Celebrating the Sabbath

In my back to school post, I alluded to more details about using 'My Father's World' with Caleb.  So, here you go!

I used My Father's World for both the girls and am so excited to be learning from it with Caleb.  We are starting with Creation to the Greeks and will spend the next 3 years traveling through world history from Creation to the present day.  This year, in addition to studying Bible history (I learn so much with him as we go!), ancient history, dinosaurs and the science of Creation, we are learning about the Feasts that the Jews celebrated in the Old Testament.  Not just learn about them, but actually partake of them ourselves!  Here's what I mean.

Last week, we learned about the celebration of the Sabbath or Shabbat as the Jews call it.  So, in addition to reading about it in our lessons and Caleb reading about it in books on his own, we actually celebrated it, as much as possible, as they would have originally over the weekend - It was so wonderful!  One of the great parts is that, leading up to the sun going down, everyone pitched in to clean the house so that even the mom (AKA, me) can rest on Sabbath!  We all cleaned, cooked and prepared so that we would have no work to do the next day.  Since it is more conducive to our lives, we started Saturday and ended Sunday, and since He is Lord of the Sabbath - we kept our eyes on Him as we celebrated.


Saturday night, as the day ended, we prepared to gather around the table.  There are lots of prayers said, blessings given and received, etc.  If you have never celebrated an authentic Sabbath, you really should.  It is beautiful.  So, we lit candles and had a pretty centerpiece, picked and prepared by Holly:

After all of the preparation, and now that everyone was truly 'starving', we began to eat. You don't know how I regret forgetting to take pictures in the midst of everything. I mean, I made a mighty fine meal! We had baked salmon with completely homemade tarter sauce (including grating the pickles for relish!), brown rice, cooked and candied baby carrots and challah - the traditional Jewish bread. It was delicious, if I do say so myself.

So, from then until the next day at sundown, you are on Sabbath rest time. Our family truly tries to keep Sunday as a day of rest anyway, so this was not too hard for us to do! Sunday morning, we woke up celebrating the Lord's presence and prepared for church. We had a great service, then came home to a lunch that we had been preparing since the day before, to avoid cooking on the Sabbath! Boy, did the house smell wonderful!

We found this recipe in a book called "Cooking the Israeli Way" and it is called Sabbath Stew. This will be a regular in our home, it was that good! I will now tempt you with a picture and the recipe, so that you can try it on your own and fill your house and tummy with amazing smells and flavors!

Here's what you need:

1 1/4 cups dry chick peas (I used 2 cans)
1 1/4 cups dry navy beans (I used dry beans for this since I had it and then cooked them til soft)
4 tbsp veggie oil
2 large onions, chopped to your liking
6 small new potatoes (I didn't have these, so I used about 6-8 idahos and quartered them)
2 lbs beef cut into 2ish inch cubes (I used stew meat)
4 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander (did not have so did not use...)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
(Note: the recipe calls for 8 uncooked eggs in their shells.  I used 2, but next time will use none.  You can decide for yourself!)

If using dry beans, soak overnight the night before.  Saute onions until golden brown, adding garlic at the end.  In a large crockpot, place potatoes, onions, meat and eggs, if using.  (Be careful not to break the eggs!)  Add beans to the pot, discarding the liquid first if they were soaked.  Add spices and mix well.  (I waited to add my eggs until everything else was in the pot and mixed, then I gently tucked them in.)  Add enough water to the pot to barely cover the contents.  If your lid does not fit tightly, add a layer of foil under the lid.  I turned the crockpot on at about 11 PM or so on high for about 30 minutes, then down to low and let it cook until 5 AM.  I turned it off at that time, but turned it back on at 7 AM on low and let it cook til we got home from church.  Alternately, you could add everything as above to a casserole dish, bake for 1 hour on 375*, then reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook for 5-8 hours.  Before serving, if you used the eggs, remove them from the pot, take the shells off and cut into quarters.  Serve the stew hot, garnished with the egg if desired, and have some of the challah with it.  Oh so good, filling, nutritious and just plain yummy!

So, after that, we rested, spent time together reading, playing outside, etc.  We had a light dinner of cheese and crackers, then waited for the sun to go down.  There are more prayers prayed at that time and more symbolic celebrations as well.  It was a wonderful day - so good that we are considering doing it again.  Soon!  I wish I had taken more pictures, but we were just so caught up in the time, that it slipped right by...  Maybe next time!

This weekend was just a testimony of one of the many reasons that I love to homeschool.  Getting to bring things to life and make them real and meaningful for my children - not just facts to memorize for a test, but a true love for learning and wisdom and truth.  I am blessed!