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 cakesfor 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
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
Mixing the Cherry Blossoms flakes into the dough is always sublime, as they disappear into the mixture from sight, but there remains the infusion of Cherry Blossom. Cherry blossoms paste is rolled into the strands.
.
In a Messianic Japan, the challah blossoms before the cherry blossoms. The
seasons of our King are a harmony. Watching in anticipation for the
spring is like when you have a song to sing and the words begin to fit
the music. I can't really explain all that is in my
heart, but want to post some of the pictures of the sakura challah that
have been blossoming in the meantime, before making a space for some
Purim Posts. Hope you are enjoying the season and wishing you a happy
time in Purim preparations and eager anticipation of the spring
blossoms, and for the song Blessings and Shalom, Love Shayndel
Just posting this quickly before the Purim posts!!
Tomorrow will begin Purim in the evening, wishing all a happy
preparation and a smooth fast if you do the Esther fast. To remember how
the Jewish people were threatened with being wiped out, there is a day
of fasting to remember, and then to enter into the Joy of their being
saved through Esther and Mordechai, there is the joy of the feast. God
remained "behind the scenes" but we know He purposed all for His Glory
and planned all for His purposes. On Purim we also rejoice to see His
Hand in every thing!! ♡
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!!
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!
Nissan 1 is the first day of the first month on the Hebrew calendar, as commanded by God to the Children of Israel (Exodus 12:2). It is the `head` of the year, the Rosh Chodesh, the day that everything begins a new. Nissan 1 is the day that, as we read in the last chapters of the book of Exodus, the Tabernacle was complete and ready for God to dwell with the Children of Israel.
Then ADONAI spoke to Moses saying, "On the first day of the first month, you will set up the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting." ---Exodus 40:1~2
Nissan 1, the first day of the first month on the Hebrew Calendar, is also today!
Nissan 1, 5777; March 28, 2017
This morning I put on a Messianic-pink skirt to dress for the day.
Its my first time of knowing that this day existed, as I never lived in the cycle of Torah and followed the Hebrew calendar before this past year. Probably no one else that I would meet during the day today would know what this day is on God`s calendar. I knew it was special, and wanted to acknowledge it. So I dressed in my new pink skirt, filled with joy to be with Messiah Yeshua in my heart. If anyone asked, or if the opportunity was opened, I would tell them.
＊
Everything in the day felt bathed in the new light of Nissan 1.
A friend had invited me to go to a park with her family and to drink matcha, green tea in Japanese style setting. I went with her and her
daughter and granddaughter. Her granddaughter is so precious, just a little over one year old! We sat on the tatami floor of the
temporary tea room set up in the park for an event welcoming spring. The person making the tea poured the water and performed all the
rituals of making the tea. A very pretty and delicate pink
and green Japanese sweet was served. Its colors, shape, and tastes,
are made to bring together the taste and feeling of the season. My friend explained how we first eat the sweet
Japanese wa-gashi and it prepares our taste for the bitter green
tea.
This year I am feeling a deep Messianic connection with things Japanese, so it somehow seemed the perfect taste for this day.
＊
To my great surprise, I also saw the very first cherry blossoms in the park !! All of the trees were starting to bud. Expectation is in the air, but only a very few were open into blossoms. As exciting as full bloom is, there is something truly special about seeing the first blossoms. In the season of re-birth to see new life coming forth!!
(note for those readers who are following my reports, yes I did a post(HERE)about seeing cherry blossoms a little earlier this year, but those were the `pre`-firsts!, the cherry blossoms-before-the-cherry blossoms, you could say, preparing the way!)
By the way, I did have a chance to tell someone the great story of it being Nissan 1, and the reason for my wearing my Messianic-pink skirt!!
So to everyone, May we grasp a hold of the tree of life, the Torah of Adonai, the Word made flesh, Yeshua our Messiah, and Have a Happy Nissan 1 !!!
Matcha, Japanese Green tea, and a sweet taste of spring
Living water
A three blossom cherry blossom--- announcing Nissan 1, and everything new!!
This month will mark the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. ---Exodus 12:2
*Nisan 1 is also the day that some believe to be the "birthday" of
Messiah Yeshua, or rather the day He came from Heaven to earth to live
in human form. Please see Messianic Rabbi Jonathon Cahn`s talk on Nisan and the gospel
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.
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!!
The changing colors of fall! The excitement of the new Shabbat cycle (see posts below)! From the creation, already into the second Shabbat and the reading from Noah.
I had an inspiration this Shabbat to try making a satsumaimo challah! Satsumaimo is a kind of potato grown in Japan. It has a purple skin that is both majestic and rustic.
Can you see how the satusmaimo powder in the dough makes a beautiful purple and a royal color. It was very thrilling to mix it into the white flour! Delight in the colors of fall. Give praise to our Maker! This weeks Torah study continues in the book of Genesis, the Parsha is "Noah (rest)".
These are the genealogies of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God. ---Genesis 6:9
Noah was the only righteous man who walked on the earth, blameless in the sight of the LORD. Look what happened to the rest of the people who inhabited the earth, who were not walking with God. They were wiped out by the flood. God promised that He will not destroy the world again through a flood, and He put His rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant between Him and the land.
But that doesn't mean we are to strive any less diligently to live a life of righteousness.
Today too, how much do we even think about "righteousness"? How do we know what it even means? The voice of righteousness has even been removed from our culture and we see division and people turning to so many things, but how many people in their daily lives today turn to the Torah and "walk continually with God" as in God's eyes Noah did.
To be honest, I confess that until I was brought to Salvation in Yeshua and became a believer just a little over two years ago, I never even considered what it meant to be righteous. Once I met Him through Yeshua and repented my sins---no one can come to the Father except through the Son, I saw with open eyes for the first time how He is Holy, He is Righteousness.
We still struggle with sin even after receiving Yeshua, but as we work out our salvation daily there is a desire to be righteous because He is Righteous. We desire to be Holy, as He is Holy.
May we live in His Torah! And Delight in the colors and the life and expressions of His creation all around us as we continue reading from the book of Genesis this week!
Delight in the Shabbat! This week's Torah Portion: Noach Noah(rest)Genesis 6:9 to 11:32
Haftorah: Isaiah 54:1-55:5
Brit Chadashah: Matthew 24:36-46
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. --Psalm 34:9
Shabbat Shalom!!
シャバット・シャローム （安息日おめでとう）
Leaving off this post with beautiful purple sapphire and a passage from this weeks Haftarah portion (which contains sapphires!).
May you be blessed as we remember God's everlasting kindness, and compassion
in the words of ADONAI our Redeemer, from Isaiah 54: 7 to 13, to Jerusalem His beloved, may we receive them as words to all who return to Him, may our children be taught by ADONAI, and in His great SHALOM!
"For ADONAI has called you back like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of one's youth that is rejected," says your God.
For a brief moment I deserted you, but I will regather you with great compassion. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says ADONAI your Redeemer. "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me: for as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more cover the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. Though the mountains depart and the hills be shaken, My love will not depart from you, nor will My covenant of peace be shaken, says ADONAI who has compassion on you. Afflicted one, storm-tossed, unconsoled, behold, I set your stones in antimony, lay your foundations with sapphires, make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by ADONAI. Your children will have great shalom.
