Call for Papers: Judaism and the "Other"

reposted from H-Judaic list-serv

Australian Association of Jewish Studies
22st Annual Conference
Judaism and the Other
14-15 February 2010
Mandelbaum House, University of Sydney

Call for Papers

The Annual Conference of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies
provides a meeting place for tertiary academics, Jewish educators,
researchers, students and others devoted to the study of Jewish life,
thought and culture.

With the conference theme for 2010, "Judaism and the 'Other"" we are seeking
to create a forum in which to explore how Jewish traditions, texts and
cultures, and vision(s) of the 'Other' influenced relationships, social and
economic conditions, cultural output and the like of Jewish communities in
Israel and across the diaspora.

Papers from a variety of disciplines are welcome, and these may discuss the
relationship of Judaism to paganism in biblical times, the emergence of
Christianity and Islam, and of the Eastern religions. They can also see how
modern developments, such as the Enlightenment, socialism and communism
impacted on Judaism and vice versa.

Papers on other topics will be considered but preference will be given to
those bearing directly on the conference theme.

Submissions to present papers must be made by 7 September 2009. Acceptance
of papers will be notified by email no later than October 2009. Submissions
must include author's name, postal and email address, institutional
affiliation, abstract of the paper to be presented and short biographical
note. The abstract must be 200-300 words and the biographical note no more
than 50 words.

The AAJS encourages students who are engaged in academic research to submit
proposals based on their work to the program committee. Authors should
clearly indicate their student status with their submission.

Presenters are invited to submit written articles for consideration for
publication in the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies.

Proposals should be sent either electronically or by post to:
A/Prof Suzanne Rutland
suzanne.rutland@usyd.edu.au

Department of Hebrew, Biblical & Jewish Studies
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia

PROPOSALS MUST ARRIVE BY 7 SEPTEMBER, 2009

Cheesecake!

I will be making cheesecake for the first time this year for Shavuot, and would love any good recipes or tips you'd like to share! Thanks!

Zoe's 3rd Birthday

Yes, it's true. Zoe is (almost) 3. Today we celebrated at her school, and at home (so she would have the toys to play with over Shabbat). Originally we planned to have a party outside of her school for her, but she wasn't interested. Being a poor grad student family, who are we to argue with that? So instead, the Z-girl had a party at school.

First, she got to be Shabbat Ima and collect tzeddekah (charity) from the class:
Then she got to light Shabbat candles:
Zoe's school ordered her a cake, for which we supplied the Disney "Beauty and the Beast" accessories:Then the entire class enjoyed cake and juice, Zoe most of all.
Fast forward a few hours, and while the Z-girl as napping, I got her gifts ready. There is, however, a caveat here. Yes, folks, we’re now even too cheap to buy wrapping paper. Yes, this is plain white paper, but even better, it’s paper that we…uh…liberated from the recycling box at school.For all of you who are appalled by my frugal rhetoric, however, rest assured. We set the elder 2 kids to the task of gift-ifying the paper:Once nap time was over, Zoe excitedly opened her gifts (with the help of her siblings, of course):She made out well this year, both in terms of things that she likes and in terms of items befitting our current frugality. Her Aunt in NY sent a beautiful dress and adorable socks, Bubbe and Zayde got her a 3-wheeler scooter (which she can't wait to try, but she'll have to wait until Sunday) and an adorable pair of PJs with Ariel on them (very, very girlie). Grandma B and Papa L got her a Dora the Explorer Princess/Castle playset. Maman and Abba got her another pair of PJs (tinkerbel) and a shirt (Dora), and Claire and JR, with financial sponsorship of the parents, got her (and themselves) sand toys (since all the parks here are sand-based).
All in all, Zoe did quite well. Happy Birthday!

(I am appalled to note that I never wrote up Zoe's birth story. I don't have time now, but I will do it, B"H quite soon and post it. Both Claire's and JR's are up here already.)

Going Granola

I make granola at home. Yes, I know there are tons of commercial versions, but, besides the fact that cereal in general is just ridiculously expensive here in Montreal, I don't like the commercial brands. So I have a recipe that I adapt to what I like and what I have in the pantry.

Homemade Granola*

*This recipe is very, very forgiving. So make sure to include the oats, and make the warm brown sugar mixture, and otherwise, go wild and include what you like. I'll try and note some variations.

2.5 cups regular or quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut (can be left out; I never do, though, it's delicious)
1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds (and/or walnuts/pecans/almonds, etc.)
1/4 cup sesame seeds (and/or flax seed)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1.5 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup dried fruit (staple for us is craisins; I don' t like raisins but they are an obvious substitute. Any other dried fruit that you enjoy works as well -- I've used apricots, papaya, mango, pineapple, apple, etc.)

1. Lightly grease a large roasting pan. Add oats, coconut, sunflower seeds (or nuts), and sesame seeds (or flax seed); mix and spread evenly. Bake in 300F oven for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 min and 15 min.
2. While the oat mixture is baking, combine butter/margarine, brown sugar, and honey in a small pan. Cook and stir over med heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Keep mixture warm.
3. Remove roasting pan from over. Increase oven temp to 350F. Stir wheat germ into the oats mixture. Pour warm brown sugar mixture over oats, stir to coat. Bake for 5 more minutes.
4. Stir dried fruit into oat mixture. Bake for another 5-10 more minutes until golden brown. Using a spatula, transfer mixture (while still warm) to a large sheet of foil (or, in my case, I just put it directly into a storage container). Cool completely. Stores up to 2 weeks in airtight container.

Some uses:

• Add milk and eat as delicious and nutritious cereal
• You can add M&Ms, chocolate chips, etc. to make a nice trail mix.
• Add to yogurt, frozen yogurt, or ice cream as a crunchy topping
• Pack as-is in a baggie and send it in your kids lunch. (Claire's friends asked for the recipe!)
  

Mommy Day Camp

But first -- I know everyone has been waiting on the edge of their seats to find out what we decided to do about the move...well, we're not moving down the hall. Even now, the extra bathroom is extra tempting, but I just don't think it's going to be worth it. So, here we stay for another year.

This summer we aren't sending the kids to day camp. The reason is simply financial -- camps are much more expensive up here in Montreal than the available options down in Chicago. Plus, while I do have plenty of academic work to do over the summer, I won't need to be at school all that much, which means that with a whole slew of patience and good planning, we can pull this off.

We have, I believe, 9 weeks in which we need to entertain our children. One of the reasons I feel strongly about scheduling each day has to do with JR and his ADHD. As you may know from previous posts, he does considerably better if he knows what to expect each day. So while most of us would rather get out of bed whenever, and get dressed/groomed/fed, etc. whenever, if we do that with him he will NEVER get out the door and will fight us tooth-and-nail to not go, even if it is to something he does want to do. By scheduling carefully -- including "free" time -- he will know what to expect as he can just check the calendar. We are also going to try and systematize a morning and bedtime routine, for the same reason.

G-d help me do this!

On top of it all, I'm wondering just how cheaply I can pull this off. If we don't count initial purchases -- used sports equiptment (like basketballs, ice skates, helmuts) and the cost of the city's "fun card" which allows you to use their facilities for "free" (it's $70 for a fun card for the entire family; most places are around $3/person each time you use them. This includes the ice rink, water park, wading pool, certain tennis courts, indoor gymnasium, paddle boats, etc.) for a year. Well worth it, assuming we use them, which we will be over the summer. So, assuming we don't count those initial costs (which really should be under $200; I'll try and keep track and report back) I'm wondering if it's feasible to run our Mommy Day Camp on $100 for the 9 weeks, or a little over $10/week.

This amount will also not include any "big" trips, such as visiting family but would include day trips. I'm not counting gas or food in this amount, either, but if we go shopping as an activity, then this would count. (Thankfully, we rarely do this.)

This will take some creativeness, certainly, but it seems to me that it should be feasible. Even if we decide to go to a movie, we can hit the dollar cinema (which is $2/person). The library is free to use, and they have a summer reading program in which we will participate. Once we have the fun card and some basic sports equipment we have myriad activities around our small town in which to participate, and this doesn't include one BIG item on our agenda this summer, which is to get Claire and JR riding their bikes without training wheels.

To top it off, we've just started exploring more and finding places around the city to hike (where there is free parking, which really is the trickier part) so we're hoping to incorporate hiking and bike-riding as a regular activity.


Has anyone else ever done or contemplating doing something like this? Do you have ideas/resources, etc. that you could share?

to move or not to move?

We like our apartment location. The apartment is tiny, but at this point, we cannot afford anything bigger. Another 2-bedroom will be opening up down the hall from us (which is good, as I don't think anyone could handle the kids as their upstairs neighbors!) and it is slightly bigger. But only slightly...and there are some downsides to it as well. So, do we move or not? Here's my pro/con list:
Pros of New Apartment:

• It has 2 bathrooms (only one with tub/shower), and they are relatively larger.
• Still on 1st floor, end of the hall (so only one neighbor to irritate)
  
• Kids room is slightly larger than their current room

Cons (or, Pros of our current Apartment):

• Right now we have (small) separate linen and coat closets. This is combined in the new place
• Living room is slightly smaller, width-wise (losing a little floor space)
• We'd have to move (okay, just down the hall, but still moving is a hassle)
• The stove is smaller -- my largest cookie sheets and baking pans won't fit, but the ones I use the most do
• Balcony MIGHT be smaller (we need to measure it, we couldn't tell just by eyeballing it) and is in the pool area (this would be a bigger deal if the pool were open late at night, but it's not. It's more of a visual-appeal, and honestly it's not a huge deal...)
• Costs $15 more a month than our current place (gotta pay for that extra bathroom, I guess...)
  

As you can see, there are both minor reasons to move -- and to stay. So minor, in many ways, that we just aren't sure what to do. An extra bathroom would be nice...but is it worth it? What do you think?

Frugal Living -- the benefits of menu planning

I am planning to periodically go over some points of frugal living -- sharing what I know and have learned with you, and hoping that you can offer tips that I hadn't considered as well. Since it's Sat night and I need to menu plan, we'll start here.

One of the tasks I undertake Saturday night is to menu plan for the week. This isn't our ideal time to do it, because it means we have to do it twice: once for the week and once for Shabbat. Not the end of the world, I know, but it means at least 2 trips to the store, and each trip costs more than it should, from impulse buys and whatnot. Ideally, menu planning for us should take place on Wed night, once we have the weekly sales flyers.

An ideal menu should take into account several things: seasonal or on-sale foods, foods that your family will actually eat, leftovers, and what you already have in the house (not necessarily in that order). For instance, we almost always have one night of soup/grilled cheese or soup/quesadillas. This is b/c there is always at least one night when we need something quick, easy, and something that everyone will eat. (Grilled cheese isn't my fave, but toss a sliced tomato topped with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and I'm sold ;-) Same goes with quesadillas -- sautee some onions and mushrooms and, if you have it, use some nice pepper jack cheese, and you have fantastic fare!)

We plan weekly menus; some people can do two week menus (we have done this before, including Shabbat; this is for our extreme budgeting...we'll likely be doing this by mid-summer) or month-long menus. Others find that they can plan nightly for the next night's meal by taking stock of what they have around the pantry. This never works for us.

Menu planning can feel constricting if you like to cook creatively and try new things. However, if you're like me and you like to read your cookbooks (we consider this a family activity, with everyone except Zoe with a cookbook in their hand, taking turns sharing recipes we've found), you can note recipes that you really want to try, or that have in-season foods or ingredients that you have on hand. Note the page, and add it to your next week's menu. This way, when you develop your shopping list, you'll remember to go back to the recipe and add any ingredients you don't have.

The ultimate goal of menu planning is to save money: when you plan ahead, you create your shopping list according to your menu, and you shop for what you know you need. Assuming you can control the impulse-buying (often, I send DH to shop for this reason, as he's more likely to be in-and-out in the grocery store than I am), this should cut down on your trips to the supermarket and save you money. But planning weekly menus can have added benefits. Consider:

• Asking your kids to help plan the menu, write up shopping lists, help find the ingredients at the store, and perhaps even help you cook. Getting them involved in the process has numerous educational benefits (note: have patience if you do this!).
  
• There are no surprises, no last minute need to run to the store, no forgotten ingredients
• Often, there are enough leftovers (if you cook every night like we do) that you have your lunches pre-planned. Or if there's that one night when you usually order out b/c you're too tired to cook, you can either a) make that your easy (ie grilled cheese) night or b) eat leftovers. Another money-saver!
• It is less wasteful. By taking regularly stock of what you have, whether it's Shabbat leftovers (always Monday nights for us) or sour cream that is going to expire (crudites and dip!), you can use more of what you have, making your money stretch further in the long wrong.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Or share your other experiences with menu planning.

The Best Mother's Day Gift

This Sunday, 10 May 2009 marks Mother's Day. According to the media and various advertisements, we need to not only call our Moms, but also take them out to eat, buy them gifts, chocolates, flowers, make them breakfast in bed, buy them days at the spa and so forth.

Count me out.

Claire asked if, on mother's day this year, DH could take her and her siblings to the park, so I could "stay home and get some work done." This, to me, was quite funny -- she knows this is ever my heart's desire each Sunday, that while I love to be with the kids, I do always have that pressure of getting everything done for school (and various school-related jobs) finished. It was both a sweet and sad gesture.

Regardless, we have not even discussed how we will celebrate Mother's Day this year. But let me tell you about the best mother's day I had, a few years ago. It was, as always, a Sunday in May, and DH and I got up and went about the usual -- breakfast, dishes, getting various children dressed. The kids had made gifts for me at their schools -- Claire gave me a funny book that was cleverly designed by her teacher: they asked each of the kids a series of questions about their moms, and recorded the answers for posterity. The book contained all the kids' answers, and they were hilarious. I was actually crying I was laughing so hard. JR's school had made puzzle-pins, which I proudly wore all day. Around 12 noon Claire and JR (Zoe was not yet with us) had soccer games, so we walked to the soccer field to cheer them on. It was a glorious day, sunny, warm, simply beautiful. We cheered, we chatted, we went home. At that point we went to take care of a very important errand -- one of the windows in my car had been broken the previous Friday, and we took it in to get it fixed. It took about an hour, and while it was in the shop we visited a Crate and Barrel outlet that was nearby; just "window" shopping, so to speak, but it was fun nonetheless. At that point we headed to a local park where JR had been invited to a birthday party. The initial plan had been for all of us to go, make sure that Claire could stay also, and then I would head home by myself as my special "treat" of the day. Instead, we all stayed and enjoyed the lovely weather and the fantastic company of the other families at the party. Happily tired, we all went home. The kids zoned a bit in front of the TV; I fell asleep on the bed, and DH ordered out pizza so I wouldn't have to cook. We had a nice, carb-loaded dinner together, and then it was bath and bedtime for the kids.

What is missing from this story? The stuff, the special activities, the flowers, chocolate, breakfast in bed. (Okay, I got pizza and a fixed window...no complaints on my end!)

So what made this day the best mother's day I've had thus far? Its simplicity, and really, the quality time we spent together as a family. Each year now, around mother's day, I fondly remember this day and hope for a similarly simple and happy day.

What are your thoughts on mother's day?

Here, fishie, fishie, fishie...

Just put the easiest and tastiest gefilte fish in the oven. I ask again and again, but DH doesn't want me to try new recipes. He just loves this one. So I thought I'd share it.

I don't know where the recipe if from originally, but my MIL gave it to me.

Gefilte Fish
1 loaf frozen gefilte fish (works with every brand we've tried), still frozen
Fresh cracked black pepper
Sugar
Water

Preheat oven to 400F. Put gefilte fish loaf in pan (I use a loaf pan). Fill 1/2 up with water. Sprinkle liberal amounts of black pepper and sugar on top (prbly about 1/2-3/4 tsp each) of fish loaf. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 400F for 1.5 hours.

Remove fish from oven, carefully lift corner of aluminum to cool.

Serve @ room temperature as is or with your favorite horseradish sauce.

How clean is your home?

I've long ago come to the conclusion that we are messy people. Even before the kids, we were cluttery, and I found that when we cleaned it up it got moved around (usually to our bedroom, with the door closed) rather than put away or organized.

Over time I've attempted to curb in that problem. I've read every book the Niles Public Library has on de-cluttering and home organization, not to mention the random books on Feng Shui. I became a very active member of Freecycle and a huge fan of craigslist, and for quite a while was a flailing member of Flylady. Still, and especially with the kids, our place often looks like a hurricane has hit it.

All that being said, we are clean. We scrub, disinfect, wipe-down, wash pretty much any surface that would need it. We're not great at dusting, but that's getting better. And yes, it's hard to do this being as cluttery as we are. My daily goal, which is often enough not met, is that if I had unexpected company, that I would not be embarrassed. I've learned to live with the messes of paper, crayons, markers and scissors that only get picked up if I do (and while I probably should do it every day, I don't. I have other things I consider more important), with the stacks of paper that get filed in a once-a-year filing marathon that lasts for 8+ hours. So long as we're actually clean, I've learned to live with the clutter...which is good, because I doubt it's going to change anytime soon.

How clean is your home? Any tips, suggestions or stories you'd like to share?

To Blog or not to blog...?

Well, I'm back and I'm thrilled. I've finished my first year of coursework for my Ph.D., although it looks like I'll be doing an independent study course over the summer (pending final approval). I have a ton of things to say, but I'm wondering...

Should I continue saying them?

It's fairly clear to me, and any of you who happen to still be reading this, that I will not be able to keep this blog up regularly, at least while I'm in the midst of coursework. It's not for lack of things to say, oh no (just ask DH, lol) but for a desire to stay on top of my priorities. And while I find blogging to be fun, enlightening, and well, fun, it isn't on the top of my list. Personally, I hate those blogs that aren't updated somewhat regularly. I mean, if they belong to friends I keep checking them, because they are friends...but that's the only thing that keeps me checking them regularly.

So I ask, should I continue blogging or just give it up?