Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) Virtual Event
Song For Israel announces its first Virtual Feast of Tabernacles Event! Invite your friends and family to a meal at your house and plan to watch our 45-minute YouTube video featuring Shmuel Bowman, Executive Director of Operation Lifeshield in Israel, and Thomas Winder, Executive Director of the Holy Land Research Institute in Northern Israel (Majdal Shams) as they both share their perspectives of the Feast of Tabernacles!
Click here for the YouTube link. Information about our speakers can be found below. Recipes for your celebration are provided below. Make this event happen sometime during the week of October 16-22, 2024. Read Leviticus for more about this holy day.
About our Guest Speakers
Shmuel Bowmen
Shmuel Bowman (left) has helped Israeli causes since 1993, by strategically transforming ideas and vision into concrete and tangible results. Born and raised and in Toronto, Canada and worked there as a professional Gerontologist. In late 1990 he voluntarily joined the Israel Defense Force and served during the Gulf War. He made Aliyah (moved to Israel) in 1993.
Shmuel is a Sofer STaM (an ordained Torah Scribe), and is passionate about teaching the wisdom of the sacred letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as the halakhot (Rabbinic laws) pertaining to writing sacred scrolls. A career in senior positions at notable organizations in Israel spanning a quarter century has brought him to work closely with an array of leaders in politics, education, security, and faith.
Shmuel joined Operation Lifeshield at the time of it’s founding in 2006. As Executive Director of Operation Lifeshield (and the Canadian sister organization, Project Life Initiatives), hundreds of accessible bomb shelters have been deployed under his watch, and thousands of Israeli lives protected. He is regarded as an expert in the field of passive defense and humanitarian NGO relief efforts.
Shmuel and his wife Leah (a licensed Israeli Tour Guide) have five children, one granddaughter, a son-in-law and a cat, and live in Efrat, Israel.
Thomas Winder
Rev. Thomas Winder (right) is the Executive Director of “The Holy Land Research Institute” from Majdal Shams (Golan Heights), Israel. His ministry tagline is “At the Crossroads of Archaeology, Evangelism, and Restoration.”
He has spoken at Song For Israel previous events, sharing on the topic of “On The Slopes of Mount Hermon” - the story of the Transfiguration and why Jesus chose Mt. Hermon to declare His Deity and build His Church. Thomas Winder lives in Israel, ministering to the Druze people and is restoring the original Church of the Transfiguration in the high village of Majdal Shams on the Slopes of Mount Hermon.
Prof. Winder is an Archaeologist Missionary with a background in Biblical Archaeology, contracting and broadcasting. He was on the faculty at Trinity SW University, where he taught Hebraic Studies. After years of excavating Tall el Hammam, the City of Sodom, Thomas is now restoring the Christian heritage of the Syrian Druze in Majdal Shams and archaeologically exposing history. If you joined us for the 2019 Israel tour, you may recall meeting Thomas at Caesarea Philippi.
Deby Brown
Deby Brown (left) is Director of the nonprofit, Song For Israel based in Orange County, California. Deby has taught Bible Studies for over 30 years and out of that, developed a passion for Israel. She recognizes Israel as being the “apple of God’s eye” and a nation that will become more and more the center of attention to the world. God has stirred her heart to develop a nonprofit ministry called “Song For Israel.” (www.SongForIsrael.org).
Deby received her education in Biblical studies at Biola University and began a Masters’ program at Haggerty Theologicasl Seminary (out of Azusa Pacific University). Deby is a commissioned pastor through the Friends denomination. She is a trained Precept Upon Precept Bible study Teaching Leader. She is a seminar speaker, retreat speaker, and writer. She has been studying Sephardic Hebrew for the past ten years.
Deby served as Director of Women’s Ministries at Calvary Church Santa Ana, California; GROW Pastor and Assimilation Ministries Pastor at Friends Church Yorba Linda and is currently Founder and Director of Song For Israel. The joy of her life is leading annual tours to Israel (click here).
She is a mother of two grown daughters, and now a grandmother of four!
Feast of Tabernacles Recipes for your Event
Tabouleh
8 green onions
3 tomatoes, chopped
3-4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 c. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Juice of 2-3 lemons
¾ c. virgin olive oil
¾ c (100 g) thick bulgur wheat
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Soak bulgur in hot water for 25-30 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry with hands. Mix onions, parsley, mint and tomatoes (If not eaten the first day, leave out the tomatoes and add at the last minute).
Beat together the lemon juice and olive oil until emulsified. Add sale and pepper. Pour over the salad. Add more lemon juice if desired. Let salad sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.
Zucchini Soup
10 Zucchini
1 small parsnip
3 cucumbers
1 onion
A few small potatoes
A few small carrots (3-4)
1-2 celery sticks
Chicken stock to cover the veggies
Flavors: Lemon pepper, salt, a dash of smoked paprika, lemon juice, ¼ c. olive oil
Bring to a boil
Cut all veggies into big pieces and add to boiling soup. Do not skin the veggies except the parsnip and potatoes). Simmer until tender. Do not overcook.
Add flavors, mint leaves on top with a sprinkle of olive oil and paprika
Lamb Stuffed with Pomegranate and Cilantro
14 oz. ground lamb
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red chili, shopped
2/3 oz. cilantro chopped
½ c. bread crumbs
1 tsp. ground allspice
2 Tb. Finely-grated fresh ginger
2 medium onions, finely chopped (1 1/2 c.)
1 large egg
4 quince (2 ¾ ob. Sold at Whole Foods Market)
Juice of ½ lemon, plus 1 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
8 cardamom pods
2 tsp. pomegranate molasses
2 tsp. sugar
2 c. Chicken stock
Seeds of ½ pomegranate
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the lamb in a mixing bowl along with the garlic, chile, cilantro, bread crumbs, allspice, half of the ginger, half of the onion, egg, ¾ tsp. salt, and some pepper. Mix well with your hands and set aside.
Peel the quince and halve them lengthwise. Put them in a bowl of cold water with juice of ½ lemon so that they do not turn brown. Use a melon baller or small spoon to remove the seeds and then hollow out the quince halves so that you are left with a 2/5” shell. Keep the scooped-out flesh. Fill the hollows with the lamb mix, using your hands to push it down.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan for which yo9u have a lid. Place the reserved quince flesh in a food processor, blitz to chop well, and then transfer the mixture to the pan along with the remaining onion, ginger, and the cardamom pods. Saute for 10 to 12 minutes until the onion has softened. Add molasses, 1 TB lemon juice, sugar, stock, ½ tsp. Salt, and some black pepper and mix well. Add the quince halves to the sauce with the meat stuffing facing upward. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cover the pan. Cook for about 50 minutes. At the end the quince should be completely soft and the meat well cooked. The sauce should be thick. Lift the lid and simmer for a few minutes to reduce the sauce if needed.
Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with cilantro and pomegranate seeds.