Shabbat Shalom Eve!

 

Before we go on, I would like to share something with you. Below is a prayer from one of my favorite Shabbat books. I like to pick out something to meditate on during the day, to bring to the Shabbat table for all to enjoy.  

This morning I found this one and I would like to share it with you, it goes like this:

 
Prayer for Women after Lighting the Candles from 'The Miracle of the Seventh Day' by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

May it be your will, O YHVH Elohim and Elohim of my fathers, to show grace to me (and to my husband and to my children and to my father and mother) and to all those close to me, and grant me and all Israel a good and long life.

 

And remember us for goodness and for blessing, and visit us with salvation and mercy, and bless us with great blessing, and bring peace to our homes, and let your Shekhinah rest among us. And allow us to raise wise and understanding children, who love and fear Elohim – offspring of truth, a holy seed, who will be attached to Elohim and enlightened the entire world with Torah and with good deeds, and labor in the service of the Creator.

Heed my petition at this hour, through the merit of Sarah, Rivkah, Rahel, Leah, our mothers. And give light to our candle so that it may not be extinguished forever, and show us the light of your face, and let us be saved. 

Amen.
 

 Today, don’t forget to set your table for Shabbat! Set it early so the whole family will see the table and begin to prepare for Shabbat.

Put out a tablecloth and some decorations. Then put your menorah to the south and your bread to the north to symbolize how it was in the Temple. If you don’t have a tablecloth and would like one, you can always use a sheet – it looks just as nice! You can gather wildflowers or uses grasses for your centerpiece. I have shared a picture, as how I set it today for you to see.

 Remember to also start your Challah bread!
You can make it in your bread machine while you are doing other things that you need to do. If you don't have one, you can buy your bread at Publix or you can make it by hand.  Here is a recipe that I use for my machine that I got from online.Search for Bread Machine Challah if you want to find it on line.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Warm Water
  4 Tablespoons of Oil
  2 Eggs
  1 Teaspoon of Salt
  4 ½ Cups of Flour
  2/3 cups of Sugar
  3 Teaspoons of Yeast

Preperation:

1.    Place all ingredients in order into the basket of the machine. Make a well of the dry in ingredients before putting in the yeast.

2.    Close the bread machine door and set it on the dough setting and walk away for about an hour and a half. (1 hour, 30 minutes or longer depending on the weather. I’ve had to wait 4 hours some days!)

3.    When the dough is ready, divide dough into two loaves. For a traditional look, you can braid each loaf.

4.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

5.    Brush the top of the challah with egg yoke.

6.    Bake it at 350 for approx. 30 minutes.

7.    To check if it challah is done, gently knock on the bottom of it and if you hear a hollow sound then the challah is ready.

     

Going back to yesterday’s post, I promised a menu for Rosh
Hashanah!

I am using a dinner/buffet plan  from ‘The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook’ by Judy Zeidler. 

    


Going by Judy’s suggestion, here is planning for ten guests. She feels 8-10 people over for an evening is just about right to enjoy each person.

Sit Down Dinner
Festive Honey Challah
Warm Green Bean Salad 
Roasted Meat with Vegetables 
Fabulous Apple Charlotte 
  

Here is the menu for a Rosh Hashanah Buffet 
Mini Challahs
Marinated Vegetable Platter
Sliced Roast Beef with 2  sauces
              Red Pepper-Basil Sauce 
              Mustard-Basil Sauce
Pomogrante Ice 
Sesame-Honey Thins 
 
    Suggested Beverages 
 
Dinner:
           Pinot Noir Wine or Bordeaux Wine 
    
Buffet:
          Chardonnay Wine or Blush Wine

Most of  these recipe can be found on line. It can be fun to have guest over to celebrate and to have fellowship. Usually Rosh Hashanah is celebrated two days that is to make sure we don't miss the day. So you can use one of the two days to have a special dinner either just with family or invited guests. Get out that silverware and enjoy!


Shabbat Shalom dont forget to fellowship with your community.

 

Community and Family

The Fall Feasts

This post is from our bible study on Tuesday August 20th, 2013. We covered more but I am saving to share over the next few days.

Pro 31:27        She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.


As this scripture tells us we are going to need a little planning ( well maybe a lot) to make a successful feast with days full of love, fun, and spiritual growth. It has been my experience during the time of celebrating the feasts are times of intense spiritual experiences. If we are not at least somewhat prepared your time is going to be spent dealing with issues that arise out of general items such as I forgot this, what are we supposed to do on this day, did I bring my toothbrush? etc. What my goal each year is to learn what I need to do next time to make it run more smooth and this is what I want to encourage you to do. I want to share some ideas with you and if you would like to respond with some of your own that would be great.

I want to encourage us to take time today to pray ( to intercede on someones behalf) as I encourage myself as well. Most of us our days start off very quickly with many things to do.

But we need to practice praying for ourselves, our family, our congregational leaders, our friends, our busineses etc.

This scripture means a lot to me :
 Luke 11: 1 Once Yeshua was  in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and  said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” NLT

Then he gives us his prayer and then he tells us in verse  9 of chapter 11 of Luke.

9  “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will  receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the  door will be opened.NLT 

I believe one thing here he is telling us, is that we need to practice prayer just like any other art or discipline. We need to know how to call on our Father when we need him. Prayer time is that time when you can escape from this world and enter his. It is a time of refreshing from this world that we can spend in his loving and merciful presence. So lets keep learning how to ask and knock by developing a relationship with our heavenly Father by prayer.

Prayer is one of the seven branches of that tree that its roots run deep, that as followers of Elohim we need daily in our life.

Shabbat Shalom
 D'vorah
Also David has written a song to this scripture that is really great!