Beha'alotcha, Menorah and cloud-like Challah!

a little souvenir menorah from Israel!

♥cloudy and fluffy Challah.♥

One challah for flowers!!

The challah this week came out looking  a little like clouds!!

Reading in the book of Numbers, can you see even on my mini Torah scroll how the Torah is getting thicker on the right which means we are getting nearer to the end of this cycle and already nearer to the Fall Feasts!!

cloud motif on the challah cover !

Shabbat continues into the week with challah for breakfast and a peace that endures:))

 The steadfast Love of the LORD never ceases.  His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning.  

Great is Your faithfulness.  

Lamentations 3:22~23

In this weeks parsha Beha'alotcha we read about the cloud of God's presence that signaled the Children of Israel to move or stay. 

The Challah this week came out looking a little like clouds.  I learned recently if you knead the dough longer it makes the challah come out more fluffy!! So my challah do have a slightly more fluffy look and taste!!  Fitting I thought for the reading about the Cloud of Glory this week!.

On Friday morning  I ran into one of my neighbors in the building outside at our bicycles and said I`d be making challah and asked to give her a challah and she said she'd be glad to receive it, and we set a time in the evening that I would give it to her.  When I stopped by just before sunset on the evening, and gave her the challah, she gave me these beautiful hydrangeas!!

In the opening of the parsha we read about keeping the menorah lit, and how it was actively kept lit and set up by Aaron the High Priest.  Interestingly, the Jewish sages tell us that the continuation of this service thru the generations of Kohen (of the tribe of Levi who are the *Kohanim*, or high priests) goes forward to the Hasmoneans (Maccabees, led by Judah Maccabee) who you may recall fought and won the victory against  Greeks in the story of Hannukah.  As we all know the story, they got back the Menorah and re-dedicated the Temple after the Greeks desecration and attempt to take it.   I found that  illuminating to the Hannukah story, not having realized that connection of the Maccabees to the descendants of Aaron and His service to the LORD  in keeping the Menorah lit!!  They had this in their  history to be in charge of menorah and that sheds light on their zeal when they saw the temple being desecrated and that the Menorah was threatened to go out.  

So even today the Menorah is always lit and we see it connecting back to the commandment given to Aaron that we read in this parsha.   Through Yeshua we are commanded to be the Light of the World!! To me it is meaningful to know how the spiritual light has been lit all these thousands of years and how we connect to the whole of God`s plan for worship and for keeping Him at the center of our lives and being responsible to dispel the darkness and keep the light kindled continually!!  The symbolism is so beautiful as even in the description of the Menorah the lamps are all pointing in towards the center.

Like Aaron who prepared the lamps of the Menorah and did His service with a passion for serving the LORD, we too have to keep the light of God shining in this world, focused on Him,  and to be zealous in our keeping it shine.  Reading about Aaron  reminded me that the command to us to be the light of the world comes with generations before us who were keeping the literal and spiritual light lit and keeping the world going through that spiritual light in ways we probably  don't even know!!   Shining our light can be a very `humble` gesture but the acts of kindness make a spark that makes the light increase!!  It reminds me in our parsha too how Moshe is described as the most humble of all people!  And of course Yeshua tells us that it is in our service to others that we shine.

Just some Shabbat thoughts to leave you with! Have a blessed week!! Let your light shine!  

♡♡

Bamidbar- Wilderness and Clouds

  וַעֲנַן יְהוָה עֲלֵיהֶם, יוֹמָם, בְּנָסְעָם, מִן-הַמַּחֲנֶה

And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.   Numbers 10:34

And sometimes the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
כא  וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר-יִהְיֶה הֶעָנָן, מֵעֶרֶב עַד-בֹּקֶר, וְנַעֲלָה הֶעָנָן בַּבֹּקֶר, וְנָסָעוּ; אוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה, וְנַעֲלָה הֶעָנָן וְנָסָעוּ.	9:21 And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed; or if it continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
כב  אוֹ-יֹמַיִם אוֹ-חֹדֶשׁ אוֹ-יָמִים, בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל-הַמִּשְׁכָּן לִשְׁכֹּן עָלָיו, יַחֲנוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ; וּבְהֵעָלֹתוֹ, יִסָּעוּ.	9:22 Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

In the wilderness, the Children of Israel were guided by the cloud by day and a fire by night.  The menorah in the tabernacle was kept lit diligently and continually by Aaron.  It was his continuous service throughout the generations.  
 In the wilderness time we all have gone through, perfectly between Purim and Shavuot, and are coming out of--and there are and will be wilderness times time and again until we reach the promised land--- may we be reminded of God`s presence so close to us.  He tells us when to move and when to stay.  We  had a period of 3 months when He told us to stay.  I find it wonder-ous to see that cloud, smiling down on us, and to know that the One who created the world with His word is very much taking us through.  May we listen and watch for when to move.  May His glorious Name fill the earth.  

The sky looks clearer than ever before.  LORD, You fill our screens (!)  and our hearts with hope.  May we keep our lamps continually lit as we are commanded to be the light of the world.   Help us LORD  to be more kind and loving as You are.  Thank you LORD for guiding us and for shining Your face upon us 
and for giving us peace.

♡

In progress on a Torah class for kids!! And kids at heart!!

This week`s Torah readings were in the Book of Numbers,
 in Parsha Beha’alotcha
(or for those in Israel, one Parsha ahead, Shelach Lecha)

Water from the Rock (2)

ADONAI spoke to Moses saying, "Take the staff and gather the assembly, you and your brother Aaron.  Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will give out its water.   Numbers 20:7

In the readings in this week we see the story of where Moses hit the rock when He was asked by God to speak to the rock.  The photos are of stretches of water of the Beppu Bay and these rocks that seemed to give forth water, outside of the Aquarium.

We know that this act of hitting the rock had powerful consequences when Moses was just to speak to the rock for it to bring forth water.  Somehow these views seemed to speak of God's amazing hand over and on everything, and because of the reading and having these scenes on my mind, I tried to take a few pictures to express that sense of the water coming from the rock.  I won't speak too much in this post, but will just share the photos and set the scene.

Please feel free to share any reflections or add any scriptures about God as our Rock.  I may add some too to follow!

Blessings and Shalom.  Have a Great week!

Love,
♡
Shayndel

Water from the Rock

Adonai Lives,
Blessed be my rock.    --Psalm 18:47(46)

You will need to look very close at these photos to see Mt. Fuji, but it is there.
A huge mountain but in the photos only a tiny bit of the top of the mountain is visible over the clouds from the airplane to Tokyo.

I have taken this trip many times over many years and have come to be able to spot Mt. Fuji even if it appears just as a spot.  Looking at this view I connected to the week"s reading of where Moses was asked by God to speak to the rock to bring forth water for the children of Israel.  Instead, Moses hit the rock.  Because he did not trust in ADONAI so as to sanctify Him in front of the children of Israel, he was not able to bring the Children of Israel into the promised Land.  (Numbers 20:1~13).  

Seeing all the water almost spilling forth in this scene, and the huge "rock" of Mt. Fuji that was there, and yet barely visible, made me think of these scriptures and  the importance of obeying God's voice and sanctifying His name in our hearts and lives.

♡

For who is God but ADONAI?
Who is a Rock but our God?      ---Psalm 18:32 (31) 

Spying the Land, Flowers and Grapes--＊ some notes on Parsha Shelach Lecha

Big Grapes! (above), "small" grapes below.  All a matter of perspective!!

They went up and scouted the land, from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, at Lebohamath.

They reached the wadi Eshcol, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes--it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them---and some pomegranates and figs.   That place was named the wadi Eshcol because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down there.   

---Numbers 13:21, 23~24

 Friday late afternoon.
Coming home with flowers for Shabbat,
I begin to think about the Parsha Shelach Lecha, this week`s Torah reading.

In the reading this week Moses, by the Lord's command (Numbers 13:3) sent the tribal chiefs to scout out the land, in the famous or infamous story of the sin of the spies.  They came back with a report about the produce in the land--exemplified by the huge grapes carried on a pole by two persons!  But about the people, they expressed fear,  and showed their lack of trust in ADONAI . Only two, Joshua  and Caleb, gave a positive report and would be able to enter the Promised Land.

There are times of testing in our lives, maybe every day, when we have a chance to doubt or trust, to fear or go forward.  I know I am still a huge coward in so many ways, and often my fears give way to doubt or lack of trust.  When I read this I see how it was so terrible to God, and see the sin it is when we do not trust His promises and plans.   What were the reasons that they gave a bad report?  Was it they lacked faith in God and the confidence in themselves so much that they gave a bad report?  Was it that they feared the "reality" of entering the land of Israel, and couldn't see into God's vision and  beyond their small perspective, thus seeing themselves as grasshoppers?  Whatever it was, it was clear in God's eyes that their whole generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, would not enter the land.

＊

 Spying out the land before Shabbat, I enjoyed taking some photos in the green light after the rain cleared.  I noticed how beautiful the greens are after the rain, and what an amazing job the gardeners have been doing this week to make it shine.

  We have officially entered into rainy season!  I was inspiretd to take pictures of  the grapes, somehow setting them up (photos above) was fun to try to imagine the parsha.  Some even landed onto the ground when I was finishing and taking them down,  grapes in the land.

＊

Allow the yeast to blossom

 Other notes on the parsha:  In Numbers Chapter 15, after the sin of the spies is described, there is the section about  the fragrant offerings to the LORD in the land of Israel.

Included in these verses is the offering of Challah !! As you can see in THIS POST, it was an amazing discovery one year ago to read this Torah portion the first time.    I believe that reading on the Torah cycle gives us a special perspective to see one year to the next as we read the same portions and seek new revelation in each new reading on God`s eternal cycle!

Note:I also like the words in the challah recipe that say to allow the yeast to `blossom`.  

One more thing in this week`s reading  is about the tzitzit and the color blue that is mentioned in verse 16:37,  hence, I chose this blue tall flower this week!  And added the rose, a blossoming complementary hue to the beautiful and harmonizing Israeli blue.

There is a lesson in this parsha, about "perspective" when we look at the great difference in how 10 of the spies gave the negative report, and only Joshua and Caleb were sure that "we will surely overcome it" (Numbers 13:30).  They all saw the same thing, but there was such a difference in perspective. When 10 scouts saw the people in the land they saw the people as huge giants and  themselves as small as grasshoppers.  Whereas Joshua and Caleb understood that to trust in the LORD makes all the view much different and from their perspective of confidence in God and in themselves as going with God, they said "Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it." (Numbers 13:30)

And what about the man who was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day and was put to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses.  What are we to learn from this?  There is so much in this parsha, but for now I will finish my report here.

＊

So that is my report this Friday afternoon as the sun is still  high in the sky.   I don`t know if I told you how much I love the time at the end of the week, as the day starts at night---There was evening,and there was morning,---and begin to enter into the appointed time and Shabbat delight.

Dear Father, Help me this Shabbat to see You and to know that we can overcome all that is in the world because He who lives in us is so great!! Help me to know and trust in You in the deepest recesses of my soul so that nothing outside of me will look like a giant to fear.  May the things we once feared  become little as grasshoppers and may they hop away as we learn to trust in YOU and not to fear.  May we see shift to a heavenly perspective and see see from the lens of the LORD most high.

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom! Shavu'a Tov!  Have a blessed week!

♡When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the LORD:  as the first yield of your baking, you shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor.  You shall make a gift to the LORD from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.  --Numbers 15:17~21

Grapes a must for Parsha Shelach Lecha!!



related post on this blog for Parsha Shelach Lecha HERE,   finding the meaning of Challah in the Torah, and where the word Challah comes from !!

Blessings and Shalom, Love, Shayndel

This is Challah!

The first of your dough, challah, you shall offer as a gift....

--Numbers 15:19~20

To start this series of posts about the week of making Challah for the bread shop, I want to share something about Challah.

We think of Challah as meaning the loaves of Challah, which is the way I use it too, but there is a scriptural mention of Challah that goes all the way back to biblical times. In the scripture above from the book of Numbers, the word Challah appears in the Hebrew scripture.

There it refers to the first part of the dough that was to be offered as a gift to God when the Children of Israel fist enter the land of Israel.

You shall make a gift to the LORD from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.

--Numbers 15:21

Since making challah, I have known that even though this scripture applies to bread that is offered in the land of Israel, many  Jewish women in their homes and bakers in other parts of the world make a remembrance of this by  taking a first piece of the dough and refer to this as `taking challah`. In the Jewish observance there is a specification that you have to make a large enough quantity of dough to take challah, and as I only make a small amount, I have never done it.

 But when I realized that the amount of flour I would be using every day to make the loaves would be large enough to `take challah` and make a `bracha` blessing I felt that I wanted to do this observance which comes from the rememberance of when the `challah` commandment was given.

The opportunity this week to make challah  came as  a gift from God, so  it seemed that taking challah in this way would be a way to offer my thanks. 

I became excited to `take challah` for the first time!

My sister gave me a beautiful Challah book for my birthday this past December, and in the book, in addition to recipes, there  are explanations and significance in the steps of making challah.  It also shows with simple explanations about when you are to `take challah`, and make the blessing.  So this week when I made enough loaves with enough flour to take challah, I separated the piece and make a blessing.

 When we take a small part of the dough off the big whole dough, it is like a tithe, an acknowledgement of giving the first of everything we do to God, the one who provides us with everything.

I offered of the first dough, and raised it up to the heavens with the blessing.

From there started the adventure week of the 20 loaves!!  Hope you enjoy a few photos and a little of the story in this series of posts.

I  included a little card  with the Challah, with a message in Japanese on the front about how we make Challah on Shabbat, and on the other side the above scripture from Numbers.
And then I set off down my street with four loaves each morning for the shop....

 


related post: CHALLAH, here

Torah Journey---Finishing the Book of Numbers, Fourth Challah Cover-in-progress!!

In His hand are the depths of the earth, 

the mountain peaks are His also.

The sea is His--He made it,

and His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before ADONAI our Maker.

For He is our God,

and we are the people of His pasture,

the flock of His hand.

---Psalm 95: 4〜7

In progress. Fourth Challah Cover.

In my first year of reading the Torah, I have been making one challah cover for each of the five books of the Torah.  

This week`s parsha is a double portion and the last readings in the Book of Numbers---  Tribes, and the Journey, Matot and Masai.

May what we are learning each week and each day in Torah become a part of the fabric of our lives of worship to our Maker!!  

Chazak! Chazak! V`nitchazek!*
 

Blessings and Shalom!

Love,

Shayndel

*Be strong! Be strong! And may we be strengthened.
This phrase is said after finishing each book of the Torah.
What does it mean and why do we say it?
This post on a blog I came across answers those very questions.

Aaron`s Blossoming Staff Challah, Part 2, Setting the Table for Parsha Korach

The table is set as the story of this week`s Parsha Korach unfolds ---in Challah!---  to reveal almond flowers from Aaron`s Staff

On Shabbat, our table can become a place to tell the story of the weekly parsha reading, and a way to invite others to enter into the Torah in creative and fun ways.  And maybe even inspire others to read the Torah and hunger for the Word that it contains.

The Parsha this week inspired me to make a Challah to express Aaron`s Blossoming, Flowering  Staff.

 (see Post , Aaron`s Blossoming Staff Challah, Part 1 below )

In this post, I would like to set the table with the Challah and a little more of the story.

When Korach rebels against Moses, which is actually a rebellion against G-d, G-d tells Moses to have the twelve tribes line up their staffs (rods)  in front of the testimony of the Tent of Meeting.

ADONAI spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and get a rod from each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, from each prince according to his ancestral household.  ---Numbers 17:1

He then tells Moses that the staff of the man that He chooses will sprout, and this is how He was to do away with those who are grumbling and rebelling against Moses.  So Moses gathered the staffs and placed them before ADONAI in the Tent of Testimony.

Of course, Aaron's staff blossoms (see post below and read Numbers 17:1 - 12!).

 To keep the surprise for your Shabbat guests, I recommend keeping `Aaron`s Flowering Staff` Challah  covered at first.  This is fitting  because we keep the Challah covered while we recite the blessings over the candles and the wine (explained in a post HERE)!  I used my Second Challah Cover, with the Hebrew names of the Twelve Tribes.    

For a dramatic effect in the telling of the parsha, from under the Challah Cover, you can have the flowers and the top of the staff emerge!

As you tell the story of the Parsha to your Shabbat guests, and uncover the Challah it makes for a memorable surprise and teaching to see how only the staff of Aaron blossomed.  Have almonds scattered on the table, and if possible, use a blossom patterned cloth!

Behind the scenes note:

For the eleven `staffs` of the tribes,  I used `POCKY` sticks.  They are a popular kind of candy in Japan.  I used `almond` variety, and this colorful shower variety.  I bring your attention here to the back of the `Almond` Pocky box.  There were perforations where you could poke the arms out and move them into an embrace.  It just seemed perfect to put the flowering staff into the hands of the boy!  And  do you see how the background has blossoms all around!!

Don`t you find that as our lives get more and more focused on Torah, every little thing around us reflects it too!! Even a Pocky Box! Pocky sticks! And the origami paper that is full of blossoms.  Just roll it and tape it to make a little `flowering Staff` to remind us of Aaron in the story this week of Parsha Korach.

Aaron`s staff is a testimony in perpetuity to us all to NOT rebel like Korah, and to be obedient to the One who G-d chooses as His High Priest.  This story lives on.

ADONAI said to Moses, "Put Aaron's staff back in front of the Testimony to keep as a sign to the sons of rebellion, so that it may put an end to their grumblings against Me, and so they will not die. "  Moses did just as ADONAI commanded him.     --Numbers 17:12

 

Blessings and Shalom!

Love,

Shayndel

note:  I have been using the words `rod` and `staff` interchangeably through these two posts.