Challah-Cast Diary/notes! Life of Sarah

Now Sarah's life was 127 years--the years of Sarah's life.

Genesis 23:19

The reading from this past week in the Torah is the Parsha "The Life of Sarah" .
It is called "The Life" of Sarah,  even though it is actually to tell about her passing, at the time of her death at 127 years. 

 Sarah lived in righteousness, purity and with a love of loving-kindness--the quality of chesed, in Hebrew-- in everything she did .  She and Abraham opened up their tent for hospitality to strangers to share the truth about the One true God.  Her whole being emanated light because she drew from the source of light for her life.  At  age 90  God blessed her and Abraham (who was 100) with a child, even though in the natural it was impossible.  Nothing is impossible with God!

In connecting with something about challah, the aspect I wanted to share is how her light shone even in her challah dough!!

According to a midrash in Bereshit Rabba, we learn that Sarah's dough was divinely blessed, that  her challah stayed fresh from  Shabbat to the next Shabbat, and that a candle would burn in her tent from Sabbath Eve to the next.  There was said to be a cloud of the divine presence always over her tent. 

I love this teaching about Sarah
＊ from a Rabbinic source, quoted below, and what it tells about her life and how she lived doing everything for the glory of God.  I can try to imagine the light that shone forth from her very being!! The woman who was the mother of all the generations of Israel.  Her challah dough was divinely blessed!  From the same midrash, we also learn that the divine blessing left in all those areas, but when Rebecca came into the tent as Isaac's bride, the blessings returned.

Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, 

took Rebecca and she became his wife--and he loved her.  

So Isaac was comforted after the loss of his mother.

Genesis 24:67

 

And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother-" All the days that Sarah was alive, a cloud was connected (lit. tied) to the entrance of her tent. When she died, the cloud stopped [resting at her tent.] And when Rebecca came, the cloud returned. All the days that Sarah was alive, the doors were open wide. When she died, the wideness stopped. And when Rebecca came, the wideness returned. And all the days that Sarah was alive, there was a blessing in her dough, and when Sarah died, that blessing ended. When Rebecca came, [the blessing] returned. All the days that Sarah was alive, there was a candle that would burn from Sabbath Eve to [the next] Sabbath Eve, and when she died, the candle stopped [burning for so long]. And when Rebecca came, [the week-long flame of the candle] returned. And as soon as [Isaac] saw her, that she did the deeds of his mother, separating her challah in purity and separating her dough in purity, he brought her into the tent.

                                                                                 ＊ from Bereishit Rabbah 60

For those that are following or interested in the Challah-cast series,
please read on , these !
"Notes on the "Challah-cast":

My  basic "filming"  plan was to take  scenes of first getting  flowers for Shabbat at the flower shop,  a special bouquet to honor the Life of Sarah, then zooming in on the flowers in the shop, and next scene , zooming out on the flowers when back in my home, and showing the flowers and the dough.

The whole short film, the challah-cast, would be homage to Sarah. The aspect of the challah that we would focus on is the dough, talking about the teaching above, about the blessing on her challah and the light that she shone from living with the Divine Presence always.
In my challah making scenes I would just show the dough, from when its made, to when it rises, as I talk about that aspect of Sarah's life.

So that is the basic idea for the week of Chayei Sarah.  What I am learning for the challah-casts is it takes a lot of "takes" to get a short video together! And I have to work fast if I want to do it by Shabbat, from the making of the Challah.

After all, I didn't get a finished challah-cast that I felt ready to share, so  am just sharing this post as an "outline" this week, and realize that I may not get a finished Challah-cast each time.  I started to get a little discouraged, but, rather than get discouraged if I don't complete it, I am glad as it is a way of drawing closer to Him in the process.

The midrash (Rabbinic commentary) from Bereishit Rabbah, is about how once Isaac and Rebecca married, and Rebecca entered into Sarah's tent with Isaac, the blessings returned through her.

Its such a beautiful testament to the generations, how through Sarah's life, Rebecca was able to enter in and keep alive the flame of God's presence continually.   It is said that in the time after Sarah died, the blessings stopped, but when Rebecca entered the tent as Isaac's bride, they returned again.
May we learn from the Life of Sarah, and be inspired to keep the light of Yeshua shining through our lives, and be diligent in prayer and in how we live, to pass it on to the next generation.

And a PS, I really was gettting a little discouraged not having done a Challah-cast, so just to keep on going I made a "rough" upload with talking it through and I also included the next Parsha, Toldot, to tie in with it.  If you are moved to watch it, you can see it HERE

When we spend time with the Lord, and more than that, when we live with Him as the source of our very being,   then our light will shine forth in all we do.  And nothing is impossible with Him!

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom!!

 Every year I post my Rebecca (Rivka)  drawing (Below) to go with this parsha!
Blessings and Shalom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
♡
Shayndel

So she said, "Drink, my lord," and she quickly lowered her jar onto her hand and gave him a drink.  Now when she finished giving him a drink, she said, "I'll also draw water for your camels until they've finished drinking."   Genesis 24:18~19

Manna and Challah --now, the Challah! Parsha Beshalach

So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed to eat; for when the sun grew hot , it would melt.  On the sixth day they gathered double the amount of food, two omers for each; and when all the chieftans of the community came and told Moses, he said to them, " this is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath of the LORD.  Bake what you would bake and boil what you would boil; and all that is left put aside to be kept until morning.  Exodus 16:21~23

The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey.  
                                                                                Exodus 16:31

You've heard me say this before  (here, here, and here),  and here I go again.
I get so excited in this week's Torah portion, Beshalach.  The Freedom!  the Manna! The Shabbat!

It is not only the freedom of when God brings the Children of Israel out of Egypt, but the way in which He is with them and guides them.

It is not only the manna that falls from heaven but the Bread of Life that He provides them.  It is not only the Shabbat that is introduced in the provision of the manna, and the double portion on Shabbat, but the goodness of a Master who gives His children sustenance and the way to achieve it,  and gives them  rest.

This portion is one we can stay in forever, it is alive with song.  The song of Moses and Miriam, a spontaneous rejoicing at the wondrous awesome God who has set them---us!--- free and who they---we!--- know is with them--us! as He travels with them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  As from now He is their --our! ---home and the journey begins to make a life where He will dwell with us and in us and we in Him.

They sing and Miriam leads the women in dance!!

Once the rejoicing settles down and the people get hungry, they ask for bread.  They have been slaves for over 400 years and now the bread that they receive will be the bread from heaven.  And with it comes some "rules".  But they are not rules of  back breaking labor as they were accustomed to in Egypt, but a law that comes from Love, and that will be given as they journey forward in His commands.  We begin already to see how closely connected are love and following His commands to our Father in Heaven.

The double portion that is sent down on the sixth day is sent as a "test" as God wants to see if the children of Israel will keep his commandments.  He even says so, I'm not making that up about it being a test!!

And the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day's portion---that I may thus test them, to see whether they will follow My instructions or not.   Exodus 16:4

Now even as we are set free in Yeshua, we still and even more so want to know the heart of the God who brought us through, the God of yesterday, today and forever.   When we receive that double portion, there is a deep remembering of where we came from and it is together with a deep gratitude and praise for the One who brought us through, who brings us through, and will bring us through again.  Our Redeemer and Salvation.

This Shabbat is the Shabbat of Song!! May we sing a song to Him, for He is our strength and our Salvation!!

♬ I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and rider He has hurled into the sea.
The LORD is my strenght and my song.
He has also become my Salvation.   ♬   from Exodus 15:1~2

When I made the Challah this week, those are some of the things I thought about.  As I added flour to the dough I thought of the manna that landed as a layer of dew on the ground, and its description as flaky white like coriander coming from heaven.  Manna is called manna because when the Children of Israel saw it on the ground like a fine frost on the ground, they said to one another "What is it" (Ex. 16:15), which in Hebrew the word "what"  is pronounced "Man" (as in manna) and  that is where the word manna comes from. ( I think the whole sentence is , man- hu , what is it?) and that became what it is called! so it is a wonderful word of wonder at the bread from heaven that God provided as their first bread!

When we spread the challah cover over the Challah on the Shabbat table it and a layer beneath it we remember of the layer of manna that covered the ground in the morning when the Children of Israel awoke and saw that indeed their God provides.  Though in response to their grumbling, there it was, and he loves them--us! despite their--our! sometimes grumbling!!  Over and over in this beginning of their journey, the LORD assures and re-assures the people that He is their God.

The LORD spoke to Moses:  I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.  Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I the LORD am your God. (16:12)

It was through His parting the sea that they knew He was God and the Master of Creation.
It was through that first provision in the wilderness that they knew He was their God.

When I went to measure out the flour for the challah this week in the week of Parsha Besalach, I almost hugged the bowl, remembering, connecting with what it may have been like to go out and see the manna there covering the ground.  Knowing it is that same God who provides the flour for the challah that I will gather into the bowl to make the challah for this Shabbat.   As we say the blessings,  and  the  double  Shabbat commands of "remember" and "keep", shamor and zakor. 

God bless you and hope you have a time of rejoicing and remembering on this Sabbath of Song!!

This is my God, and I will glorify Him,
my father's God, and I will exalt Him.

Exodus 15:2b

I took my bowl to gather the provision, and measured out the first cup of flour.  And hence two challot were made.Notice in the parsha, the unit of measurement is an "OMER", see how this again is something we will remember at Passover and the counting of the OMER!!! 

You will bring them and plant them in Your own mountain,
the place you made to dwell in, O LORD,
The sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands established.
The LORD will reign for ever and ever!        

Exodus 15: 17~18

Bara and Challah for Sarah

The names `Sarah`, and `Rifka` (Rebecca) are embroidered in Hebrew letters on the layers of the Challah Cover.  Adding layers as we read the unfolding of the stories in the Torah!!

  Rifka, in English her name is Rebecca,  is the wife for Isaac who we meet in this Parsha.

`Bara` (rose), `Challah`, Sarah, the words go together like a harmony of Shabbat for this Parshat

Can you see, there are little pink cherry blossoms on the rainbow cookies for my daughter! From one rainbow, many.  The promises of God are for generation to generation

Blessed are you LORD our God who sanctifies us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light

Now Sarah`s life was 127 years--the years of Sarah`s life.

---Genesis 23:1

Chaiyei Sarah, The of Life of Sarah, is the Parsha this week.

We celebrate the life of Sarah, the wife of Abraham whose life was 127 years.

I couldn`t resist the word play.  Bara, Challah, Sarah

Bara=Rose  (in Japanese)

Challah= Special bread for the Shabbat (Hebrew)

 With Challah, and some pretty bara (roses!)

may we celebrate the life of Sarah.

The Jewish sages say that Sarah`s challah stayed fresh from week to week.

She was quite a maker of Challah, and surely her light shone in all she did!

I also celebrate my daughter today.  She is applying to college, and has passed the first of her big tests for where she wants to go.  I made rainbow cookies to celebrate her.

I noticed two things when we were saying the prayers for Shabbat.

One, is that we mention Sarah`s name every week when we say the blessing for girls,

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.

Ye-si-mekh Elohim ke-Sarah Riv-qah Ra-chel ve-Leah

--Blessing for Girls, it is customary for parents to bless their children on Shabbat.

`Bara` means rose in Japanese, and `Bara` means `He created` in Hebrew!

The second, is in the kiddush (Friday night blessings for the Shabbat), we say the word `bara` !

Bara, which means rose in Japanese, means `He created` in Hebrew.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work that God created for the purpose of preparing.   ---Genesis 2:3

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom! 

Rejoice and Celebrate the things in our lives, and give thanks to the LORD in all we do!

Notes:  Cookie Recipe, HERE, Yummy Peanut Butter Cookies from Joy of Kosher.  To make the rainbow, use seven colors choco-pens (chocolate pens) to draw the rainbows, and add some cherry blossom petals and cherry blossoms with pink. 

The Challah Recipe is a Whole Wheat Challah, see link at sidebar under My Favorite Challah recipes.

For the Weekly "Parsha" , Torah Readings, see the weekly readings list  HERE , next weeks Parsha is Toldat, which means, Generations.

Enjoy!

And Finally, the Fourth Challah Cover complete!

As we are nearing the end of the Fifth book of Torah, I have finally completed my Fourth Challah Cover!  It is time to start on the fifth quickly, so without further ado, I will just share some of the photos of the fourth, and hope you enjoy how it came out.  It surprised me how playfully the pink cloud of Cherry Blossoms above Mt. Fuji echoes the shape of the Challah!

Also how the mountain becomes voluminous when it covers the Challah.
Can you see how the elements come alive when the challah cover does its job of covering the Challah!!

The `Torah` on top of Mt. Fuji can be seen in this photo below, as well as bits of fabrics in Japanese patterns that are used in places on the front and back.

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

The first ten letters of the Hebrew alphabet, representing the Ten Commandments,  are embroidered onto the shape of Mt. Fuji.
  

 

It surprised me how playfully the pink cloud of Cherry Blossoms above Mt. Fuji echoes the shape of the Challah!

Views of a Challah Cover, above `Flat and extending over the Shabbat Table`, and as it drapes over the Challah....Shabbat Shalom from Japan!

God Bless you and Shabbat Shalom!

Love,
Shayndel

*Note:  Extra special thanks to K-san, who some readers may recall meeting  through my Postcard Challenges!! It was her inspiration on this Postcard Challenge post HERE that gave me the ideas for this Challah Cover, including the idea of the Pink Cherry Blossom cloud, and the use of the Japanese pattern fabrics, so it really became a collaboration.  Thank you K-san!   

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.

Third Challah Cover and Post in Progress

The name Yeshua

My Third Challah cover in Progress!
One for each book!  The first , I embroidered the Hebrew names of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca for the book of Genesis, In the Beginning.
The second for the book of Exodus, which translates from the Hebrew word Shemot, as the book of `Names`, I embroidered the Hebrew names of the Twelve Sons of Jacob, the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
And this is the third challah cover for the book we just finished,  the Book of Leviticus, the middle book of the Torah. 

I am embroidering the name of Yeshua. 

It is in progress, as is this post, but in the meantime I just wanted to to proclaim the joy in sewing His name.

YESHUA!

He is our Savior and He is the LORD. 

G-d Bless you and have a beautiful day!

Love,

Shayndel

Fruits of the Spirit, Pineapple of Shabbat!

 But the fruit of the Ruach (Spirit) is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control---against such things there is no law.    ---Galatians 5:22~23

I have written some posts about fruits on my blog.  Not with any intent to do a `fruit` series, but certain fruits have called to my attention, as if the Holy Spirit did indeed want to show me something through them. Does that sometimes happen with you?


There was the famous Grapefruit from Israel, then Tu B`shevat and my first fruity challah.  Recently,  Israeli orange samples were being given out at our local department store food floor.  Another fruit surprise was a birthday pomeganate, and now...a pineapple of Shabbat.  It was this past Shabbat that I picked up the pineapple.  I almost didn`t post it, but after all I will include it, and not let the pineapple pass by.

In the Book of Exodus that we just finished reading, do you remember a fruit that appears on the garments of the Holy Priest?  Yes, it is a pomegranate (not a pineapple), which alternates with bells on the pattern of the hem of the priestly garment.  Perhaps I am pushing it, not just because they both are fruits which begin with `P` but I see some similarity between them.

The similarity is in... the crown!! There is something King-ly about both  the pineapple and the pomegranate.  This pineapple was born (grown) in Japan, in the very southernmost part, in Okinawa.  It may be the first time I saw a Japan-grown pineapple.  On the Shabbat I like to sometimes buy a special fruit to honor the LORD and the special-ness of the day.

Delight is one of the qualities that we experience in the Shabbat,  our senses are at a peak as the LORD shines a divine light on everything in that time---colors, tastes, smells, everything seems to be heightened when we enter the Sabbath.  Even in preparing for the Shabbat,  I will sometimes sense a nudging, or pointing out by the Holy Spirit to pick out something delight-full for the Shabbat table.

This week it was the pineapple!! We didn`t actually even eat it until the day after, but it was there gracing the table.  While I was worshiping and welcoming the Shabbat on Friday,  I had a vision of a stream of turquoise flowing from the throne of Heaven.  I was dancing and then Yeshua himself came to dance with me and our hands touched, making a kind of high bridge over the stream of Living Water.

When I tried to make a drawing of it, I wanted to to somehow express the Throne but without drawing what it `looks` like, so I put something there to express the Throne room of heaven, and guess what it was?? A pomegranate? No!  A pineapple? No.  But you are close...

Yes!! there you see it, A Crown!!!

You will also be a crown of beauty 

in the hand of ADONAI,

and a royal diadem

in the hand of your God.  

 Isaiah 62:3

So that is my story of the pineapple of Shabbat. I would like to dedicate this post to a new sister, friend, and reader of my blog who I met on this very Shabbat.  For Mrs. N!!

Drawing that brings together the crown, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, the New Jerusalem, and Yeshua bringing healing on the Shabbat!

 How precious is Your kindness, O God!   The sons of man take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. May they be sated from the abundance of Your house; and may You give them to drink from the stream of Your delights.  For with You is the source of life---by Your light we shall see light.  Extend Your kindness to those who know You, and Your charity to the upright of heart.

---Psalms 36:8~11

Finishing the Book of Exodus, and The Second Challah Cover!!

Placing the second challah cover over the challah.  Shabbat Shalom!!

Can you see how the Challah Cover has something of a `tent`-like feeling?!

Blessed art thou, LORD our God who brings the Light of Yeshua to the world!

Blessed art Thou, King of the Universe, who bringest forth fruit from the vine.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naftali, Yosef, Benjamin

         Shabbat Shalom!

Manna and Challah

Moreover, in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp.  When the layer of dew was gone, on the surface of the desert was a thin, flake-like frost, as fine as the frost on the ground.  When Bnei-Yisrael saw it, they said one to another, "What is it?"  For they did not know what it was.  Then Moses said to them, "It is the bread that ADONAI has given you to eat."

---Exodus 16:13b~15  TLV
 

For a person who blogs about Shabbat and Challah, this weeks parsha contains some pretty exciting stuff!! That `stuff` is manna.

Manna is the bread that fell from heaven for the Children of Israel (Bnei Israel) to eat during all the years in the wilderness after ADONAI delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and brought them out of bondage through the Red Sea.

The manna itself was not like `solid` bread that you see in my photos of challah!
It was something more like flakes.  I imagine it like snow.  It is described as a thin dew-like frost forming a layer when it settled on the ground.

The word in Hebrew for manna, which is `man` actually means `What is it?` because when Bnei-Israel saw it, they said to one another "What is it?".

Moses replied that "It is the bread that ADONAI has given you to eat."  In  Exodus 16:16 he describes about how it is to be gathered,  an omer for each person.  After gathering it, they were to take it into their tents and prepare it or bake it and it or boil it for those in their tent.  It would be just the amount needed for one day.  No more, no less.  They were not to save any over, or else...!!

You can read in the scripture about what would happen if they took more than was needed!!

For this post, the thing about the manna I wanted to talk about is how the Challah we make on Shabbat is a way of remembering this first `bread` that ADONAI sent from Heaven to sustain His people. 

On the sixth day they were given a double portion of manna, so there would be enough for the next day of rest on Shabbat.   Today, many people bake two loaves of challah for Shabbat to commemorate the double  portion of manna that fell for Shabbat !

Not only did God lovingly feed the Children of Israel in all the years in the wilderness, but the manna was also a way to teach them---and to teach us all these generations later---about the commandment of Shabbat and about trusting God as Provider.  And as a test, `to find out whether they will walk according to My Torah or not. So on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather day  by day."----Exodus 16:4A~5 

＊

The challah cover represents the layer of dew that covered the manna

Another custom  that commemorates the manna is the use of a challah cover.  There are a few reasons for the challah cover, besides just the beauty of making a special cloth.   One reason is to cover the challah during the first blessings and the blessing over the wine, while it is `waiting` for the special blessing of the bread.

Another reason is its symbolic meaning.  The board under the challah represents the ground on which the manna fell, then the double portion of bread is to represent the manna, and then the challah cover is the layer of dew that `covered` the manna.  It becomes a special way of remembering and re-creating the experience of the manna.  It gives the bread we make on Shabbat a special connection to this Bread of Life that was given in the Exodus from Egypt.

As Messianic Believers in Yeshua, we also remember our Salvation and freedom in Yeshua,  as Yeshua himself is the Bread of Life.  As He is also our Sabbath rest, the double meaning of the manna takes on new life.

"Amen, amen I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat and not die.   I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever.  This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

---Yeshua`s words from John 6:47~51

 The Shabbat table is an expression of thanks for God`s provision from generation to generation and on this very day.  On Shabbat we remember that He brought our ancestors out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.   We remember the double portion and the commandment to keep this day holy, and to trust in our Provider.  We give thanks for Salvation in Yeshua, the ultimate provision and sacrifice who gives Salvation and eternal life to anyone who calls on His name.  Amen and amen. 

Behold, God is my salvation!

I will trust and will not be afraid.

For the Lord ADONAI is my strength 

and my song.

He also has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 

In that day you will say:

Give thanks to ADONAI.

Proclaim His Name!

Declare His works to the peoples,

so they remember His exalted Name.

Sing to ADONAI, for He has done gloriously.

Let this be known in all the earth.

Cry out and shout, inhabitant of Zion!

For great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel."

---Isaiah 12: 2~6

Names, Second Challah Cover in Process

Now these are the names of Bnei-Yisrael who came to Egypt with Jacob, each man with his family:  

Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

The souls that came out of the line of Jacob numbered 70 in all, while Joseph was already in Egypt.

---Exodus 1:1

As I spread out the 12 squares on the tatami mat and arrange them for my second challah cover, I think of this book we are in, which is Exodus, or Shemot, which is translated as `Names`...

It is the first time I have written the names (of the 12 sons of Israel)  in Hebrew.  It is exciting to learn the letters that go together to make each one. 

As  I look at the 12 squares all set out,  getting ready to embroider the letters onto the squares,
I think of our amazing Maker, the Creator of all things, and that He set out everything from the beginning. 


"For I know the plans that I have in mind for you, declares ADONAI, "plans for shalom and not calamity---to give you a future and a hope.

Then you will call on Me, and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me, when you will search for Me with all your heart.  Then I will be found by you," says ADONAI," and I will return you from exile, and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says ADONAI, and I will bring you back to the place from which I removed you as captives into exile."   ---Jeremiah 29:11~14

Please stay tuned as the challah cover continues.  I hope to have it done before we leave the book of Exodus.  Blessings and Shalom!  Shavu`a Tov!

This week`s Torah portion is Parshat Bo, Enter!

The readings are:

Exodus 10:1 ~13:16

Jeremiah 46:13~28 (Haftarah)

Romans 9:14~29 (Brit Chadashah)