Hi Friends, I hope you are all well. Without planning it, I have taken a little unofficial blog break.
Sorry for my absence for a little while. I am hoping to be back soon officially and just popping in to
say HI and send love and show you my Blossoming Menorah Challah that I made this past Shabbat for a special `commission`!!! I hope to be be back again soon with some new words in
challah and Chanukah posts and soon!! Meanwhile wishing you all -a light-filled season and much love!!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17
Would you believe it, this challah was a gift, sent to me from Tokyo!! A good and perfect gift from our Father in Heaven, who sent it through the synagogue , surprise and touched my heart in ways that only He knows how!! (the perfect round challah in a perfect square box, the box had my name on it hand written all around the box!!!)
L`Shana Tova! A card for you!
This one I made! A three strand braid shaped in a circle like a crown
.
Praise is awaiting You in Zion, O God,
and to You the vow will be fulfilled.
Psalm 65:2
A few friends asked about how to make the round challah and to see `part 2` of shaping the challah, so I am popping in to share the upload for Part 2, and share a few reflections on the Feast days and the Ten days of Awe that we are in, as well as about the challah!!
So without further ado, here is Part 2. Sorry it doesn`t include the receiving of the challah gift described and pictured in top photos above!! I had already filmed the video!! But if you can, just imagine another doorbell ring, like in Part 1 when the sukkah was delivered from Abram the tent maker. This time it was a Japan postman at the door delivering a Round challah from the King!!!
As I have shared before, the round challah is my recommendation for all the fall `chag` (chag-im) feasts!! I am thankful for master challah teacher Tamar, who I got a lot of tips from for making the challah this year. I learned a few new things, including sifting the flour first, using oil instead of flour on the board for rolling and kneading if needed. I made three of the shapes she taught about (see upload!). I gave the ones I made to others, including of course one for my daughter, and to neighbors or friends to share about the holiday and God`s goodness. So I was extra grateful for receiving the challah (from) above!
The next feast is Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, and the holiest day on the Kingdom calendar, with the Shabbat of Return (Shabbat Shuvah, or Shabbat Teshuvah!) before that. It is very wonderful to see this year here in Asia, and many people now in the body of Messiah everywhere around the world, are beginning to more and more understand and enter into God`s appointed feasts. And to pray for Israel during these days. Many Jewish people still do not know their (our) Messiah Yeshua. Over hundreds, thousands, of years of history, He has become unrecognizable to the Jewish people, so removed even from His own feasts (*actually another word is `moedim` which means God`s appointed times and seasons). The Feasts of the LORD are the appointed days that Yeshua made as part of His plan of creation and redemption and for heaven and earth to meet in Him. From the beginning it was all in place. At the Restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth they will be continue to be celebrated and they will be fulfilled by Yeshua Himself, the coming King. On this Shabbat of Return, and in this year 5781, May He reveal Himself to the Jewish people and to the world that He is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World!! This is a time of restoration of all things and its exciting that we each have a part to play!!!
And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
" The Deliverer shall come out of Zion.
He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."
Romans 11:26~27 (referencing Isaiah 59:20~21, 27:9, and Jeremiah 31:31~34)
Oh, so of course no challah on Yom Kippur as it is a complete fast, for 25 hours, but you can have a challah prepared in advance for the break-fast, or for the continuing days of the feasts through Succot!!
By the way I started putting up my Succah today!! Its my first real succah, and I can recall how it harkens back to the Tabernacle and forward to the wonderful day when God will dwell with us here on earth!!!
An intimate moment with Yeshua!! Taste and See that the LORD is good!
And behold, Aaron`s staff, from the house of Levi, had sprouted, blossomed, and produced almonds! Numbers 17:8
You`ll find the story of Aaron`s blossoming rod in the Book of Numbers chapter 17 verse 8. The blossoming rod of Aaron has intrigued me for the blossoms and the life and the supernatural qualities that God reveals of Himself as He reveals the staff of Aaron blossoming, and shows that is only God alone who chooses.
Once I started making challah and celebrating and observing the Shabbat a few years ago, there were certain Parsha (Torah portions) that inspired me to make a special Challah to pertain to that portion. The first time I made the `Aaron`s Blossoming Rod Challah` was 3 years ago, the challah `came to life` in my spirit and I have been making it ever since , a once a year special challah at the Shabbat of this Parsha, Parsha Korah!!
It has become a celebration here at Challah and Cherry blossoms to make the Aaron`s Blossoming Staff Challah, and remember the blossoming of Aaron`s staff as well as learn new things in each reading. May we draw nearer to the LORD through His living Word!! When the parsha came around this year I was excited to make it again, and this time will share how to make it on a Challah-cast `tutorial` of how to make an Aaron`s Blossoming Rod Challah!! Thank
you for being along on the Torah and Challah journey with me over these
years, I am thankful for this `space` and for you to share the challah
and the journey with!!! For the first time ever here on Challah and Cherry Blossoms! Enjoy!! (note* part 1 below, and link to part 2 after that!)
Part 2:
Oh how I love your Torah! Psalm 119:97
If you would like to read where we find the Blossoming Rod of Aaron, as well as the rebellion of Korach which is much of the parsha and related to the staff incident, the readings for Parsha Korah are here:
I love reading on the Torah cycle and engaging with the Holy Spirit to bring parts of what we read to life through the Challah or through drawing or dancing or other creative ways!! How does the Word come alive for you? How can we bring the word of God into our lives and invite others to hunger for the Word of God ?
For related posts on the Aaron`s Blossoming rod challah as well as a tutorial on the blog of how to make it, please see the previous years posts for Parsha Korach Here , Here, and Here! For the list of where we are each week in the Torah readings for this 2019~2020 year 5780, please click HERE, as well as you can always find it on the sidebar at the right, it is there under *Pages*!
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!!
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!
