Pomegranates and a Blossoming `Chai` Challah of Life!

 

Amen, amen I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.     I am the bread of life.

John 6:47~48

Today`s challah is a Challah of Life! 

I call it the Blossoming Chai Challah, and you can see it all started HERE . 

 CHAI is a Hebrew word which means `LIFE` (see header above).

You may have heard it in the famous `toast`,

LE-CHAI-IM, To life!

As I was reading in the last parsashiot of the book of Genesis,  Parasha Vayigash and Parsha Vayechi, I kept seeing that word LIFE!!! Joseph asking `Is my Father still alive`, Jacob asking the same of his son Joseph, and then when the brothers reconcile Joseph tells them it is to `preserve the lives of many` that he was sent to Egypt. And of course, he saved many alive through grain ~~ the `bread` (corn?!)  that he provided for his family and Egypt and all the nations.

And to top it off, the LORD was showing me pomegranates upon pomegranates in the supermarket and fruit stands.  I just had to make the Pomegranate Blossoming Chai Challah !! And kept making them until there were no more pomegranates (and now I found more, so if you would like me to make one for you and you are in Japan, let me know!!).  Every time I open a pomegranate I hear YESHUA`s call to us to be fruitful in Him.  Every time I make a Challah for Shabbat  I taste His goodness and that He is the true Bread of LIFE!  When we drink the cup of redemption with it, we proclaim His LIFE until the day He returns!! 

So without further ado, here is my Blossoming Challah of Life in a Challah-cast upload to share with you!!

I will also include my first Blossoming Chai Challah from last year on this Parsha.  It is exciting how the LORD  shows us new things in His word each time. 

The third is a short upload I did for my brother, lately I have gotten to know some of the care residents he works with at his job, and have been doing mini Challah-casts for them as they are in lockdown and even their Shabbat time is on hold as they quarrantine in their rooms. It is a blessing to share from Japan to NY and  a special way to connect with my brother who I have not seen for a long time with the travel being restricted.

May we say together these words that are said at the end of each book of Torah,  so perfect for strengthening each other! 

CHAZAK, CHAZAK, VENIT CHAZEK!

Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another!

Hope you might enjoy one or all of the Challah of Life and Pomegranate Challah uploads below courtesy of 

Joannes Challah-cast Channel

 Love,

Shayndel　♡ 

 

The recent Blossoming Chai Challah with Pomegranate:

First Chai Challah of life : 

 

Pomegranate challah for my brother and friends:

 

Come, my beloved, Let us go into the open;

Let us lodge among the henna shrubs. Let us go

early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has

flowered, if its blossoms have opened, If the

pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give my love to you.                                       Song of Songs 7:12~13

 

 

 

 

Ha’azinu Challah and second “Challah-cast”

Give ear o heavens and I will speak!

Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. 

May my teaching trickle like rain, 

my speech distill like the dew.

Deuteronomy 32 1~2

first lines of Parsha Haazinu

For this week I made a special Challah for Parsha Haazinu.

And trying out  the second "Challah-cast" upload for the New Year! Which is a play on "pod-cast" , using challah as the basis for the "broadcast"!! Please note, these "Challah-casts" are IN PROGRESS!!! I know they need a lot of editing and I am trying out a new idea.  Feel free to let me know any comments!! This week I wanted to commumicate the  making a challah in the shape of the text of the song from the "Parsha" we are reading  in the Torah!  It might not be clear until somewhat into the 12 minutes of what I am doing, but if you are moved to watch it please do!!

Hope you enjoy it and that it communicates!! Did I say, it is a "Work in Progress!"

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful season.

Shavua Tov!

Chag Sameach Succot!!

Tonight starts the holiday of Succot.  Blessings and Shalom, Rejoice in His Tents!!

Love,

♡

Shayndel (Joanne, live from L.I. !!)

Finishing touches

Setting in the pomegranates, twelve on each to represent the twelve tribes, I am already thinking ahead to the book of Exodus, as cutting gemstones for setting, and the pomegranate detailing to come!!

Putting the finishing touches on the Pomegranate Challah

Delivering them to friends and family.

And sending these tastes to you,

After a dozen Pomegranate Challot and a few still in progress to be made,
The offices of Challah and Cherry Blossoms will take a break for the holidays and re-open in the New Year!!

Much love and thank you for all your visits, encouragement, love and blog fellowship/friendship in this year!

Wishing you joyous season, fruit-full and abundant in God's Love! and a Happy and Healthy New Year!! 

May mercy and shalom and love be multiplied to you!   Judah (Jude) 1:2

Blessings and Much Love,
Love,

♡

Shayndel

Adding a Note: on the Pomegranate Challah and "finishing touches" for this Challah and Parsha.
The Pomegranate Challah truly became a "Pomegranate Challah for Joseph" to go with the Torah cycle with the story of Joseph.  The seeds, the fruit, the Messianic connections, the twelve seeds on the top,  all give expression in this Challah.   I recommend making it around this time on the Torah Cycle perfectly, as long as you can find pomegranates "in season" where you are.

Now really finishing off this post and the  first book of Bereshit, Genesis, with these verses from Jacob's blessing to Joseph.  In the TLV version, the word "fruitful" is used twice, so I share it in that version,

A fruitful son is Joseph,
a fruitful son beside a spring--
daughters walk along a wall.  

 Genesis 49:22

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!"

Hannukah Challah, Latkes, Hannukah Views

The dough measured perfectly 1200!

To make a Star of David Challah, shape one triangle, then weave a second strand over and under to make the second triangle

This time I was struck by the simplicity of the ingredients for latkes!

They should be oily as this holiday is about a miracle involving oil!

the finished challah once baked comes out more like a pinwheel or flower shape!

Serve latkes with sour cream and fruit, here blueberries and pomegranate seeds!

 

Happy Hannukah！

I like to make a Star of David Challah on the first night.

A Star of David Challah, actually I made three!

Just a few assorted views!!

Wishing you a light-filled week!!


Latkes Recipe HERE

Love,

Shayndel

♡

Challah Diary---Pomegranate Challah and Pomegranate Dream

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”

1Corinthians 2:9

Kislev is said to be a month of dreams.
In the Torah portions we read these weeks there is a concentration of dreams, from Jacobs dream of a ladder to Josephs own dreams and those of others he interprets. 

He said to them,
"Hear this dream which I have dreamed:                Genesis 37:6

This week in Parsha Vayashev,   Joseph tells his dreams to his brothers, which as we know get him into a pit, and then to Egypt.   Just the reverse happens when Joseph interprets Pharoahs dreams,---he gets out of the pit!  And is raised up to be the one who saves his family, all of Egypt, and  the very brothers who threw him in the pit. 

Joseph was chosen by God to preserve the messianic seed from starvation.  But what trials, betrayals and disappointments he endured.  His journey is a story of perseverance. 
It is also a story of dream and vision.
To journey with Joseph is to make a pilgrimage into the regions of the soul.  Joseph was a dreamer of dreams, a seer of visions and as God gave him wisdom, an interpreter of dreams and visions.       -- quote from "The Transforming Journey" by Wesley Scott Amos

The story of Joseph continues in the next three weeks until the end of the book of Genesis and then into the years of slavery and the Exodus.   The parashiot about Joseph are always read around Hannukah.  The story of Joseph who shines his light in all situations and God favors him and brings him through all that happens.  The story of Joseph and his brothers also points to, reveals, illuminates (looking for the right choice of words)  God's plan of redemption through Messiah Yeshua. There are many parallels in the story and in this parsha.  As well there is the seemingly  incidental incident with Judah and Tamar, through whose line the Messiah will be born (Gen.38, Matthew 1:3).

In this post, I want to share a dream I had in this month of dreams.
This pomegranate challah was inspired by a dream .
For those who have ears to hear, here goes.

My dream was a close up of my inner ear,
and it was filled with pomegranate seeds.

 A day or so after the dream  I looked up "inner ear" and looked at the  diagrams of the ear.   I felt God wanted me to see His amazing and intricate design  and structure of this part of our anatomy.   You can see its semi circular shapes and spirals that all have a perfect plan and design.  I also looked at some images of pomegranates, and saw how if it is open a certain way, the arrangement of the seeds in each half can look somewhat like the shape in an ear.

When making the challah and rolling out the dough to make a pomegranate challah, I remembered the dream.   I wanted to see if I could express anything about it in the challah.  I made one pomegranate challah "straight" in three stands, and with the other I decided to make "rolls" with pomegranate filling.

The challah rolls changed their shape when baking, and  one even looked a little like an ear!! Well, maybe this is more than you would like to hear!  I may chalk the challah "dream" rolls up to experiment in the Holy Spirit and not sure that I will post them.   Though they taste very good, and contain a lot of fruit, so maybe?!  But for the record, that is my story of the dream challah with pomegranate.

A pomegranate and a Yuzu (Japanese Citrus fruit in season)

making the filling, Pomegranate jam with Yuzu.  Heat the pomegranate seeds with sugar and pomeganate juice. Add juice of a yuzu and grated yuzu peel for a fragrant jam or filling.  If it needs thickening, turn off the heat once and add in cornstarch or potato starch near the end , and then stir until it is mixed in and heat once more on low.

This time, the  jam came out exquisite, and if you have a Pomegranate and a citrus fruit and I would highly recommending added it to your holiday feasts!!

Here is where the dream came into play, and I tried making some rolls in the shapes that were reminiscent of the way the auditory canal is seen in the diagrams. 

Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate behind your veil.

Song of Songs 6:7

There are many scriptures about the ear and hearing, and much in the Bible about pomegranates.  Amazingly the above scripture is mentioned twice!! Can you find the other place?  Hint, it is also in Song of Songs.  I liked discovering that, as with the pomegranate when it is open in two.  Though I don't know quite the reason for this repetition, we know that everything is there for a reason.

About the dream I will  leave the interpretation to God!

If you would like to make a Pomegranate Challah , please see my post HERE !! In Japan Pomegranates are in "season" (actually they are imported from America, but seems to be that we can find them in this time of year!) in December, so it is a nice time to make it with the Yuzu fragrance.  You might need to vary it for the season depending when you can find a pomegranate where you are.
You can find the link to the weekly Torah Readings HERE or in the sidebar.

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom!!

Love,♡
Shayndel

♡