablets being made of Sapphire really sparkled my spirit to a glistening excitement!!!  Below is a scripture with "sapphire" that has always intrigued me and I even found I highlighted in my first Bible!!  It is about sapphire under God's feet!!  Which comes write before a scripture about the giving of the tablets.  When reading about the possibility that the tablets are made of sapphire, suddenly this scripture came even more alive!!! Could it be that He made the tablets from the sapphire of the throne room?? To me it makes all the sense in the Heavens!! We may not know until we get there, but I find this so intriguing.  Here is the verse that I highlighted years ago (around 6 to be exact!)  in my first Faithgirls bible.  I will just point out again the letters for "sapphire" in blue!

י  וַיִּרְאוּ, אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו, כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר, וּכְעֶצֶם הַשָּׁמַיִם, לָטֹהַר

Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness.

As we count may we ask the Holy Spirit to look for those areas in ourselves that we need to "polish" as we prepare to meet with and experience the revelation at Shavuot that we are coming up to in only a few remaining weeks.  In this chapter in the devotional she also speaks of the preparation in coming up to meeting our beloved as we "detox and beautify our spirit and soul so we can stand under the chuppah* with splendor and grace."(Parsha in Pink, p. 144  ) (*chuppah referes to the bridal canopy at a Jewish wedding)

As we have been talking about this preparation for the wedding with the Beloved (see posts and Challah-cast below!), may we sparkle and shine more and more like the sapphire as we count up to that day!!!  I hope this season of Shavuot will be a time when the Bride of Yeshua can truly come together as one in Him.  This devotional book was written by a Jewish author, and her words about preparing as the bride are exactly what I encounter from the believers of Jesus in the church.  The beautiful thing is  that we are all His bride.  I pray that separation will break down this year as He reveals Himself to us in these days-- when remember, He was revealing Himself to His disciples in this period between Passover and Shavout.  I find it poignant and beautiful,  as someone who is both Jewish and a believer in Yeshua, to see how all together we are His bride!

So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd. John 10:16b

Love and Blessings and Happy Counting!
Today we are entering in day 31 (ooh, see how many days ago I wrote this draft! Today we are actually at day 38!!) , of the counting of the Omer.

So teach us to number our days,

so that we may get a heart of wisdom.    Psalm 90:12

Love,
 ♡
Shayndel

hebrew word review notes:
Luchos means "tablets"
chuppah refers to the wedding canopy that the bride and groom get married beneath in a Jewish wedding.

Shabbat and the Beloved-- an unexpected sequel to the Raisin Cakes!

This was an unexpected sequel!! I hadn't expected the raisin cakes to continue into the next Shabbat, but that is the beauty of studying Torah with the Holy Spirit guiding.   From my raisin cakes adventure, He led me to the scripture in Song of Songs,

Sustain me with raisin cakes for I am weak with love.

Song of Songs 2:5

It is a Jewish tradition to read the Song of Songs before the Shabbat or on the eve of Shabbat, and there are many beautiful "wedding" associations with the Shabbat and that special and appointed time with our King and Beloved.  Actually I love this tradition of reading it on Friday evening of Shabbat.  When I got to that line this time,  it was exciting to have the "actual" real life connection to the raisin cakes on the Shabbat table! So from there the exploration continued and if you are ready for part 2, please enjoy the newest "Challah-cast" below!! And thank you so much for watching and commenting on Part 1! I am so blessed by your watching, and love hearing what spoke to you.  I hope they might be an encouragement for those who watch, and in turn I am so encouraged by what you share and when it "expands" into a discussion!!.

Meanwhile, amazing already a whole week has gone by since this part 2!!
If you are reading on the parsha cycle, this week we are already nearing the end of the book of Leviticus, in parsha Emor.

And now,  will there be a raisin cakes part 3?! Or will we be making challah again soon?!
Stay tuned!!

And counting!!  Today is 30 days of the Omer.

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom!!  Love ♡ Shayndel


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Challah Journal--Victorious Raisin Cakes- a Challah-cast, and looking at the Haftarah!

Unleavened and Victorious Raisin Cakes, in the week of Parsha Shemini

They brought in the Ark of the LORD and set it up in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it,         from 2 Samuel 6:17

And he distributed among all the people --the entire multitude of Israel, man and woman alike-- to each a loaf of bread, a cake made in a pan, and a raisin cake.  Then all the people left for their homes.

2Samuel 6:19

Reading the Haftarah of in the Parsha Shemini.   Did anyone else notice the raisin cakes?!

I know, you probably paid more attention to David Dancing! That's one of my favorite too!!

Or you may remember the tragic part where Uzzah touches the Ark of the Covenant when they were bringing it back to Jerusalem, and he is struck down for his disobedience. 

So how is it that those raisin cakes have such an attraction for me?  I think its the expression of "victory" and the way King David had them given out to all of Israel in celebration of his victory for the LORD in bringing back the Ark to safety.   I just love that how he shares the victory by giving out bread to the entire multitude of Israel! How king-ly and how neighbor-ly! And it reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, "Taste and see that the LORD is good". 

The angel of the LORD camps around those who fear Him 
and rescues them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
happy the man who takes refuge in Him!   Psalm 34:8~9

As we await the time of Shavuot and count up the Omer to that day of great Revelation, why not proclaim His victory with "Victorious Raisin Cakes".

 Here is the link to the recipe (below)!
I hope you might enjoy it,   and enjoy watching the Challah-Cast ( also below)

Blessings and Happy Counting the Omer!
When I wrote this post draft it was day 19 of the Omer.
And today (when I am finally posting it! ) we are already in the third week of counting the Omer!

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

Today is twenty-six days, which is three weeks and five days of the Omer.

Recipe note:  This recipe base can be found HERE, it is the recipe if you scroll down for "Cinnamon Matzah", I made  variations--- mainly the addition of raisins! As well as using Grapeseed oil in place of butter, and "tensai-to" , a Japanese kind of healthy sugar, for the "sugar".   And I baked them (the recipe says to pan-fry).  They came out delicious and very aromatic from all the spices!!  I hope you might try it.  

Blessings  in all the areas of your life for you and your loved ones, may we see new victories all around us and for health and deliverance for all people.    Blessings and Love,  In Messiah Yeshua♡Shayndel

Parsha Shemini, Intercession*- to pray for "the whole world"

"Pregnant with eternity", the month of Nissan & Cherry blossoms

Intercession       
But like the Holy One who called …the whole world…, may …the whole world… be holy in all his/her behavior, because it is written, 
"You shall be holy, for I am holy."  May …the whole world… be holy, for God is holy.                      1Peter 1:15~16, Leviticus 11:45

                                                                 Then …the whole world…will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.   Proverbs 2:5                                                                                                              
I am the LORD, …the whole world…’s God, who brought …the whole world… out of Egypt; …the whole world… open your mouth and I will fill it.                                                   Psalm 81:11
     
Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the LORD.                                                                                                                          Colossians 3:20

May …the whole world… be a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled.  …the whole world… must hold firmly to the trustworthy message in keeping with the teaching, so he/she can both encourage by instruction that is sound and convict those who speak against it.                                                                                                                                                Titus 1:8~9

…the whole world…, be submitted to rulers and authorities, be obedient, be ready for every good deed, to slander no one, without fighting, gentle, showing every courtesy to all people.           
                                                                                                                                                Titus 3:1~2

*from this week's AHAVA Parsha prayer sheet, Pray it for your loved ones, and for the whole world!!

Love and Blessings,
 ♡
Shayndel

Parsha Vayikra--Entering the book of Leviticus, Matzah Challah-cast, and Cherry Blossoms Peek!

When you present an offering of meal baked in the oven, (it shall be of) choice flour:  unleavened cakes with oil mixed in, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.  
Leviticus 2:4

וְכִי תַקְרִב קָרְבַּן מִנְחָה, מַאֲפֵה תַנּוּר--סֹלֶת חַלּוֹת מַצֹּת בְּלוּלֹת בַּשֶּׁמֶן
וּרְקִיקֵי מַצּוֹת מְשֻׁחִים בַּשָּׁמֶן.

As my blog has a theme of  "challah"  and I like to find connections between Challah and Torah, you may not be surprised that I got excited when reading about the "grain offering" in this week's parsha.  This time its the first time I noticed the word "Challah" in the scripture above. 
Unleavened wafers (cakes)  in the English is "Challot Matzot" in Hebrew!!!

If you can find it in your heart to share in my enthusiasm, please do read on !!!

Making Matzah!

In the recipe for making matzah, after it is baked there is the instruction to "anoint the matzah"!

I never read that in a recipe before, and I must say it helped me to "draw near" to the LORD in this matzah-making time!!  If you have never made matzah before, be encouraged to try!!! First, its much simpler than challah, and technically (halachically, according to the Jewish tradition) has to be done from start to finish in 18 minutes for Passover purposes!! So if you have a little time and want to try it for this year, please do!!

I'm hoping  to be able to get  a box or so of Matzah  for Passover, but just in case am "practicing" making Matzah!!

Of course, The Children of Israel didn't have the luxury of "practicing",  and had to just to it and prepare the dough right away and carry the dough with them on their Exodus!!

Passover amazingly always comes at the time of the Cherry Blossoms!! This year Nissan 1,  the first of Nissan, was also just when the first blossoms opened!! I find that amazing, as the day is always different on the Hebrew calendar, and there is not a "set day" that cherry blossoms open, and yet the past few years that I have been "living on the Hebrew calendar" I have noticed that each year!!

It feels very Messianic that God's commanded first day of Springtime and first month of the year is announced in His creation with the opening of the first cherry blossoms!!  I always say I look forward to the day when the people of Japan will know their Messiah Yeshua and the glorious time under the blossoms will be a time of worship and celebration of Him!!! May it be swiftly and in our day!!

This year it may be a little quiet for cherry blossom picnics, but thankfully the blossoms blossom and the fragrance of resurrection and renewal is in the air!!  And who knows, maybe it will be just this year when the people of Japan look up to a salvation Sky and receive their Saviour as  the "sakura" blossom all throughout Japan.

Nissan, as you know, is a month of miracles!   

As a friend wrote in a message to me, I will share this:

"Get ready to pass over!"  

That message encouraged me tremendously!!

This is the Matzah recipe I used HERE  if you'd like to try it!!

And this (below) is my Matzah Challah-cast for this first week of Nissan!  

The Challah-cast is a little under 11 minutes if you are moved to watch it and  to make matzah, you can try it!! I also share some of my "drash" (related discussion!!") in the upload, so I'll keep the text here in this post brief as the photos are many!!

Time to start removing the "hametz", and change the header to "unleavened" bread!!

 Much Love and blessings all!!

Shayndel (dba Joanne's Challah-cast)

Notes:  The recipe also calls for salt to be sprinkled on the matzah.  I love this recipe! Anointed with oil and sprinkled with salt!

Yeshua, the anointed One, tells us we are to be salt (Matthew 5:13)!! I found that connection so interesting to read this scripture in Leviticus in light of Yeshua's words, as  we ourselves are  to be the salt.

You shall season your every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with God; will all your offerings you must offer salt.    Leviticus 2:13

Shabbat Shalom!! (not Passover yet, but making "unleavened cakes" to prepare, in this week of parsha Vayikra!

Anointed, salted "challot matzot"-- Matzah!-- on the Shabbat Table in this week of Parsha Vayikra--entering the book of Leviticus

Cherry blossoms first blossoms so perfectly calling in the month of Nissan,the month of springtime

The matzah is "Pierced" and calls to us to remember Messiah Yeshua who was pierced for our transgression

And by His stripes we are healed!

Take, and eat!  

This is my body, given up for you.

Matthew 26:26

♡

Subtitle:

Messianic Japan!!

Welcoming Messiah Yeshua to Japan!!

Yeshua, Japan welcomes you!!

xoxo Declared with Love, 

by Shayndel

Postcards from Parsha Vayikra--He Called!

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

Sing, O heavens, for ADONAI has done it!

Shout, depths of the earth!

Break forth in to singing, mountains,

forest, and every tree in it!

For ADONAI has redeemed Jacob

and will be glorified throughout Israel!

Isaiah 44:23

Sending these postcards out before getting to  the official Purim Posts!

What is on my heart for this parsha, Parsha Vayikra,  is how to be like a child when I enter it.

I  recently read* (in the Parsha Devotional, *A Taste of Torah, by Keren Hannah Pryor) and then saw in other teachings, in regard to this parsha, that Orthodox Jewish children start their Torah study at age 5 beginning  from the book of Leviticus!!

At five years old, when they learn to read, the children are taught starting in the book that most adults cannot even fathom for the most part! They do not start at the beginning in Genesis, nor in Exodus.  But in Leviticus!  The reason? Because their hearts are pure at that age, they would best occupy themselves in pure matters!! Say the sages.  The book of Leviticus is all about drawing near God and how to do so, and how to purify our hearts from sin through the offering of the various Korbanot.

I love that about the children and the pure heart.  And how with a pure heart, we can see things that are pure.  Of course as adults we have a lot of unlearning to do, or rather learning anew, allowing ourselves to be made new in Messiah which is also how we ultimately get our hearts cleaned... and become more like children --!!

Our Messiah Yeshua, the ultimate offering for our sins who gave His blood in atonement for us and the one who makes us holy, says we need to be like children to enter the Kingdom of God.  It is not the size of our offering or the tithe or the sacrifice God is looking for.  It is our hearts!! So may we draw near to Him, like children!! Pray near to Him, dance near to Him, love fully a life of worship near to Him.  And may He draw near to us!!

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.  Because it is written,

You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.   

1Peter 1:  14~16

Shavuot Diary--Postcard from Shavuot & Story of Two Loaves, in pictures

From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread as a wave offering of first fruits to the LORD.

--Leviticus 23:17

I love the spring feasts center around bread!!

Israeli oranges in Japan

(with Israeli oranges, and following the feast days, an `otsukaresama-de` cranberry smoothie)

something new

PS  my Shavuot postings are late! But as its still the month of Sivan...still within the Hebrew month, I am seeing if I can smoothly insert them in!
For more postcards from Shavuot, please enjoy posts here. 


Blessings and Shalom! Love, ♡　Shayndel

Bread of the Presence

 

Also you are to take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it, with two tenths of an epah in each cake.  Then you are set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before ADONAI.  Set pure frankincense on each row, as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to ADONAI.  Every Yom Shabbat he is to set it in order before ADONAI continually, it is an everlasting covenant on behalf of B' nei Israel.

---Leviticus 24:5~8

To a person who makes Challah, the Parsha this week really came alive.
For one thing, Challah, the Hebrew word itself, is mentioned twice in the scripture (verses above, from Parsha Emor, where the word "cake" is in the English).
For another, there is just so much expressed through the Bread of Presence and God just really spoke to me through it.

Whatever is your passion, I believe that God speaks to us in His word through that, as well as in countless other ways.  What you will hear or see or perceive or learn or be drawn to in the same scripture will be different for each person, as God is the same, but He speaks to us each differently through His marvelous, living word.   I realized in reading the parts in Leviticus about the show breads, that I just needed to express them and have them  "present" this Shabbat.

Without putting it into too many words,  the pure experience of setting this up brought such joy and ushered in His Presence.  It was a  special time of worship, together with my new friend Mayim.  Like David, we hungerly ate the Bread of presence, and like David, we Danced!

Blessings and Shalom.  Shavu'a Tov.  Have a blessed week in His great Presence.

Love,
 ♡
Shayndel

＊

I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice--holy, acceptable to God--which is your spiritual service.  Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God---what is good and acceptable and perfect.

---Romans 12:1~2