sukkot, or the feast of tabernacles, is drawing to a close this week. we enjoyed our time in the sukkas, both at adat yeshua as well as in our back yard. it's just one more festival that puts us back in the world of Jesus, like in john 7:2, "But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus' brothers said to him, 'You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.'"

we learned a lot during this holiday season and even got to celebrate Hoshana Rabba (where we get our english word "hosannah"), something new in our experience of the high holidays . there's a water libation that they pour out on the altar during sukkot and it is an especially joyful occassion, unlike some of the other festivals that are observed (passover, yom kippur, to name a few). this makes what Jesus said in john 7:38 even more powerful: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." he says this during the feast of tabernacles, sukkot, when the israelites are offering water libations. water. wow. as rabbi says, "that'll preach".

here are some photos from our sukkot adventure. the roof is supposed to be thatch so you can see through to the heavens. since we're gentiles we figure a mesh roof would work for now.



this is our sukka. we tried to spend the night in it, but eventually all slept in our beds. it ended with wyatt repeatedly saying, "i want to sleep in my bed." can you blame him?

he loves reading out of his "special bible" (as he calls it). during sukkot you're supposed to read through the book of deuteronomy. i'm not sure what they're reading, but it's from the old testament at least.


this is the sukka at AY. it's covered since we got a lot of rain this last week.


here are our good lookin' friends. we had supper in the sukka wednesday night, fighting off the cold in order to feed our faces. good bread, cassie. yum.


um, that's us. wyatt was asleep in the car. he made an appearance at the very end of the evening.


allison did the honor of reading from deuteronomy.


we met susan for lunch on thursday and she continued reading from deuteronomy. mima was supposed to join us but she and pop had to make an emergency to trip to mayo. we're thankful that G-d has answered our prayer and they are both on their way home as we "speak". pop should be recovering quickly, but keep praying for him.


wyatt didn't sleep through this meal. they loved looking at all the things hanging around the sukka. i especially loved the pictures of jewish men picking out their willow branches and holding up their lulavs. it's a fun holiday and one that i hope more people observe in the future. it was good enough for Jesus.

go ahead and JUMP! might as well...

potato soup - vegetarian style

6 cups diced potatoes

3 stalks celery, diced

1 cup chopped onion

2 cans chicken broth

4 cups rice milk

6 tablespoons butter, melted

8 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons vegetable recipe mix (knorr)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

dash of pepper

in a large pot bring potatoes, celery and onion to boil in broth. cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. pull out veggies, leaving broth. add milk. in a small bowl combine melted butter and flour. stir into broth/milk over medium heat with whisk. stir until thickened. then stir in reserved vegetables, recipe mix, garlic and pepper.

this turned out the way i wanted it, a bit thicker than the original recipe and now it's all vegetarian, for those requesting it (ahem, susan). serve with cheese, garlic bread and a salad and you've got a nice little meal. (adapted from allrecipes.com "ultimate potato soup" by thumper74137)