Latke’s
24 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Celebrating with Purpose Tags: Chanukah. feast of dedication, festival of lights, hanukah, hanukkah, hanukkah lapbook, latke recipe, latkes, the light of the world
We have had our first latke’s this week. They are somewhere between a potato pancake and hash-browns. Yum! We googled a recipe online and fried them in butter on our cast iron skillet. My daughter, Artist, made her famous Ranch dressing (which is miles better than any we have tasted from the store!), which we then put on top. We served them with fresh sliced pink lady apples and really raw organic probiotic cheese that we bought from our Beyond Organic Living website. This was followed by some of Alden’s chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream and delicious chocolate chip cookies which the girls had made earlier in the week … we just take the dough out of the fridge and make cookies in the toaster oven at a moments notice =)
I won’t share the recipe yet. I want to try a few and see which one I like best! If you have a favorite latke recipe, please post it for me to try!
We are also making a Hanukkah lapbook. We purchased it at Heart of Wisdom. This is the first lapbook we have ever made, but I don’t think it will be the last! I love the way it emphasizes our Messiah, the Light of the World. I also like the way it engages the mind and body with cutting, pasting, writing and reading. Great learning tool!
Hanukkah Lapbook
Even though Hanukkah isn’t one of YHWH’s feasts, there is so much meaning to it AND the celebration has no pagan origins! The best part is, it’s 8 days long! We just passed the halfway mark. 4 more days of celebration! YES!
NOTE: We are still looking into some *parts* of Hanukkah, such as the dreidel and the Hanukkiah.
Feast of Dedication or Lights
17 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in Celebrating with Purpose Tags: chanukah, dreidel, feast of dedication, feast of lights, festival of lights, gelt, hannukiah, hannukkah, hanukah, hanukiah, hanukkah, latkes, maccabeats, maccabees, menorah, messiah, the light of the world
I am so excited to celebrate this coming Feast! This year it will be from December 20-28th. This is really the first time we will be doing much of anything for Hanukah in our family. Last year my husband wasn’t quite decided what we would do during the month of December, so we were aware of it and talked about it a little bit, but didn’t celebrate.
Our Hanukiah (the Menorah for Hanukkah, which has 8 branches and a servant candle, instead of the temple Menorah which has 6 branches and a servant candle) arrived in the mail today and the candles are due to arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
One reason this Menorah is different is so there is a candle to light for each of the 8 days of Hanukkah.
We also ordered some purple lights to put up for Hanukkah, a candle lantern in each of the colors of the temple curtains and I am making a banner at Vista Print that I have posted below.
It is customary to eat fried foods, especially latkes, which are a fried food made with potatoes. Fried foods are eaten to remember the oil in the temple. I am especially excited to eat my first latkes this year =)
Here are some other fried foods to make during Hanukkah:
- Fried Pizza
- Fondue (a special pot of hot oil on the table, with several bowls of raw meat, and each person cooks their own in the pot)
- Pancakes
- French Fries
- Fried Donuts
We also have some dreidels and I ordered some dark chocolate gelt. You can read more about the game that is traditionally played with the dreidel at this web site. I am undecided about this tradition, so if you have some input on this, please share it! =)
Hanukkah is not one of YHWH’s Feast Days, so it is not commanded to participate or to keep it as a Sabbath, but it appears that our Messiah partook of it. He was in the temple of Jerusalem during this winter feast (in John chapter 10), and since it would take a special effort to get there, He most likely went to attend the Feast. It was also at that time (in chapter 9) that He told the people He was “The Light of the World”. How apropos for a day that celebrates light. =)
The ultimate reason for the Feast is to celebrate the rededication of the Temple during the time of the Maccabees. For a brief overview, read this page at Wikipedia.
Why would a believer today want to celebrate this? It is our history since everything we have has been brought to us through Israel and since our Messiah is Jewish.
Some households exchange gifts during Chanukah, but that seems to be a more recent tradition in competition with Christmas and really has nothing to do with Hanukah.
Here is a fun song I found online about Hanukah:
Season of Rejoicing
08 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Celebrating with Purpose, Grafted In Tags: day of atonement, day of judgement, day of the lord, fasting, feast of tabernacles, feast of trumpets, judgement day, season of rejoicing, sukkoth, the Lord's day, yom kippur, yom teruah
This time of year has always been one of my favorites. I love the turning of the leaves, the change in the air, the snow on the mountains… we light candles and have a merry fire burning in the wood stove. We have the house decorated with autumn colors, a special tablecloth, pumpkins (not carved), and a string of lights by the front door. It’s very cozy. =) However, the past two years it has had special significance due to the addition of several days to our remembrance.
The first of those days was last week on the first of Tishri, which fell on the 5th day of the week beginning in the evening, which translated into Wednesday night. This was the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah. Traditionally, Judaism also calls this day Rosh Hoshanna, or the head of the year. It is believed to be the anniversary of the day of Creation. There are no specifics in Scripture as to how we are to celebrate the day other than blowing the shofar, or trumpet. In our home, since we do not yet own a shofar, we ate a special meal, played a shofar recording and then talked about what this day could mean and what it traditionally means.
Today is the second of the days mentioned in Scripture. Today is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. On this day for thousands of years, the high priest would prepare himself and enter the Holy of Holies to perform the annual sacrifice of atonement for sin. If you are not familiar with this, it makes a very interesting read, especially the part about the two goats. You will find one of the passages in Leviticus 16. The tradition for Yom Kippur is to fast from food, water and comforts. Scripture does say to afflict yourself, but in Hebrew, the translation does not specify fasting. I think fasting can be a very powerful thing to do if it is done for the right reason, but I don’t see that it is specifically commanded for this day. Here is the Strong’s definition of the word anah, used in verse 31:
A primitive root (possibly rather ident. With anah through the idea of looking down or browbeating); to depress literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive (in various applications, as follows) — abase self, afflict(-ion, self), answer (by mistake for anah), chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing (by mistake for anah), speak (by mistake for anah), submit self, weaken, X in any wise.
Fasting seems like it would accomplish all of these things, but any serious introspection and humility followed by repentance and confession would be very useful as well. At any rate, this is a wonderful day set aside specifically to make your heart right with YHWH and your fellow man. (hopefully this is not the only day this takes place!) As a believer, this is also a perfect day to dwell on and be thankful for the perfect atonement sacrifice of the spotless Lamb, the Messiah.
Next week begins the week-long feast of Tabernacles, which is known as the Season of Rejoicing. I will talk more about that as it draws near.
One of the beautiful things about these days is their significance historically as well as prophetically. The Feast of Trumpets can easily be seen as the trumpet sound for the return of the Messiah. The Day of Atonement could represent The Day of the Lord (YHWH), also called The Lord’s (YHWH’s) Day, spoken of throughout the prophets and in Revelation 1:10. The Feast of Tabernacles as the Millennium. There are several views on each of these and I do not have a solid view on any particular one, but I can definitely see how they all point to the second coming of Messiah in some form.
Shavuot Tov!
12 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Celebrating with Purpose, Grafted In Tags: feast of weeks, pentecost, shavuot
Click for Photo Credit
Today is a Beautiful day of celebration as well as an extra Sabbath this week. It is the Feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost. A day for remembering the giving of the Torah (Law) at Sinai, and then the giving of the Spirit Who enables us to keep the Torah (Law) in Acts chapter 2.
There is an excellent post at Home Shalom regarding Shavuot. You can read it here.
It is a tradition to stay up all night studying Scripture for Shavuot. Isn’t that a beautiful tradition? =) May the following portion of Scripture bless you as you meditate on it throughout your day.
Deuteronomy Chapter 30
“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where YHWH your Elohim has driven you, and return to YHWH your Elohim, you and your children, and obey His voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
then YHWH your Elohim will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there YHWH your Elohim will gather you, and from there He will take you. And YHWH your Elohim will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
And then YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And YHWH your Elohim will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of YHWH and keep all His commandments that I command you today. YHWH your Elohim will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground.
- For YHWH will again take delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers,
- when you obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to keep His commandments and His statutes that are written in this Book of the Law,
- when you turn to YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.
- If you obey the commandments of YHWH your Elohim that I command you today, by loving YHWH your Elohim, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments and His statutes and His rules,
- then you shall live and multiply, and YHWH your Elohim will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
- But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,
- I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving YHWH your Elohim, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Passover
08 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since I posted to this blog – sorry folks!
Happy New Year! The Biblical New Year officially began with the most recent New Moon, which was Monday night, April 4, 2011.
I want to post today and talk about a Holy Day that is one of the highlights of each year. Passover!
Our Father instituted the celebration of this day (week) in the book of Exodus and chapter 12.
12:24 “And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever“
How long is forever? =)
Do you think they enjoyed choosing a precious, spotless lamb, maybe one that had made it’s way into their heart, and then sacrificing it? Having had goats, which in some ways are like sheep, I can’t imagine how difficult it was to do this.
Yeshua, the disciples and Paul set the example for us and kept this day also:
- Luke 2:41,42
- Luke 22: 7-22
- Acts 12:3, 18:21, 20:6
- etc…
The early believers of the first and second centuries then continued to keep the Passover,
but as Jewish persecution began, some believers chose to separate from them by no longer keeping Passover and in other ways that aren’t pertinent to this post. In susbequent years, they chose to begin celebrating the Resurrection (which is not commanded in Scripture) and chose a pagan day in which to do so.
So today, believers have been taught that we no longer have to obey the command to forever celebrate the Passover and eat lamb, but can instead celebrate the resurrection on Estra’s day and eat ham. Very interesting, isn’t it?
I was reading an old post today at Following the Ancient Paths and it is very well written, so I am including a link here for you all. This sweet sister speaks strongly, yet with kindness. I pray that your heart will be touched as you read her words:
This year, Passover begins in the evening on April 18th and continues with the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the next week. Our Messiah commanded that we keep the Passover in remembrance of Him, our Passover Lamb. May you find meaning and purpose in following Him this year. =)
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