So this year one of the things I wanted to try to do was to learn more about the 7 feast days of YHWH.  I learned last year a lot of things that were unpleasant (to say the least) about the feasts that the church has chosen to celebrate (mainly Easter and Christmas) and we as a family have chosen to go away from those holidays.  However, in learning about those two holidays and where they came from, I was also confronted with the feast days of the Lord and I was faced with a conundrum.  Why does the church not celebrate the feast days of YHWH, but they do celebrate the feast days instituted by man (or the Catholic church).  Why are following traditions steeped in paganism and idolatry when we should be following God’s statutes and commandments?

Well, this year I was ready to do something different.  This is our first year as a family celebrating the feasts of YHWH!

The first feast this year is Unleavened Bread, which begins the night of Passover.

In preparing for this feast, I literally got rid of anything leavened in my home (and I still find things now and again that I missed) and I made matzo for the first time!  Now Passover in and of itself is not a required feast, but it is supposed to happen in memoriam of the Israelite exodus from Egypt so many years ago.  There are many Jewish traditions that go along with Passover, but not being Jewish (and again, most of those traditions were instituted by rabbis AFTER Jesus lived and died), we decided just to go with a simple dinner while reading the age-old Exodus story.  I made some delicious vegan stew (thanks to a delicious recipe that I found on the teambeachbody blog!) and unleavened bread and we read the story of hard-hearted Pharaoh and the 10 plagues that YHWH sent against Egypt and their false gods.  We read about their desperate need for a Passover lamb and the blood that covered, saved and protected them that night.  And finally, we saw the fear and uncertainty of the Israelites as they fled Egypt turn into victory and triumph as they crossed the Red Sea and ventured towards the promised land.

Now Passover is simply the beginning of the first of 7 feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  We read about this feast in Exodus 12:15-20, where it says:

‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.

Each time I read this, I am struck by that last line… “you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance…”  So why aren’t we observing it?  Permanent means like, forever, right?  I’ve heard many arguments saying that because Yeshua was our Passover lamb (which I don’t in the least dispute), that we no longer have to celebrate the feasts, but I would posit that BECAUSE Yeshua was our Passover lamb, we SHOULD celebrate the feasts.  They are that much more relevant and important to us now that they have been fulfilled than they were even to the Israelites at that time!  They had to use the blood of an ACTUAL lamb to physically save them that night.  We have the blood of the LAMB OF GOD that covers us spiritually and that has defeated sin and death and will allow YHWH’s punishment to PASS OVER us for all eternity.  The Israelites were slaves in Egypt; we were slaves to sin.  The Hebrews were in a hurry to leave Egypt, and I feel that same urgency today, awaiting Yeshua’s impending return!  They were led by a pillar of cloud and fire as they fled; we have the Holy Spirit living INSIDE of us to lead and guide us every single day.  They had an enemy in hot pursuit of them, just as our enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy God’s chosen people.

Anyways, to celebrate this feast of Unleavened Bread, well… we needed unleavened bread!  So here is a recipe that I found that we really liked!  Jedidiah helped me with the first batch too.  Here it is!

Angelina de Leon’s Matzo (from The New York Times Passover Cookbook)

• 2 Cups white flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Eggs
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the flour and pepper.  (This is the part Jedi helped me with- measuring and mixing!)

Stir together the eggs, honey, oil and water.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Then turn the dough out onto a countertop and knead it until it forms a cohesive ball.

Divide the dough into 6 portions (we did a few more than that).

Roll them out into 8 inch rounds.  Then prick them all over with a fork , then place them onto a very lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake matzo for 10 minutes, until crisp and golden.  Let cool completely on a rack.

The whole family enjoyed this recipe, which is good, because we ate it for the full 7 days of this feast!  Here are some pics of us enjoying our matzo.

Thanks for reading!  Happy feast days to you!