Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24-25)

Last night we celebrated with round Challah, fish, apples dipped in honey, rice (of course), honey cake, carrots and green beans and more.
We did not have fish with the head (symbolizing the head of the year) since Leonia cannot handle the head of a dead fish at the table. Oh! but she cooked the rest of the fish and ate it!
This morning we had our own family "ceremony" throwing stones in the river, remembering the words of Micah 7:19 "You will again have compassion on us...and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." (6 year old Samuel says he only had one stone to throw since we already did this last year...)

Feast of Trumpets is about that last trumpet that will blow (Matt. 24:31) and preparing ourselves to be ready "...because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt. 24:44)

In the words of Derek Leman: "Hear the blowing. Be ready."

Passover

Passover is not just another Jewish Feast but one of the appointed feasts of the Lord. (Leviticus 23:2), to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. (Leviticus 23:14). Not until Jesus became our passover lamb, but forever.
What a magnificent way to review God's plan for our lives each year. I know you have heard me talk about this A LOT... so here are the pictures. Enjoy! (thank you Eva for the pictures..)

Table ready for the feast

The seder plate (bitter herbs, charoset, beet)

Unleavened Bread

Part of the Haggadah - The Four Questions

Dessert! Unleavened Bread with chocolate and nuts!!!!!!

The Children - Another reason why we celebrate the Biblical Feasts. They need to know what God has done for us.

Purim - Feast of Lots

We've enjoyed another celebration! Purim is not one of the feasts ordained by God, but just as Hannukah we did not want to miss an opportunity to celebrate His goodness.

Purim or the Feast of Lots celebrates the overturning of the fate of the Jews in the story of Esther (Esther 9:20-32).

For this celebration we invited two of Samuel's friends and their moms. We started out making Hamantashen (Haman's hat cookies) a three-cornered cookie in the shape of the hat believed to be worn by Haman.

While they baked in the oven we made noise makers to be used each time the name of Haman mentioned when reading the story of Esther.

Each child brought his/her favorite stuffed animal in order to dramatize the story. Samuel was Mordecai, concerned about the fate of Esther when entering the King's presence uninvited.

And then we all sighed with relief when the King (Emily) extended his scepter to queen Esther (Elianna).

For the last time we uttered the name "Haman" and used our noisemakers and loud voices to blot his name forever.

We ended with a reminder that sometimes people will not like us because we are different or simply because we love God, but if we obey God He will always deliver us from evil.

Then we celebrated at the feast!

Another beginning to new traditions in our homeschool. Now on to prepare for Passover.

Hanukkah-Jesus is the Light of the World

Last wednesday was the last day of Hanukkah and the end of our first 8 night celebration. We learned the history, played the games, had a feast almost every night (potato pancakes, applesauce, donuts, challah bread, potato blintzes) but instead of the traditional Jewish prayers we proclaimed that Jesus is the Light of the World. It was awesome to have worship every night and read from Genesis 1:3 "And God said, "Let there be light..." to Revelation 22:5 "...they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light". Samuel enjoyed the dreydel game especially since he won almost every night. He would also take coins (chocolate) out of the Hanukkah calendar and share with whomever was present. Below you can watch the video of him singing the dreydel song.
Was this a part of school? Yes, it sure was. Biblical holidays are a part of our Escuelita and even though Hanukkah is not one of the feasts apointed by God in Leviticus 23, we could not pass up an opportunity to celebrate Jesus!

The Sabbath

A day of rest. No work. No school. So we choose to celebrate by spending the day with family and/or friends. This Saturday after Sabbath School and church service we spent the day with Samuel's friends Adriana and Gabriel and their parents. After a great meal, childhood tears, an attempt to shake the living daylights out of the neighbor's cat and worship, we visited Bethlehem in Waxahachie, Texas.
Camels, sheep, goats,donkeys, chickens, angels, soldiers, King Herod and a town full of people grumbling about taxes. It was a learning experience for the kids observing the flute players, the wool makers, the "millers", the synagogue, the rug makers, the man de-fleshing rabbit skin, the boy chipping the rock and the soldier who offered money to purchase a child for King Herod.
Samuel says that the best part about yesterday was the whole thing!