Rosh Hashanah Plaque

 Lashana Tova!

As Rosh Hashanah is quickly approaching I am beginning to get my decorating hat on. So I thought I would share my most recent holiday project.

I made this simple wall plaque using:

- a 5x7" paint canvas (you can get them in a pack of 2 at the dollar store)
- watercolour pencils
- water ;)
- paint brushes

 I love water colour pencils because they are so easy to use! Draw your apple using the pencils then using a fine tipped brush dipped in water begin going over your pencil. Start by doing the edges and work your way in. Remember the heavier your pencil is the darker the colour will be.

 Once the apple is completely coloured in you'll have to let it dry completely before going further.

Once it's completely dry write your holiday greeting using a watercolour pencil in the centre of the apple then carefully go over it with a brush that has been lightly dipped in water. You may want to keep a tissue close by to dab the excess water off on. If you have too much water on your brush the colour is more likely to run off on you....literally!

Ta Da! And in less than a couple hours you have a very simple and inexpensive holiday decor item that you can use year to year!

Shanah Tovah!

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is also know as the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah(Day of Blowing). It falls on the 1st day of the month of Tisrei. The name "Rosh Hashanah" means "Head of the Year", "rosh"="head", "ha"="the" "shanah"="year". 

The Shofar - made from a hollowed out ram's horn

This is just one of the several "new years" on the Hebrew calender, others include the new year for trees (Shevat 15), new year for Kings which is also the religious new year (Nisan 1)...Iknow it kinda sounds confusing at first but just think, on the secular calender January 1st begins the "new civil year", or the "calender year" with January as the first month. However you also have a birthday - your personal "new year", oh and don't forget your anniversary another "new year" of sorts....and then of course there are those fiscal new years too! Does it make more sense now?

One of the many events that took place on the day includes the creation of man so it is no surprise that is a day to recognize G-d's creator role and acknowledge Him as our sustainer and author of life.

It is a day of repentance and time to re-crown HaShem as King over us, singly and corporately. It is said by many a great sage that the books are opened on this day and all men are judged. How appropriate to call this the "head of the year" as it surely is the pinnacle, will you choose life or will you choose death?

  "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

 ~ Rev 20:11

The Torah says that it is to be "a day of blowing". You positively cannot let this day go by without hearing the sound of the shofar! This is again, a last and final call cry to repentance, a "wake up the King is coming! The King is here!" kind of moment. And to those who have turned back to HaShem this is the coronation blast! The trumpet that sounds signifying our crowning G-d as our King of Glory!

"Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah." -Psalm 24:10

  ~ Customs and Traditions ~

Apples and Honey - It is traditional to eat sliced apples dipped in honey. Why an apple you ask? Well apparently the pile of ashes that remained on the alter after a sacrifice was then carefully raked and shaped into a perfect semi-circle? And this was called the "tapuach" which means "apple" in hebrew? Why would they call it that though? Well an offering or a sacrifice for a truly repentant person was a means to draw close to HaShem and sweetened the sentence or judgment for that person. So we eat apples(a symbol of that) dipped in honey(also sweet) and say a prayer that HaShem will give us a sweet new year....not meaning that everything will be hunky dory but that in the midst of the bumps along the way He will sweeten the bitter times as on He can do

Blessing for eating the apple and honey:

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam bore pri ha-etz.

Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.

Ye-hi ratzon she-ti-cha-desh alei-nu shanah tovah u-m'tu-kah.

May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year.

Tashlich - On the first day of Rosh Hashanah the community gathers next to a stream or some other body of water for prayers and to take part in the tradition of tashlich, which literally means to "cast off".

"Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will again have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."  Micah 7:18-20

In remembrance of these words during the Tashlich service everyone casts some pebbles* into the water to symbolize the casting off of the previous years sin (repentance).

*some communities use bread crumbs, however many prefer the use of pebbles as one could get the false impression that one is feeding the fish(which is not the point!)

For more on Tashlich see the following links
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshhashannah/tashlich.html
www.torahresource.com/Parashpdfs/Tashlich.pdf‎
Click HERE for a copy of the Tashlich prayer

Elul - The Preparation

~ The month of Elul ~

During the month of Elul, the month preceding the holiday of Rosh Hashana, we begin preparations for this special mo'ed(appointed time) by repairing relationships, bridging gaps between our fellow, and seeking forgiveness from those we have wronged and of course extending that forgiveness to those who have wronged us during the past year.

 It's a time to take stock of our life and seriously evaluate where we are in our service to the Creator. Are we just going along to get along? Have we gone deeper in our relationship with Him? Am I truly being an obedient servant, or do I retain my control by choosing to obey certain things in the Torah and purposefully neglect other instructions? It seems only appropriate that "Elul" means "search" doesn't it? 

Another interesting fact that I just learned is that the spelling of the word "Elul": aleph, lamed, vav, lamed, is the acronym for "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," Mashiach is truly our Beloved who we wait to come and receive us as His bride. With this in mind Elul can be thought as our preparation to meet our bridegroom and King. Let us be diligent to be ready for His coming, with repentance and clothes without spot.

 ...and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 

-Isaiah 62:6

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. - 2nd Kefa 3:14

"Believing that the "beloved" refers to God, the sages take this verse to describe the particularly loving and close relationship between God and Israel. Elul, then, is our time to establish this closeness so that we can approach the Yamim Noraim, or Days of Awe, in trusting acceptance of God's judgment. We approach the trial not out of fear, but out of love."

 - The Month of Elul: Leading into the High Holidays by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer 

~ Customs During Elul ~

 The Shofar - One of the most common customs of the month of Elul is the sounding of the shofar after the morning prayers. Rambam explains this is to serve as a wake up call, a reminder to throw off our slumber and complacency and do teshuva(literally: change direction, or turning around). However it is not blow on the Shabbat or on the day just prior to Rosh Hashanah( to distinguish between the custom of blowing during the month and the biblical mitzvah to blow the shofar on the day of Rosh Hashanah)

Mikvah(Immersion) - The mikvah represents a change of state. It could be anything from the change from tamei(unlcean) to tahor(clean) to marking a change of heart or will (teshuva/repentance) it's the latter that Yochanan the Immerser was conducting(or more accurately - "witnessing") during the day of our Master Yeshua. In fact it was at this very season!

The Tehillim - Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (founder of Chassidic Judaism) began the custom of reading 3 of the tehillim(Psalms) everyday starting on the 1st of Elul and continuing until Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur the remaining 36 psalms are recited to complete the reading of the entire book of Psalms.

no matter what customs you keep during this Elul I hope that they will inspire you to answer the call to repentance and be inscribed in the book for a good and sweet year to come!

Kosher Marshmallows

If you are like me you enjoy a good marshmallow every now and then, especially when toasted to perfection over a glowing campfire on a warm summer night. Well we are (in my opinion) head-long into the best part of the summer for campfires...so without further ado here is a quick and easy way to make your own completely kosher and 100% delicious marshmallows.

You Will Need

3 envelopes of kosher unflavoured gelatin

1 cup of cold water

2 cups of sugar 

1 cup of corn syrup

1/4 tsp of salt

2 tsp of vanilla extract

#1 Before you start, grease a 9x14" pan and dust generously with powdered sugar. Don't scrimp on the sugar, it makes all the difference between your marshmallow sliding out of the pan or having to peel it out.

Here, I actually used a jelly roll pan (9.5x14.75") and the marshmallow fit perfect!

#2 Next measure 1/2 cup of the water into the bottom of your mixing bowl and sprinkle all three packets of gelatin over the surface of the water so it can begin to blossom.

Meanwhile add the remaining 1/2 cup of water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt to your sauce pan. 

 

#3 On med. heat, stir the mixture slowly until it comes to a boil - at this point either use a moistened basting brush to wipe down the sides of the pan OR put the lid on the pan and let it boil a min or two to dissolve any remaining sugar crystals.

#4 Attach your candy thermometer to the side of the pan and increase heat to high. Let syrup boil without stirring until it reaches 240 degrees F (This is what is known as the soft ball stage.) usually about 10min. Then remove from heat.

**once it starts getting close to temperature I recommend testing. Have a cup of cold water handy and drop a few drops of sugar mixture in it. It will flatten at the bottom but you should be able to squish it into a ball with your fingers.** 


 #5 Start your mixer (or requisition someone else to help) and slowly start pouring the hot syrup into your gelatin while beating. *be careful not to get spattered by the hot mixture! Beat on high until it starts to look foaming then add your flavouring.

Continue to whip on high until it becomes thick, and white. It will start to really climb your beaters and make a flapping sound when whipped. What you have now is marshmallow creme. If you want to make rice squares or any thing like that you can use this as is.

#6 Now simply pour all that gooey mix into your pan. It helps to run your spatula under hot water to keep it from sticking really bad.

Smooth the marshmallow out to the corners using a clean spatula that has been dipped in water or just use your hands, just make sure you wet them a bit first!

Dust the top with powdered sugar and let rest for 8-12hrs

While you are waiting for that here are some clean up *tips!*

Return your saucepan to the stove, fill half way with water, place the lid on top and turn on to med. heat and let the condensation take care of all that sugary mess. Then pour that hot water into your mixing bowl and all that marshmallow is just going to melt right off. This is by far the easiest candy to clean up!

To cut your marshmallow the easy thing to use is a pair of kitchen shears or scissors but a pizza cutter or a knife will work fine. Run a knife around the outside edge of your marshmallow then dust a work surface with powdered sugar. Gently turn the pan over supporting the marshmallow with your hand. If you've done a good job preparing your pan it should just come out.

Now all you need to do is cut it into squares (or really any shape you wish!), dip the cut edges in...yep you guessed it more powdered sugar, to keep them from sticking together and shake off the excess.

To store your newly made treasures all you need is an air tight container and they will keep for two weeks or longer. ENJOY!

* Additional tips and variations!*

Instead of using plain powdered sugar for the edges use toasted coconut, cocoa, sprinkles, or colour your powdered sugar! Coconut is easily toasted on the stove in a non-stick fry pan. Just make sure you keep it moving so it doesn't burn.

Brown sugar works just as well as white, so if you find yourself void of any white sugar, as I did today, never fear!

These make the perfect kosher for Pesach treat! Matzah smo'res anyone?

Dip them in chocolate, cut them into shapes, really the possibilities are endless!

TishaB'av

Courtesy of Aish.com

Reflection on the days

We are headed into the anniversary of some of the most tragic events in Israel's history. Tomorrow we will fast remembering 5 sobering events that took place in our history. A date which began a long 3 long week of struggle for Jerusalem, 3 weeks of being "between the straights" until the ninth of Av(Tisha'bav) when the holy Temple, the most precious symbol of G-d dwelling among us,was broken and set a flame.

 It is a sobering time but also what is considered one of the most auspicious times on the calender, a time to right the wrongs that ultimately brought upon us the events that we remember (temple destruction, exile, worship of the golden calf, lives lost, rebellion, etc.). A time of reflection, of repentance,  a time to realign ourselves with HaShem to ensure that we do not become guilty of the same offences that caused our exile.

Our sages say that the reasons for the destruction of the first Temple was idolatry, bloodshed, and immorality. For the second they have this to say:

"But why was the second Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they were occupying themselves with Torah, [observance of] precepts, and the practice of charity? Because therein prevailed hatred without cause(baseless hatred)." - Talmund Yoma 9b

So what is "baseless hatred"? And what makes it so different from the sins of the first exile? From what I have been able to deduce it seems to be a difference of motive. The three sins of idolatry, bloodshed, and immorality were simply to please one's own selfish passions. The sins of the second Temple era were committed out of each groups strong convictions, to the point where they felt justified in something as base as shedding innocent blood (although they did not believe the blood was innocent), and would even go as far to say that they were doing a mitzvah.

"In the times of the second Bais HaMikdosh, the “murderers” of the time did not feel that what they were doing was wrong. They did not consider their murderous actions as transgressions. Rather, they viewed them as appropriate, and even a “mitzvah!” And why was that the case? When these people saw their brethren committing various transgressions, they said to themselves “These people are Sadducees; these people are apostates who deny the validity of the Torah and the supremacy of G-d. These people are rebellious and must die, as they legally deserve such!” Were these “righteous” murderers correct? No." - Rabbi Yehudah Prero, "A Hate Worse Than Death"

If we think about the events of the day we see many many examples of this. The slaughter of Hillel's disciples by the Shammaites(in order that they would outnumber them to pass the 18 measures which would alienate gentiles from the Jewish life and faith), the corruption in the Temple, the Sadducee/Pharisee clash, to the hatred against Rav Yeshua ("they hated me without cause" - Yochanan 15:24-25), his follows and so many more.

This all gives us cause to stop, reflect on our actions and seek teshuva(repentance) for the baseless hatred that still occurs in our generation today. For if we do not learn from the past then we are destined to repeat it.

The Good Fight

A poem I wrote for a friend,

The Good Fight  - July 2nd 2012

There will never be a battle harder
nor at times more unseen
than the ones fought daily
behind the scenes

there is little praise for victory
yes, usually more mockery
but it is the one that if you lose
could cost you eternity

So let your faith be strong
and your spirit meek
for G-d so loved us first
so that we should seek
to serve him first in all we do
and that no matter what
it would be him we'd turn to

for He orders the steps
of His righteous sheep
and He rescues them
when they start to bleat

the wicked are not so
they fall on their way
getting caught in the thorns
and the things people say

they think they have strength
in their feeble feet
and forget the words
we were to diligently keep

So remember my friend
don't let your guard down
the enemy prowls
when you're not around

and no matter what things we accomplish
no matter what praise we receive
there will never be anything greater
than fighting for what we believe