Many Miracles (and pomegranates!)

 pomegranate challah french toast!

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.  Isaiah 43:4

pomegranates (from America!) alongside Japanese grown fruits--the orange color are persimmon

Matthew 6:21, wouldn't it be wonderful on a billboard over Tokyo!!

Mt. Fuji from the Shinkansen (bullet train)

I didn't notice this child was behind me until after I saw the picture!  I like the way he (she?) is smiling and seems to understand that the light of the Menorah and the miracle of Light  is Yeshua's light!!

A city on a hill

But the most wonderful of all, for a mother, is to make the journey and arrive just in time to light the candles and have latkes and a homemade Hannukah dinner together with her daughter!!

Hope you are all having a beautiful and light-filled season.

Love,

Shayndel

♡

 ........................................................................................................
PS note added from my notebook!♡
"This Hannukah did not go unnoticed in Heaven.  
This one menorah alone shone its light from Oita to Tokyo and back again!"

Blossoming prayer for Israel

Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the earth with fruit.

--Isaiah 27:6

Sakura Gelato

special order, for Passover, no cookie, substitute with matzah

 

 From your Challah and Cherry Blossoms Correspondent, a view during Passover week

Cherry Blossoms Gelato at Odawara Castle!!

It was a treat the color of the blossoms, 

the sweet taste of the Goodness of the Father, 

our Father our King,  I believe He smiled 

He comforted me

made me feel like a child at His Castle 

in the midst of all this pink!!

♡

Shayndel

Cherry Blossoms at Odawara Castle-- w/matzah

Yes, really !  Cherry Blossoms Balloons, in the street leading to the Castle

matzah and Odawara Castle, Tokyo Japan

I loved seeing that this Castle has triangular shaped windows!! Did you know what these small windows are for in a castle? Something would be pointed out towards the outer area as a defense from the enemy. 

The cherry blossoms at Odawara castle were exquisite.  Below is where the "moat" was at one time.  Most of this castle is re-constructed, but it was a beautiful site to see how it was and the the cherry trees blossoms always a new.

The earth is the Lord`s and all that is in it.

Psalm 24:1

♡

Sunrise from the Succa, Psalm 19

For the music director, a psalm of David

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky shows His handiwork.

Day to day they speak,

night to night they reveal knowledge.

There is no speech , no words,

where their voice goes unheard.

Their voice has gone out to all the earth

and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens He pitched a tent 

for the sun.

It is like a bridegroom 

coming out of his bridal chamber.

It is like a strong man

rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other end.

Nothing is hidden from its heat.   

The Torah of ADONAI is perfect,

 restoring the soul.
The testimony of ADONAI is trustworthy,
making the simple wise.
The precepts of ADONAI are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The mitzvot of ADONAI are pure,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of ADONAI is clean, 
enduring forever.
The judgments of ADONAI are true
and altogether righteous.

They are more desirable than gold,
yes, more than much pure gold!
They are sweeter than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned.
In keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Cleanse me of hidden faults.
Also keep Your servant from willful sins.
May they not have dominion over me.
Then I will be blameless,
free from great transgression.

May the words of my mouth 
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable before You,
ADONAI, my Rock and my Redeemer.  
        

--- Psalm 19, TLV

A Challah over Mt. Fuji

challah wrapped in a `tenugui` cloth on the airplane table in front of the window

can you see Mt. Fuji?  There is is, you see! The mountain top!

Drawing from the plane, So close to heaven, God so near! 

Landed, with the Challah, in Tokyo!

Travelling from South to North, to Tokyo for Succot,
A challah in my hands.
Hoping to get a view of Mt. Fuji
before the plane lands.

There it is!! You see, the  mountain top!
The challah, on the table, prop (propped!)
Mt. Fuji and a challah in one view,
I hope one day you`ll see those two

Oh what a thrill
when it appears

So close to heaven
God so near

 Give thanks to the God of heaven

His love endures forever.   ---Psalm 136:26

Blessings and Shalom!
from Challah and Cherry Blossoms correspondent,

Shayndel

♡

Challah and Mt. Fuji notes on this story:

The challah is a Red Bean challah! I used THIS RECIPE for the dough, with a few variations, and for the filling used  red bean paste (secret: the red bean paste, called azuki,  I used this time was ready made,  from 7-Eleven!),  You can also make your own!
(Variations:  I often make this recipe as is, but for this red bean version I made the following variations.  I note this here as sometimes I will go back to make a challah and I forget what I did!  So this is like my  diary of making the challah, and of course I welcome you to try it too!!
instead of honey, I used Tensai-to which is a Japanese sugar made from daikon radish;  I substituted Grapeseed oil, instead of Olive Oil; and doubled the recipe, one loaf went with me to Tokyo, and the other stayed home and was for our Shabbat, see in posts below).

The first Red Bean Challah I made was in this past year for Abraham, you can see the Red Bean Challah in This post and This post.

note:  The challah is wrapped for travelling in a Japanese Tenugui.  Click in the *labels* at right side bar or beneath this post under `tenugui` and there you can find out more about these cloths.  The design on the tenugui I was carrying this Challah in had a picture of a red Mt. Fuji!

note:  If you see in the photos, you might not even realize where Mt. Fuji is, but please look close and you can see the dark shape of the top of the Mountain coming out from the clouds!! You can also see more Mt. Fuji views and posts on this blog, some readers may already know my Mt. Fuji and challah fascination!  

Also noted:  often we make a foil `tent` for the Challah in the oven after about 20 minutes, depending on your oven so the top doesn`t burn while the inside cooks.  I noticed this time as I was making the foil tent, that this Challah is for Succot and at this time we are commanded to dwell, rejoice in tents!!
This photo below is the Challah in it`s tent.

From the beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.   ---Genesis 1:1

In the fall (autumn) in some places the clocks are turned back this time of year for daylight savings time.  I just saw that in Israel this is done too, and it became one hour earlier just last night!

In the cycle of God`s calendar, it is the time of the year where we roll back the Torah.   Time to begin reading and study again from the beginning.

Like many of my posts this one also expresses something I am learning and doing for the very first time, as this fist year of celebrating the Fall Feasts*  in my life in Japan continues!  

As a child, even though I was raised Jewish and went to synagogue year after year for the holidays and attended Hebrew school,  I never  understood anything about the ongoing and repeating cycle of the Torah readings.   

The Torah is read in portions each week for one year from Genesis to Deuteronomy.  Then at the last of the Fall Feasts, Simchat Torah,  we read the last Torah portion, then proceed immediately to the first chapter of Genesis, reminding us that the Torah is a circle, and never ends.   On Simchat Torah there is rejoicing with the Torah, and a celebration of getting all the way to the end.  In the congregation people even dance with the Torah, though I am not sure if that was done in our Long Island reform congregation where I attended! 
It was done in Japan though!!

Then the Torah is scrolled all the way back to the beginning!

The first Parsha, or Torah Portion, is from Genesis, which is called Breisheet in Hebrew.  Creation.  As I was flying over water on the way to Tokyo to celebrate Shemini Atzerat just before Simchat Torah,  I was looking out the window the whole plane ride.  I sensed God wanted me to see the expanse in the midst of the water, and the way He separated the waters when he formed and named the sea and sky.  Connecting back to that second day of creation...

Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water!  Let it be for separating water from water."   So God made the expanse and it separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was over the expanse.  And it happened so. God called the expanse "sky."   --Genesis 1:6~8

I looked down at God`s creation in awe of the way the sky and the water really are separated and the clouds even float on that line of separation.  Those thousands of years ago felt close as I was filled with a giddy excitement of this Torah cycle approaching and starting anew from the beginning.  In His creation, in Genesis.  

Then on what would be the third day He said let the water below the sky be gathered together in one place and let the dry ground appear.  And it happened so. (from Genesis 1:9). 

I watched the shapes of the islands and thought of how our island nation of Japan is one of the nations who wait in anticipation for His Torah. 

The islands will wait for His Torah.   ---Isaiah 42:4

I watched the shorelines in awe of how exactly the shapes are drawn, and how the water line is clearly calculated so the water stops when it reaches the land.

when I said, 'This far you may come, but no further'
here your majestic waves will stop. '   ---Job 38:11 

Turning back the Torah doesn`t turn back time but it reminds us of the precision and plans of our Precise Creator and how everything is divided and separated, formed and calibrated on His ...Torah time!!  God`s time.  When we are all in sync with His time, agreeing to His purposes, reading the same passages and celebrating His appointed days as He commands us to do, something clicks like those calibrated wheels that you see when you look into a time piece.  As we gear up for the new year of the Parashiot, it is like  getting synchronized on the circle that goes back to creation and forward to His coming!


If, like me, you have never read the Torah on a yearly cycle, this could be the perfect time to start!! This will also be my first time to start from the beginning, as the past year I joined in sometime around the Passover and it was already well into the Exodus.  I hope this post might inspire you to start this cycle and study together!

This weeks reading was Breisheet.  The coming Shabbat will be Noach from the story of Noah.  You can click on here  to get the listing of the Parshiot for 2016-2017.  In each set of readings we see how the prophecies from the Old Testament are fulfilled in the coming of Yeshua as we read and study the portions from the Torah, Haftorah, and including readings from the Brit Chadashah (The Good News, or New Testament). 

(then He, Yeshua said...)

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.                                                            ---Revelation 22:13

 May God look upon us from the heavens and see us returning to His Torah!! May he be pleased with us and say like He did at the time of creation when there was a separation between water and water, and when there was not yet a separation between people and God, and He said at the end of the each day, `it is good.`!!

So God saw everything that He made, and behold it was very good.     ---Genesis 1:31

Note:  all the photos in this post I took from the airplane from Oita to Tokyo In two trips over the Succot and Shemeni Atzeret holidays.

Note:  If you are interested to read more about this Torah portion from Genesis,  you can find many drash, or sermons about it if you look it up.  I will share one link below from a blog I came across, it looks at the Hebrew letter Beit that begins the Breisheet and first line of Genesis from a Messianic perspective.  The writer  explains how the first letter means house, and then goes on to connect it with Yeshua and our dwelling with Him from the very beginning.  I provided the link to that article below.  Or enjoy looking for other talks on the text as you begin the year of Torah Study from the beginning! Shalom and Enjoy!:
http://jewishjewels.org/Newsletter%20Archive/IntheBeginning-Jan2006.pdf

Note:  Until my eyes were opened to the truth of Yeshua, I always knew the Fall Feasts as the `Jewish` holidays, but important note:  they are not only for Jewish people but for all God`s children!! they are for all who call upon His name, all who call upon His name in truth, both in the natural and the grafted in, we are all brothers and sisters in Yeshua!!  Yeshua came to reconcile the Jew and Gentile in Himself.  It is  beautiful to see that living truth  in a messianic congregation, where Jewish and Gentile believers  worship, read Torah, and celebrate the feasts together!!