Torah Portions Coloring Book + Giveaway

I've been wanting to do this post since I first saw the Doodle Portions coloring book! It seems that coloring books for adults have exploded in popularity in the past year or so. Several of my friends and family members buy them by the stack, and I have spotted them for sale in book stores, gas stations, and home improvement centers. They've been popping up on blogs and social media too. After seeing a few Christian versions I thought how nice it would be to find one with a little more of a Hebrew bent, and that's exactly what Amy from Torah Sisters has provided us with here! Amy has been generous enough to agree to give two of you a copy of Doodle Portions Florals! Get entered to win at the bottom of this post.

Really it's no wonder why people are loving these coloring books so much. Studies show doing something with your hands is a tremendous reliever of stress and anxiety and a good way to combat depression. Seeing this we don't need to wonder why 1 Thessalonians 4:11 gives us the admonition to work with our hands. These benefits can come from carpentry work or chopping vegetables or crocheting or coloring. Of course coloring is something that practically anyone can do, no matter their skills or abilities.

Doodle Portions is made to go with the weekly reading of the Torah portion, so each design has a verse from the corresponding week. The pages also have the information of the the Scripture passages for that week's portion. Amy was kind enough to gift me with a copy of her floral edition and each page is lovely! I was so happy to see her call attention to some of the themes that are so often skipped over. In Doodle Portions you will find mentions of Shabbat, Ephraim, Passover, and so on. Yehovah is mostly used for the name of YHWH, but Yahweh appears as well.

Obviously Doodle Portions makes for a great Shabbat activity for both the young and old. But as we wrap up the yearly Torah reading cycle, how fun would this be to give as a gift for Simchat Torah or Sukkot? You can have a brand new coloring book to kick off a fresh start of the Torah readings when we dive back in at Beresheet 1. Of course, this book can be used any day of the week to help you unwind and relax after a stressful day. Completed works can go on the wall or refrigerator to help with Scripture memorization.

Whether you win or purchase this book you will receive it as a PDF, which means you can instantly download and print it off. I liked being able to print it because, unlike with hard copies of coloring books, you can lay this flat to color. (It's the little things in life, am I right?) It's also up to you if you want to print off all 50+ pages at once or just one or two at time. A simple folder or binder would be a great way to store these. Or a clipboard.

Are flowers not really your thing? Or maybe there's a little boy you'd like to give a Torah portion coloring book to? (This is totally kid friendly by the way.) Amy just released an animal edition of Doodle Portions. Right now she is offering sale pricing of almost half off.

As a special gift to Land of Honey readers Amy is offering 20% off any digital product in her store. That's good with either Torah portions coloring book, the under the sea coloring book, her Sabbath keeper organization kit, decorative printables, and the recipe collections. Be sure to grab the free Shabbat print while you're there which is only free for a limited time. There's also an entire section of freebies to download and, along with the Shabbat print, no purchase is necessary.

Use coupon code: HONEY2017 at the checkout to receive 20% off any digital product. This will be good through September 15.

And now for the giveaway! We have two PDF downloads of the Doodle Portions Florals book up for grabs so we will have one winner per household. Get entered below and be sure to browse around the Torah Sisters Store and let us know what your favorite item is in the comments. As I mentioned, Amy kindly sent me a download of Doodle Portions but all opinions are my own. This contest is open to US and international residents. You have until midnight on September 6 to enter. Thanks so much to Amy for providing these giveaways!

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What I'm Reading - The History of the American Indians

American Indians have a ton in common with ancient Hebrew culture.

Before I came across this book that was an unknown idea to me. As you guys know I've spent some time studying and considering the Lost Tribes of Israel, and even heard of a few mentions of Hebrew culture showing up in South America, but never here in my own country. I've even read about the possibility of King Solomon sending out workers to what is now Michigan's Upper Peninsula to harvest enormous amounts of copper (see 1 Kings 10:22), but I hadn't really thought about Hebrews staying here. If you grew up being told that Native Americans had somehow arrived in North America from Asia, it is startling to realize, as Adair points out, the Native tribes have almost no similarities to the cultures of Asia. What is even more shocking is just how many strong connections some of these tribes have to the culture of ancient Israel. 

Who is James Adair?
Born in Ireland around 1709, Adair lead an adventurous life coming to the American colonies where he traded and practiced medicine. He spent something like forty years of his life living among Native American tribes in the south, primarily the Chickasaw. He clearly was convinced that the tribes he interacted with descended from the tribes of Israel, devoting about half the pages of his notes to his observances on this. The book was supposed to teach the English how to interact with the Indians.

According to Adair, American Indians:
-do not bow to others, but bow in religious practice
-call deceitful people snakes
-do not consider the bear as clean as the deer
-priests wear breast plates, a wreath around the head, and an ephod
-paid 10% of their produce to rainmakers
-have a celebration called 'feast of the new-sanctified fruits'
-insult others with the phrase, "you resemble those beaten in Canaan"
-observe ritual washings, even in cold water
-practice marital separation during the woman's menstrual cycle
-married couples stay have a separation of forty days after the birth of a child
-are separated from the tribe for three days after funeral duties
-separate wounded warriors from the camp the same way YHWH instructed Israel to separate the lepers
-had the unmarried brother of the husband marry the widow
-refered to rabbits with a form of the word, "not to meddle with"

Are these tribes observing the instructions of YHWH or are all of these things just coincidental? Perhaps the people living in this country when the Europeans arrived were not as pagan and heathen as we have been told to believe. According to Adair, "The American Indians are so far from being Atheists....that they have the great sacred name of God that describes his divine essence, and by which he manifested himself to Moses." He confirmed that tribes refer to the Deity as Yo He Wah and that name is used in their religious ceremonies. Isn't that incredible?!

One of the downsides of this book is that it is tough to read. It is written in a more formal, academic way and the 200+ years it's been since the book was written make some passages difficult to understand. He seems to use 'Indian' as a blanket label for the Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Muskogee tribes, but it is not always clear which specifically he is talking about. Something else to be aware of is the word 'Jew' is used incorrectly in place of 'Hebrew.' Since this type of reading is not everyone's cup of tea I thought I would share a few of quotes from the book that I found most interesting as an introduction to a couple of things. Firstly, that the Lost Tribes of Israel are not lost at all to YHWH. He has been faithful to preserve his people through the ages. And also that true history is more connected with Scripture than we realized in middle school social studies.

Quotes from The History of the American Indians:

They flatter themselves with the name hottuk oretoopah, "The beloved people," because their supposed ancestors, as they affirm, were under the immediate government of the Deity who was present with them, in a very particular manner, and directed them by prophets; while the rest of the world were aliens and out-laws to the covenant. -89

The Indian language, and dialects, appear to have the very idiom and genus of the Hebrew. -93

They say, "Yah" at the beginning of their religious dances, with a bowing posture of body. -101

Let us now turn to the copper colour American Hebrews. 141

While dancing they never fail to repeat those notes; and frequently the holy train strike up Halelu, Halelu; then Haleluiah, Halelu-Yah, and Aleluiah and Alelu-Yah. -142 (Whoa! Native Americans knew the phrase hallelujah and used it to praise YHWH!)

And may we not reasonably suppose, that they formerly understood the psalms, or divine hymns? at least those that begin with Halelu-Yah. -142

After which, they go to some convenient deep water, and there, according to the ceremonial law of the Hebrews, they wash away their sins with water. -143

The Indians formerly observed the grand festival of the annual expiation of sin, at the beginning of the first new moon, in which their corn became the full eared. -144 (Compare that with Leviticus 23:39, which tells us celebrate Sukkot to YHWH after the corn has been gathered in.)

...annually observed their festivals, and Neetak-Yah-ah, "days of afflicting themselves before the Deity." -144 (Sounds like Yom Kippur)

He charges them to be sure not to give the children a bad example of eating any unsanctified, or impure food. -150

When the Indians meet at night to gladden and unite their hearts before Yohewah, they say Yohewa-shoo, Yohewa-shoo, Yohewahshee Yohewashee, and Yohewahshai", with much energy. -156 (Very similar to our modern pronunciations of Yahusha or Yahushua.)

That these red savages formerly understood the radical meaning, and emblematic design, of the important words they use in their religious dances and sacred hymns, is pretty obvious, if we consider the reverence they pay to the mysterious divine name Yo He Wah. -156

Indian women always throw a small piece of the fattiest of the meat into the fire when they are eating. -157

They commonly pull their new-killed venison (before they dress it) several times through the smoke and flame of the fire, both by the way of a sacrifice, and to consume the blood, life, or animal spirits of the beast, which with them would be a most horrid abomination to eat. -159

Robert Williams, the first Englishman in New England, who is said to have learned the Indian language, in order to convent the natives, believed them to be Jews...that their language bore some affinity to the Hebrew. -227

Indian women of Canada purify themselves after travail, thirty days for a male child and forty for a female. -238

Isn't it amazing to think that the Native Americans knew the god of Israel? It's important to know that Adair wasn't saying any of these tribes did everything perfectly or had it all of Scripture figured out. Throughout the book he pointed out that some tribes had compromised and defiled themselves by eating unclean animals and so on. He was saying that there is a lot of evidence that suggests these tribes descended from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 1 Kings 10:22 tells us that King Solomon sent people very far out to collect fine things from all over the world, and it even mentions these journeys took three years, so there is a possible hint of this in Scripture as well.

Have you ever heard of Israelites settling in North America? Which of the quotes really strikes you?

What I'm Reading - Blood Brothers

After letting it sit on my shelf for several months I finally decided to read Elias Chacour's Blood Brothers over the weekend. Someone gave me a copy without much explanation; the two little boys on the cover lead me to believe it was the story of friendship between a Jewish boy and a Palestinian boy. But there was much more to it.

Elias was born in 1939 to a Palestinian Christian family and was a young boy when the Jewish state of Israel was declared. He vividly recalls Israeli soldiers coming into his village and requesting that everyone leave for a few days for "safety reasons." His family has never had their property restored. As a Christian Elias is able to discuss the Israeli/Palestinian land dispute from a Biblical perspective. In chapter nine he points out that YHWH declares the Promised Land is his in Vayikra 25:23 and that all it's inhabitants are His tenants. He uses his father's fig orchard as a beautiful analogy:

We Gentiles had been "grafted in" among God's chosen people of faith, just as Father had grafted six different kinds of fig trees together to make a delightful new tree. Beneath the rough bark where my hand rested, I knew that the living wood had fused together so perfectly that, should I cut the tree down, I could never see where one variety stopped and the other began.

He shares his life's path of study and seminary in Paris that lead him to be the archbishop of Galilee through the Melkite Church. The above quote is from one of the Father's at seminary. Elias was inspired to make his life's work seeking peace between the Jews and Christians of Israel and Palestine, in spite of the new government's failure to do so. He worked at churches and started schools and community centers in the Galilee area (often visiting some of very same places that Yeshua did; finding comfort on the mountains he spoke on). When a new community center opened one of the first things he did was show a film documenting the persecution of the Jewish people during the Holocaust to teach Palestinians to sympathize with their suffering. His vision and hope was remarkable; recognizing that there was no longer Jew nor Greek and that all Believers become Abraham's seed and heirs he arranged peaceful marches of unified Israelis and Palestinians expressing their desire for peace. 

Elias' story is a tremendous resource for those wishing to understand more of the conflict in the Promise Land, and to learn what it's like to be a Believer in a land filled with Jews and Muslims. His story is unique and powerful.