2007 is a year of new beginnings for me, so it’s only appropriate that I’ve started two new blogs: illumineerima (a blog about Estonian culture and society) and the pesky ‘tarians (a culinary correspondence). fade theory will turn two later this year and continues to be my main blog with daily postings about all things book-related.

It’s been real!

But that doesn’t mean you can’t read it: THE OBLIGATION OF SERVICE: THE JEWISH CHRONICLE AND THE FORMATION OF THE JEWISH LEGION DURING WORLD WAR I

I didn’t make all of the changes I had hoped, thanks to an international move and a new job, but I was told it was good as it stood. So, that’s that. Now it’s just a matter of time until they send me my diploma and the thesis on CD.

Estonia’s presidential election took place this past Saturday. I watched it on tv, though it’s difficult to express the thrill of watching someone count paper ballots. But, considering I’m trying to learn Estonian numbers, it was time well spent.

The election takes place every 5 years. Since Estonia regained independence in 1991, there have been two presidents: Lennart Meri (who died this past March) and Arnold Rüütel. Rüütel, a “reformed Communist”, was running for re-election. His main challenger was Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Ilves was an interesting candidate. First, he was born to Estonian parents in Sweden. Second, he was raised in New Jersey and has degrees from Columbia and UPenn. Third, he gave up his US citizenship and moved to Estonia. Fourth, he wears a bow tie. He has lots of American mannerisms (he smiles, for example) and speaks English without an accent. From what I can tell, native Estonians have accepted him. And, of equal importance, the Estonian parliament has accepted him. He was elected as Estonia’s next president and will take office on October 9th.

Many Estonians have expressed discontent over the electoral system. The Estonian people vote the 101 members of Parliament into office, and then the Parliament is responsible for electing the President of Estonia. In the event that the vote does not result in a two-thirds majority for one candidate, then there are two more votes held (starting from scratch). If there is still no candidate with two-thirds of the votes, there is a later vote held by the electoral body (comprised of the 101 members of parliament and representatives of the local government councils), totalling 374 members. This electoral body vote is the one I watched.

As City Paper highlighted in this article on the election, Estonia sets an important, international example in the realms of “reform and modernization.” It seems that Ilves, a Social Democrat, will help continue that trend.

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US widow deported over Nazi past:

Mrs Rinkel’s husband Fred was a German Jew who arrived in the US after escaping the Holocaust. He died in 2004, never learning of his wife’s secret.

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New Year, New Dumpling:

But Jewish food has become so diverse, how about a taste of another kind of traditionfor Rosh Hashana on Friday night? A new dumpling for the holiday.

I am in a bit of a cooking conundrum this Rosh Hashana. First, my kitchen things have not yet arrived in Estonia. We have two pots here from Ikea (one big soup pot and a smaller sauce pan) and two wooden spoons and my knife set that I brought in my suitcase, but that’s it. Second, I no longer eat chicken or beef, which are common ingredients in Jewish cooking. There are lots of vegetarian recipes out there, but I haven’t figured all that out yet. Third, the ingredients commonly available in the US are not necessarily easy to find here. And since I can’t read Estonian (although I can identify the word for pork), Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, or Russian, my only hope is when labels have English or Spanish or Italian.

So, this Rosh Hashana will be very untraditional. We have a vegetarian borsht (from a jar; just add water). We have bread. I will probably make an egg-and-tuna salad. We have kidney beans, which I might add to that salad. And we have some cooked rice and pasta, but no sauces for them. Apples and honey for dessert.

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Jewish Cooking Q&A with Joan Nathan.

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Fresh Air recently had a few interviews discussing Christian Zionism: here, here, and here.

Last week, Drew University informed faculty members and graduate students in English and the department of modern history and literature that it planned a review of the two departments’ Ph.D. programs. That announcement alone would not have been news: Such reviews are commonplace and, at a time of heightened scrutiny of doctoral education and the quality of higher education generally, would seem like sound policy.
But Drew’s approach raised eyebrows and, in some circles, hackles, for several reasons…

Read the full article for those reasons. They’ve suspended admissions for these programs and this news has me worried. I’ve been eying Drew’s book history program (part of the department of modern history and literature) with great interest for some time.