Light and dreidel -- Sharing Hanukkah

"Light and Dreidel"  is the name of a small community exhibition and workshop I had at a community gallery this past Sunday,  to share about Hanukkah.   Visitors were invited to  make a "dreidel" and enjoy an afternoon of  relaxed meeting , fellowship,  playing the dreidel game,  and learning a little about the festival of Light, which is Hanukkah!

A dreidel is a special game that is played at Hanukkah with a four sided spinning "top" that has four Hebrew letters written on it to represent "A Great Miracle Happened There", and as you know that is the Hanukkah miracle of the light that the pure oil that miraculously lasted long enough for 8 nights that should just have been enough for one .  

I love Hannukah,  though I must say I don't quite know how to spell it.

You can make a dreidel in two ways at the workshop, either out of paper clay or using origami paper "straws".

Of course, the idea of making a paper clay dreidel comes from the song! Which we sang.  In Japanese and English!

And the idea for the  dreidel craft from straws, comes from a creative Jewish Mom's blog, and it is This Post.  I love her creative and colorful Hannukah ideas, and when I saw it  I had an inspiration for my "Made in Japan" variation here, which is to use origami paper to make "straws".

Just roll the origami paper first into "straws" and enjoy all the variegated patterns and colors to make a dreidel decoration of many colors or many different colored dreidels. Because we were reading the Parsha about Joseph, it made me think of "Joseph and the many colored dreidels".

Please tune in  for a related Challah-cast from this week, all new,  HERE!

The original special edition challah in the header above will just be for the days of Hanukkah! It spells the letters on the dreidel which as you know stand for "A Great Miracle Happened There"!

Much love and Hanukkah blessings!!

♡

Shayndel

I was so happy to share about making a dreidel with the children!!  A few adults made one too, and when you make a dreidel as an adult, you feel like a child again!!

This paper clay dreidel was made by an adult who stopped by.  We found a new idea, to make the letters on the dreidel out of cut origami paper.

As part of the "light" theme, a photo that I took in Israel , Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

, and of the Menorah that will go in the Holy Temple.

A Great Miracle Happened There--this is what the letters on the dreidel stand for, Nes Gadol, Haya, Sham.   Sharing about the miracle of Hannukah at a small community exhibit here in Oita.  This Origami craft Menorah I made inspired by this creative Hannukah Craft HERE that uses Straws to make an adorable menorah.

Reading the Hebrew letters from Right to Left, they stand for "Nes Gadol Haya Sham", a great miracle happened there.  The dreidels in Israel have one difference, there it says "A great miracle happened HERE"!

This little girl made her first dreidel.  She made it out of clay!

Sharing Hanukkah with children was a complete joy!! This is one of the new friends I made! She took home a little dreidel after we read together from the Little Dreidel book.

Reading this book, with a Japanese translation handy, that I translated last year with the help of my Japanese teacher!!  Its a fun book because it is all in "verse" to the Dreidel song tune, so even if the words aren't all understood, the pictures and the "song' are fun to share!

Another craft using origami paper rolled into "straws" inspired from this Dreidel Craft HERE!  Thank you to Creative Jewish Mom for the inspirations on her blog!

Sea of Galilee sunrise♡

Yeshua, You are welcome in this place!!

♡

And He called a child to Himself, set him in the midst of them, and said, 
"Amen, I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.  
Whoever then shall humble himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes one such child in My name, 
welcomes Me.

Matthew 18:2~5

Captions from a SHALOM FANS Show!!

Not in any particular order, 

I am posting some photos from my recent SHALOM FANS show!! It was an invitation for people to come and greet each other with the Hebrew word, SHALOM and make their own "SHALOM" fans!!  And they （the people!) in turn became "fans of SHALOM"!! You will see some such fan-fare in the captions!! Enjoy! And please take some origami paper and color pencils and a blank fan and make your own!! 

The event was on the first day of Elul, hence this Elul fan (right, above)  with the scripture from Song of Songs!

Welcome! Hello ! Shalom

A little elementary school girl made this Shalom fan, she wrote the word herself, seeing it in the gallery, Shalom!!

A lot of origami paper of different patterns was set out to use for one side of the fan, and to use in collage on the designs.  Give your fan a unique Japan flair in combination with the Hebrew words and Jerusalem theme.

One visitor made this drawing, and the words in Japanese say "Beautiful, like a flower blossoming"

Today!

Shayndel and Shirah!

PALM TREES, decorating the walls, became "PSALM TREES"

You are invited to write out a Psalm and add it to the trees!! PSALM TREES!

GOD IS LOVE!

Fan made by a Shalom fan who came to the exhibit

Photos display from my Israel trip, from Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee, including a few with "Shalom Fans!", palm trees.   There are places where Yeshua walked and will return

Painted fan!  "Morning Glories"  to me they are a flower of "ELUL" and speak of God's mercies new every morning!!

JERUSALEM FAN, EAST GATE, on display with a gold ribbon!

Fan made by a child visitor to the show and workshop, can you see that she wrote SHALOM!! The newest "SHALOM fan!!"   Doubly!! A "fan" of shalom and a "shalom fan"

The other side of Shalom---Love!!! and a little peek at the artist of the fan!

One visitor and friend worked diligently on this origami collage JERUSALEM Fan!! So exciting to see new Jerusalem fans!! Yes, that's another double or triple entendre!! NEW JERUSALEM fan, New JERUSALEM fan , and a "new fan" of Jerusalem (i.e. the one who made it).  It doesn't take much to become a Jerusalem fan!! First, turn your heart to the Apple of God's eye.  Next see how brilliant she is and you will see the glistening colors and hills come alive, and you will want to return and Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

Glimpse into the Gallery, songs played on guitar,   praising our Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom, Yeshua

AHAVA= LOVE in Hebrew

AHAVA fan!! Fan of Love!! On display!

SHIR= Song in Hebrew

SHIRAH= Sing! A Bi-lingual Fan!  On display!

Blessings and Shalom!!

Love,

♡

Shayndel

Postcards from Parsha Vayikra--He Called!

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  James 4:8a

Sing, O heavens, for ADONAI has done it!

Shout, depths of the earth!

Break forth in to singing, mountains,

forest, and every tree in it!

For ADONAI has redeemed Jacob

and will be glorified throughout Israel!

Isaiah 44:23

Sending these postcards out before getting to  the official Purim Posts!

What is on my heart for this parsha, Parsha Vayikra,  is how to be like a child when I enter it.

I  recently read* (in the Parsha Devotional, *A Taste of Torah, by Keren Hannah Pryor) and then saw in other teachings, in regard to this parsha, that Orthodox Jewish children start their Torah study at age 5 beginning  from the book of Leviticus!!

At five years old, when they learn to read, the children are taught starting in the book that most adults cannot even fathom for the most part! They do not start at the beginning in Genesis, nor in Exodus.  But in Leviticus!  The reason? Because their hearts are pure at that age, they would best occupy themselves in pure matters!! Say the sages.  The book of Leviticus is all about drawing near God and how to do so, and how to purify our hearts from sin through the offering of the various Korbanot.

I love that about the children and the pure heart.  And how with a pure heart, we can see things that are pure.  Of course as adults we have a lot of unlearning to do, or rather learning anew, allowing ourselves to be made new in Messiah which is also how we ultimately get our hearts cleaned... and become more like children --!!

Our Messiah Yeshua, the ultimate offering for our sins who gave His blood in atonement for us and the one who makes us holy, says we need to be like children to enter the Kingdom of God.  It is not the size of our offering or the tithe or the sacrifice God is looking for.  It is our hearts!! So may we draw near to Him, like children!! Pray near to Him, dance near to Him, love fully a life of worship near to Him.  And may He draw near to us!!

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.  Because it is written,

You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.   

1Peter 1:  14~16