Good and Light

 Taste and see how good the LORD is;

happy the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:9

טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ, כִּי-טוֹב יְהוָה;    אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר, יֶחֱסֶה-בּוֹ

Something new is happening from making the Hebrew letters in challah.  I am drawing nearer to God through them.  When I recently made the word `chesed` (in challah! post to follow!) , which means lovingkindness, as soon as I picked up the `chet` ח (the first letter of `chesed` חסד) , I realized this is a letter to handle with care.  This is a word that is the signature of God`s attributes.

The Hebrew words in challah in this post`s upload are `good` and `light`.  

Good=  טוב  = TOV            Light =   אור  = OHR

I haven`t done an upload yet about `chesed`, (lovingkindness), but I just had that realization about the letters. His goodness and lovingkindness will pursue us all the days of our lives...

The word there too in Psalm 23 is `Tov`, the same `good` that He proclaimed when He made the world and said each thing that was `Good`...the world He made `Good` is the `good` or `Tov` that is His attribute. 

More than food for thought, we actually taste and see how good---Tov---  the LORD is!!

Enjoy! This is a light hearted upload with a story about the first words God said, Let there be ...Light!! אור

Have a good day and let your light shine and give glory to our Father in Heaven!! Much love, Shabbat Shalom! ♡Shayndel ,d.u.a. (doing uploads as) 

Joanne`s Challah-Cast channel!

 

Elul Moon, Psalm 81, and sharing a Testimony of Teshuvah

Sing for joy to God our strength,

shout to the God of Jacob!

Lift up a song and sound a tambourine, a sweet lyre with a harp.

Blow the shofar at the New Moon,

at the full moon for the day of our festival.

Psalm 81:2~4

 

Dear friends,

 I will be sharing a testimony this Shabbat at Tav about my story of `Teshuvah`, Return! If you are in a time zone that you are up during these hours, please do stop in!! The time is 3PM in Japan, and sorry friends in the U.S. as its middle of the night, 2AM in the morning!! For other time zones, please check and if its a reasonable time zone, hope to see you then !!

 

＊

Enjoy the Elul Moon!  Below is another on the spot upload, the exciting thing is how while there I saw the full moon coming up as I was blowing the shofar.  It felt like something out of a Psalm!!!

Shabbat Shalom!!

♡

Love,
Shayndel

Blessings and Love , Shabbat Shalom!!

Mishpatim Postcards--for you to Color!!

 Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14

The LORD is good to all, 

and His mercies are over all His works.

Psalm 145:9

♡

Love and blessings,

Shayndel

Challah journal---continuing in the new year, echoing Creation

A round challah, pomegranate seeds, apples, honey, and even yogurt--milk and honey!  are all symbolic of the Biblical New Year!! Happy and Sweet 5780 to you!  May we honor our Creator all the days through! 

Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything moving in them.

Psalm 69:35

A sweet and exquisite first day of the Year 5780 to all!

Rosh Hashanah morning. Before going to synagogue with my Dad, I took a bicycle ride down to the beach with a New Year's round challah (*note, it is a challah from the bakery)  in my back pack!  A challah adventure of the New Years kind.  When I was growing up on Long Island, my family always walked to the synagogue.  My Dad always said that it never rains on the Jewish Holidays!! So there is a kind of weather I associate with the High Holidays, and it was just that weather this New Year.

There would be feasting with the congregation later, but in the morning, a quiet time.  The ocean was High tide, and the sky was like it might have looked on the first day of Creation!!  Today the day, yes, the day the Big Shofar is blown.   When I set the round challah down on the beach blanket, immediately its shape echoed the sky and the sun rising already up above the horizon.  It is also an echo of "Return".  The High Holidays are about "Teshuvah", which means to return, as in to return to God our Father.  Not only personally, but nationally as a people as well.   The  circular shape,  it goes around and around, a reminder of the shape of His days, always bringing us closer and closer to Him,  the Creator of all things, welcome O welcome to the King of all Kings.

Elul story by the sea

 

Blowing the shofar at Elul is like the little shofar before the BIG Shofar Blast that we are approaching at the Feast of Trumpets.  Lining up our little selves with our BIG and great LORD and King!   I love taking my little shofar and blowing it each day of this month of Elul  in "preparation" .  As you may have noticed from the number of Elul posts!!  

How do we  prepare for the Day of the Big Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, Rosh Hashanah)  and the Big Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) ?  One daily way is, Repentance in the small things (big things too of course, but hoping that some of the big ones have been clear and of course Salvation is the only way to do that!)!   Seeking God for where we need to clear out those parts of us that still need to be gotten right  -- the bitterness in our hearts, unforgiveness, what else? --- ask Him to show us---there are always those places---!!

When we seek Him with a desire to see His face and to  draw closer to Him, He answers!  Sometimes it is through the Holy Spirit showing us a cloud that takes the shape of the shofar and gets longer and wider!! Sometimes it is with a blue sky that appears on a super cloudy day. ...  you had brought a raincoat with you on your ride, as it was getting grayer and grayer and then as you meditate on His greatness,  the next time you look up what do you know,  the sky has cleared and is all blue.  Can we "blow away" the clouds ?? No, we cannot do anything in and of ourselves.  Can we ask Him to show us where we need to grow and stretch and enlarge our tents?  Yes, we can seek His face and we can take a step each day to draw closer in wanting to know His heart.   The story of Elul, from Shayndel's reflections today,  is to step out in action and take the small steps to seek Him.  As we read each day of this month in  Psalm 27, Your Face Lord I seek!  

In Your behalf my heart says:

"Seek My face!"

O Lord, I seek Your face.

Psalm 27:8b

(JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh )

Blessings and a happy Elul day to you!!

 

Love,

♡

Shayndel

Enlarge the place of your tent, 

stretch out your tabernacle curtains.

Do not hold back--

lengthen your cords,

strengthen your stakes.

Isaiah 54:2  

(from this week's Haftarah reading)

A shofar "centerpiece"on the Shabbat table during the month of Elul

S H A B B A T      S H A L O M !!!

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Related post on this blog, with a little more explanation about Elul, HERE
＊
For a Torah Teaching on repentance in the month of Elul, Teshuvah (Repentance) and this week's  Parsha Ki Tetze , HERE .  This teaching and inspiration is on a weekly podcast by Jewish pop singer and Torah Teacher Ari Goldwag  

Before you go, Pack Shalom!---some notes!

(cute picture here of me and a little girl in Israel with our shalom fans!!
just removed the picture though as I am not sure if I can post pictures of others as I didn't ask permissions)

When you enter a city, bring Shalom!

I
think
when I decided to pack my shalom fans, and my worship flags, God supernaturally opened the space in my suitcase so I could bring them!!!

I know this because, after I gave out all my fans on the trip in Israel, and had none to pack on the way back, the suitcase went back to its "normal " capacity.   I won't show you that picture, of trying to squeeze in all my clothes, and the souvenirs I brought back, and ultimately needed a whole extra bag!!!  Really, I don't see how I could have packed all that on the way!!

Moral? Lesson?!  Shalom fits any size, it doesn't take up space, but rather it is expansive and makes space and multiplies!!

Shalom be upon Israel!

Souvenir to go with this post, are these points (below)  to Pray for the Peace (Shalom) of Jerusalem,  from THIS ARTICLE (good article for more on Shalom) from One for Israel.  I came across them when I was researching a little about "Shalom" for this post, though I didn't use the research, I thought these prayer points would be good to include!  Please pack them into your prayers and pray them with your prayers for Israel.   Peace be with you.

  Blessings and... SHALOM!!!

＊Pray against violence, and for peace and hope on the streets of Jerusalem, and against fear – that more and more would come to trust in God and find peace and love that casts out fear
＊For integrity in the governmental institutions and for those in positions of responsibility to walk in righteousness – for God to root out corruption
＊For God to raise up those who can be a witness in these high levels of Israeli society – people like the prophet Daniel
＊Please pray for our leaders – for the right people to be given the right positions, and for God’s wisdom that leads to peace and justice
＊For the Jewish and Arab believers in Jerusalem to truly love one another, and to love their enemies as well
＊For the destructive plans of the enemy to be thwarted, and for God’s perfect plans to come to pass
＊For the Holy Spirit to convict all the people of the city about sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come (John 16:8) so that they can find truth and forgiveness in Yeshua – for people of all walks of life to find real peace with God through Yeshua

The LORD gives strength to His people.

The LORD blesses His people with shalom.

Psalm 29:11

♡

L'Dor V'dor Tour, Entrance to the City of David

I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, my God.  I will sing praise to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 71:22

Dear friends, I just came back to Japan after a tour of Israel!  It was a prayer come true, to go to the land of our Messiah Yeshua and to see the place that God is so zealous for, Zion!! It was a worship tour led by father-daughter singing team of Marty and Misha Goetz, and family.  The trip went from Jerusalem to the Galilee, all the way up to the northern border, and back down to Tel Aviv.  There was worship all the way, with songs they sang on the land or on the bus, songs on the sea, and hearts of prayer in unity in Messiah as we walked the streets of the old and new cities.   

Just opening back up after a brief absence from the blog with this picture of the harp at the entrance to the City of David.  I am sorry for my slipping out and going without  notice, but as I have been planning to go other times but had false starts and didn't make it---I felt in my heart best to just make sure I got there and back this time.  And as you can see from this picture and Praise, I am full of thanks to the LORD for the wonderful chance to make it this time and visit His Holy Land!!

I will share some of the trip and my journey in some posts to follow !

The trip for 2020 is already open for registration, so if these posts make you want to go, I highly recommend it and you can find the details at Marty Goetz's site HERE.

Hope all have been well and I look forward to visiting you and catching up.

God Bless you.

Love and blessings,

♡

Shayndel

PS I saw lots of sparrows (as we were speaking of sparrows before I signed off)!
God showed me sparrows at every site we visited, starting with the song of sparrows from outside the hotel window the first Jerusalem morning.
To be continued...

Matzah and Blossoms, Spring Green and Tambourine, Pesach Sameach

A long title, and a short post to wish you a Pesach Sameach!! As the Blossoms turn to spring green, reflected in a Tambourine!!  Time to change the header to "Matzah and Cherry Blossoms"!!

A song of Praise,
with blessings,
with LOVE !

The singers go before, the musicians last, between maidens beating tambourines.

"Bless God in the congregations--

ADONAI, from the fountain of Israel".   Psalm 68:26~27

♡

Morning, afternoon, blossoms! Psalms!

Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
bring tribute and enter before Him,
bow down to the LORD, majestic in holiness.

Psalm 29:2, 1 Chronicles 16:29

Glory and majesty are before Him;
strength and splendor are in His temple.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Declare among the nations,
"The LORD is king!"
Psalm 96: 6, 10

♡

The Purim Challah, and now, the Feast!

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

Esther 9:20~22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recipe links to follow!

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

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

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

Blessed be His Name!

Purim Sameach!! Happy Purim!

Love,
 ♡
Shayndel

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

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

Postcards from Parsha Pekudei

I will expound a theme, hold forth on the lessons of the past,

things we have heard and known, 

that our fathers have told us.

We will not withhold them from their children,

telling the coming generation

the praises of the LORD and His might, 

and the wonders He performed.

Psalm 78:2~4

Finishing the book of Exodus!

Chazak, Chazak, venitchazek!!

Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen each other!

Blessings and love,

♡

Shayndel