However, that is not nearly the best part. Some chefs in Mexico City baked up the largest Cheesecake ever. Measuring in at over 2 tons (It weighed 4,703 pounds) and over 8 feet long (1 foot, 10 inches tall), it easily surpassed the previous record holder. This monstrosity was sliced up into over 20,000 pieces and served to a few neighboring communities.

For the full article (which I think I did a great job summarizing) and a couple of photos, one of which showcases the 100 kg of strawberries perched on the top of this dairy delight, check out the link below.

http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_The-Worlds-Largest-Cheesecake/blog/178167/7691.html

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The big question today was, "what is a kugel?"

I can tell you that this debate is far from over and if anyone has any definitions that they want to submit (or stand behind) to Joan Nathan, we will discuss them at the next meeting. (TBD, but soon). Thought for food:
- Ruby and I decided that a kugel could probably be boiled down to a simple question: "Would your Bubbe approve?"
- I understand that the Chudnow family has had a long history of kugels and kugel standards, which may now be changing. David would love to enlighten you at the next Shmooze meeting.

And on that note, I would like to congratulate David Chudnow on being voted first place in the non-existent Banana Bread category. I propose that we put his title to the test at the Relay For Life Shmooze Cookoff (or Bakeoff). We will be discussing this, among other things, at our next group meeting. (Still, TBD)

4th Annual Malka & Elimelech Kugelov Kugel-off results:
1. Orange You Glad it's a Potato Kugel - Yael Mendelson's interpretation of a classic
2. Apple Cobblering Kugel - Brett Siegal's groundbreaking layer kugel
3. Easy Like Sunday Morning a.k.a. The "Snuggies" of Kugel - Avery Robinson and David Chudnow's unprecedented Challah Kugel

Because some of the stickers may have fallen off during transportation, I am not exactly sure of the order for the following kugels, but does it matter? They were still mostly delicious.
• Pineapple Expression - Dena Cohen's tropical take on the classic noodle
• The Perfect Squash Kugel - David Chudnow's boldly-titled winter squash kugel
• A Really Korny Kugel - Amy Steinway's corn Kugel, and to think, it had the potential to power a car, or make Hillel's cutlery…Kugel is the preferred use
• Hadassah's Kugel - Avery Robinson's timely (Queen Esther) take on a classic Hadassah recipe
• Directive: Kugel - Laura Shefner and Madeline O'Campo's nutmeg-infused variation on a classic dairy, noodle kugel
• We're Not in Jerusalem Anymore Kugel - Avery Robinson's crack at a Yerushalmie in a rectangular pan
• This is a Kugel? - David Chudnow's banana bread

Malka and Elimelech Kugelov want to thank everyone who braved the rain to eat and and cast their vote. We value your civic ... err, cultural duty very highly here at Shmooze. I want to congratulate and thank everyone who baked a kugel.

More Shmoozing recap:
- There was a long and lengthy discussion involving Rich, Tilly, Chudnow, and a few others on the evolution of kugel and the influence of progressive society on what is commonly seen as a traditional dish: traditional v. post-modern/progressive interpretations of kugel.
- Thanks to Avi Sunshine who came all the way from Pitt just for the Kugel-off (and maybe Rich's performance in EOS) and to Shira Jacobson for driving all the way from Washington, D.C. (I hear she wanted to get a taste of the competition so she could enter next year in the alum category.)
- Andrew Dickson likes Kugel. Everyone likes Andrew Dickson.
- Props to Hillel (and its dedicated staff) for their continued commitment to "the greatest event of the year." —said by anonymous…not me, but it was said.
- Shmooze misses its alumni who are currently spread across the globe: Nepal, Singapore, Ecuador, Costa Rica, France, Israel, all over the US from Washington and California to Georgia and New York, and even Hawaii. I hear we have alums in Ann Arbor. Funny, I didn't see any today...

No, not the Yiddish word meaning "force or cry". I am talking about the Russian heavy metal band "GeVolt" that plays Yiddish and Klezmer music. I've been listening to their stuff on http://www.myspace.com/gevolt and have found that it is is not that bad. I'm not a big fan of hard rock/metal, but their song Shpil Zhe Mir A Lidele is alright (naturally you're entitled to your own opinions…just know that you might be wrong).

They are from Israel and are comprised of (from what I can tell) Russian-Israelis, including a drummer named Vadim (who is actually not on the internet Vadim database: (http://www.vadim.com/vadim/vadim_list.php). I don't know too much about them aside from what I picked up in class today and surfing the internet for the past couple hours; however, they were featured in the Forward. Instead of copying their article in my own words and butchering the message behind it, here is the link: http://www.forward.com/articles/11661/

Here is a translation of Shpil Zhe Mir A Lidele

Play me a song in the jewish spirit
it should awake pleasure instead of grief
that all old and young could understand it
from mouth to mouth it should be sung
: : :
Play play musician play
about my thoughts and desires
play play play a tune for me
play with heart and soul
: : :
A song without sighes and tears
play so that all should hear it
that all should see me still alive and singing
more beautifully and even better than was
: : :
Play play musician play
about my thoughts and desires
play play play a tune for me
play with heart and soul
: : :
Let's sing this song together
as good friends as children of one mother
my only wish is
this song should sound freely in all songs

Here is the press release from Sara Lee®:
http://www.savethedeli.com/2009/01/08/death-of-chicagos-deli-meat-dynasty/

Seeing as the kosher meat market in the midwest is going to be noticing some major cutbacks, I suggest Shmooze invest/purchase the old Best's Kosher plant in Chicago and rejuvenate the Kosher meat market. I think we have a lot of potential, especially those of you who are pursuing a career in business, economics, nutrition, and Jewish Culture.

What do you think?

Yeah, running the world's greatest kugel-cooking competition is awesome. And having Ralph Williams speak to us about Jews in Shakespeare was outstanding. Even raising thousands of dollars for Relay for Life was pretty good. But that was all a means to the end: hosting the gala.

I finally get my chance tomorrow. Aside from an appearance as Ching (the Chinese passenger with three lines in Anything Goes [the director told me not to sing during the chorus scenes and excused me from some of the dances]), this will be my first performance. A side note: everybody told me I stole the show.

But this will allow me to present original material, not something Cole Porter wrote in the 1930s. I've written the material (with my co-host Amira), and I plan on laughing my ass off the entire time. You should plan on doing the same. People who have heard the jokes have tried to describe them at "shmooze e-mail-esque" but they've been too busy laughing to get those words out.

On the subject of conflicts with season premiers of television shows and Frozen Four hockey games, I have a possible solution. I will DVR the game at my house. People can come back to my house after the gala to watch the game. I also learned I can record two shows at once. We could watch The Office and/or Scrubs at intermission (unless you have already made plans to watch it at 517 Elm).

And I know suspect voting strategies when I see them. I'm the guy who claims to be a co-champion of the first kugel-off even though the total number of toothpicks probably totaled more than triple the attendance. I feel like I have enough experience in illegitimate elections I could be an election observer in Russia (Boom! Take that, Putin).

Either way, why overdramatic and slightly sarcastic championship-claiming e-mail was not well received by all members of the Shmooze community — namely the "co-champions" Chudnow. Below is the e-mail I sent out to the Shmooze Club followed by the response e-mail he sent out. Noah chipped it at the end with his take.

Shmoozenikim,

Two things to tell you:
1. Thanks for making Relay for Life so great
2. I am co-hosting the Hillel Gala Thursday. Come!

1. Relay recap

I apologize for the lack of a comprehensive Relay for Life recap. I have been too busy celebrating my championship in the "cook anything you want as long as it contains zucchini and is pareve or milchig" challenge.

Man, was that glorious? It was the first time we switched from a toothpick voting system into an applause-a-meter system. There might have been some confusion about how many people you can scream for and how the meter actually works, but it was pretty clear that I won.

But there was more to the Relay for Life event than me legitimately winning my first Shmooze cooking championship. I want to thank our team captain, Rachel. She did a great job making this year's Shmooze Relay for Life so memorable.

Just as Rachel did in her e-mail, I would like to thank everyone involved with making it such a success. I could got through this name by name but I wonder if you really want to read that.

There will be pictures up on the Shmooze blog from Relay for Life. So please go there and check it out.

2. Thursday night is the end-of-year Hillel Gala. I am co-hosting.

If you enjoy reading the Shmooze e-mails I have sent over the last few years, then you'll probably enjoy my shtick. So, please come to the Gala. For seniors, there is a dinner starting at 7 p.m. Everybody else should come at 8 p.m. (oh, you'll get more e-mails about this)

If you are worried about missing the Frozen Four hockey game because of the gala, fear not. I will arrange for a DVR to record the beginning of the game (starts at 9 p.m.). We can then proceed from the gala to the TV and watch the game. We should be able to catch up to real time, so you're evening plans won't be delayed.

Eh... shmooze,
-Ian

Dearest Fellow Shmoozers,

I would like to clear up any misconception which might exist about the relay cookoff. While I personally believe that Ian's hash was far superior to my gourmet pizza, if one were to trust in the flawless "applause-o-meter," then the results clearly show a tie. I wish I could ignore this awful truth, but Ian, it was not a clear win.
Your co-winner of the shmooze semi-annual zucchini cookoff,
-David Chudnow

I don't want to get in the middle of this heated cookoff debate. However I am very worried about missing the most important television event this Thursday night has to offer whilst I attend the gala. It's not the Frozen 4, but rather, the glorious return of Scrubs at 9:30. Can DVR arrangements be made for this also? I'm kinda losing my mind.
-Noah

Eating and shmoozing.

That is what makes Relay for Life the perfect Shmooze event. For 24 hours, we hang out on Palmer Field, shpatzirning (Yiddish for "to go for a walk"), sitting around, munching, nibbling, shesh-beshing, kibbutzing, and shmoozing.

More importantly, we raised $3,000 to support cancer research.

I don't want to say that we had the best setup of any team on the track because it would seem as if I'm not being modest. But it's the truth.

The couch that typically resides on my porch was transplanted track-side at Palmer Field.

Each year, we have a food competition the night of Relay for Life. In year's past, we held the Erasing Stereotypes: Passover Dessert Competition and a Cheesecake competition. This year's event was "Cook anything you want as long as it is contains zucchini and is pareve or milchig." We received five entries to the event: sauteed zucchini by Ari, zucchini pizza by Chud, zucchini ratatouille by Rachel, zucchini bread by David and Nate, and zucchini hash by Ian.

For our in-Relay fundraiser, we decided to open up the Shmooze Hotdog cart Saturday night. It was awesome, and the crowd reacted well to it. We sold over 100 dogs.

For the second year in a row, the Parrotheads team ran the Relay for Life jail. You pay the Parrotheads a certain amount of money to arrest your friend. The Parrotheats arreast your friend and put them in their prison. While in jail, your friend must raise bail equal to how much money was put up to get you in jail. We put Rachel in jail, and she made a friend.

But, if you do care about winning and losing, though, here are the results. I just want to point out that, for the second-straight year, I have won the kosher for passover division.

1. Oh, Kugel — Dina
2. Special K (ugel) — Jacobson girls
3. Back to the Basics — David and Nate
4. For Cereal.... With Melk — Tani and Adam
4. Potato Explosion — Naomi
6. Challah Kugel — Shana
7. Squgel — Shira
8. We (heart symbol) Raisins — Madeline and Lauren
9. Grandma's Kugel — Pamela
9. Choc' ful of Kugel — Shoshana and Hannah
9. We were slaves, now we're kugel — Ian
12. Holy Crapple — Yael
12. First Try — Aaron W.
12. Sasquash — Aaron P.
15. Kugel Ha-mishmishim — Ian
16. Bugs Bunny Kugel — Ian

Now, let me explain why I lost this year. When my carrot and noodle kugels came out of the over, they were perfect. I was even told my an objective housemate, "Ian, this kugel is going to win" when he scrape the remains off my bundt pan. The problem lies in the reheating of the kugels.

Using an oven and a blech, I tried to reheat the 17 kugels. In this reheating process, my kugels were left on the blech too long and developed a charcoal blackness on the bottom. Luckily, nobody had these same issues. If you want to read two more pages of why I didn't win this year, let me know because I could write a dissertation about these excuses.

It was about the people. More than 100 — that is.

We had about 100 people for today's glorious kugel-off (Malka and Elimelech Kugelov are proud). I don't really know how that worked (physically, given the space constraints of our house), but it was pretty great. In fact, it doubled last year's attendance.

While Dina made the championship kugel (I believe it was of the Yerushalmi variety), there was tremendous parity across the 16-kugel field. In years past, the noodle kugel would dominate the field. Not this year. We had representatives from all members of the kugel family (noodle, potato, squash, matzah, carrot, etc.) And all performed well.

The only married woman to enter a kugel in the competition came out victorious (That means, I need to find a wife).

On a personal note, I will now reflect on my experiences in three years of organizing this kugel-cooking competition. While I walk away with just one asterisked victory in three attempts, I do so with knowledge that I have put every drop of ruach into this event and my kugels that I could. Maybe I don't have the bundt pans to show for my efforts, but I don't need the hardware to prove the effort I gave to make these events successful. Or maybe I'm just trying to justify my poor performances. (Kugel, I would never quit on you.)

For the second straight year, I have taken top honors in the kosher for passover division.

I used this joke last year, but I liked it a lot. So, I will repeat it. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Kugel Stadium PA announcer said (he yelled. we don't have a PA system on Shabbat): You are part of the largest crowd participating in a kugeloff anywhere in America today.

Without further adieu, onto the rundown.

Icebreaker: What did you do over winter break?
Ian: Visited my younger brother in Israel, where he is spending the year
Ian: Travelled to Petra (in Jordan) and didn't get kidnapped on the way (despite the unmarked cab)
Ian: Ate blintzes at a blintzes-only restaurant in Tel Aviv
Ian: Tried to line up a summer internship as a salesman in Shuk ha-Carmel in Tel Aviv
Ian: Spent time in the Ukraine, which is weak
Guy on the subway: The Ukraine is not weak (Seinfeld reference. Disregard if you didn't understand).
Ian: Visited Haifa for the first time in my life. It is a great city. Did you know that it is illegal for an Israeli to become a Ba'hai in Israel?

It was really amazing tonight how many Ians showed up at the meeting. Or maybe I was going the split personality route?
Ian: Were you?
Ian: I don't know
Ian: Shouldn't you know?

Now, onto the meeting.

I'd like to thank myself for catering the event. I bought lox, cream cheese, and bagels. If you are not aware, I have always found the idea of cream cheese repulsive (I can hear the Shmooze mobs with pitchforks and torches approaching my house). But I couldn't remember the last time (or if) I had a cream cheese sandwich. I decided that I would change that all tonight. If you clicked on the link, you saw what happened. If you didn't, you should scroll up and click on the link. I don't think it was bad cream cheese because my housemates ate it without issue.

In other Shmooze news, we will try and schedule Shmooze meetings at a time that is more conducive to Shmooze members. Now I know. Tuesdays at 6 p.m. = bad time.

If you are philosophy student, take a class with Darwall because he is leaving for Yale. He is teaching the History of Ethics.

Mika Levakmonte teaches political theory. He is a great teacher. There is a quite a bit of reading and he is a tough grader. No busy work, though. He is an outstanding lecturer. You need to do the readings.

Elizabeth Anderson has a great dry wit. You never get bored in lecture or discussion. She is a difficult grader, though. She is teaching Global Justice. She will also write a law school recommendation for you if you do well in her class. That applied for her other class, but I don’t know if it applies in this class.

Psychology

Psych 111: (Brian Malley): Had him for a social psych research lab, not this class. He didn't actually teach us a lot (might have been because it was a research class though) but personality-wise he's a funny guy and has a lot of research experience.

Psych 240: (William Gehring): As a teacher, I think Gehring is effective. The class was kind of challenging- there's a lot to remember for his tests, lectures are intense and you should take notes to help you understand the processes when you study for tests later.

Psych 323: (Nnamdi Pole): He's extremely detail-oriented, pretty thorough, and has a lot to offer students.

Psych 474: (Edward Chang): Didn’t have him for this class, but I liked his Abnormal Psych class. He expects a lot out of students. His discussion section was kind of a separate class from the lecture. Discussion was really informative though, and I learned a lot there.

Communication Studies

Comm 102: (Brad Bushman): Did not enjoy this class. Bushman kind of treats you like a 5-year old, explaining things really slowly and doesn't expect a lot out of you. You might be forced to take it because of a comm requirement... good luck.

Comm 371: (Paddy Scannell): Didn't have him for this class, had him for a Reality TV and Radio class. As a teacher, he's a little disorganized, but he's got a great personality and is great to be around. His accent alone (he's British) might be reason to take the class.

Political Science

Avoid William Clark.

Inglehart’s class is relatively easy, and the discussion was interesting. He is much better for small classes (e.g. POLISCI 389) than large ones (e.g. POLISCI 140).

Don’t take a class with Greg Markus unless you want to hear about the Detroit Project.

Don’t take a class with a visiting professor from Germany unless you want to pull your hair out.

Comparative politics is one of the best classes Lizzy ever took.

Don’t think that if a POLISCI course sounds interesting that it actually will be.

Don’t think that a course may look too advanced for you.

Keep up on the news when you are taking a poli sci course.

POLISCI 300 - Contemporary Political Issues… Lynn Rivers- former US representative…likes to talk extensively about her experiences.  Good for someone who wants to go into politics. Many short papers. EASY.

POLISCI 317- courts, politics, and society—Prof. Lawrence Greene.--- good overview of law.  Professor has been around forever.  relatively easy course.

POLISCI 389- Comparative Electoral Behavior- Prof. Jose Molina-  not a difficult class but the prof lectures by reading slides…one by one…extremely boring.

POLISCI 497- Jewish Political Tradition.  Prof. Zvi Gitelman.  Awesome professor but very demanding.  Difficult class. Hard grader.  Average grades are usually high C’s and low B’s. You learn a lot, though.

Another really great class that everyone loves is Law & Social Change (polisci 496 I think).  It's taught by Richard Bernstein & every single week he brings in a different speaker to discuss an aspect of legal social action which they had been involved in. Bernstein is really passionate and you can get whatever it is you want out of the class.

Art History

Matthew Biro is a good professor. He does photography and surrealism. He’s teaching HISTART 272 (20^th Century Art: Modernism, The Avate-Garde, and The Aftermath)

Environment

Lots of people take environ classes for NS credit.  This is a good choice, but don't be fooled into thinking that they are necessarily going to be really easy.  Environ 201 is easy, but extreme weather has a lot of tests (I haven't taken it, but that's what I hear.)  However, even thought they can be easy, they cover really important and useful topics, so an environ class is always a good choice if you're looking for something.

Intro geology is a sweet course if you like geology, but the professor is a terrible lecturer.  he is really funny looking though and has a funny name.  But I still read my geology book sometimes when I don't have a lot else to do.  Which happens a lot.

Don't take a course with Michaela Zint unless you want to be infantilized.  She is knowledgeable in her field, but a really annoying professor.

ENVIRON 306 - GLOBAL WATER is an AMAZING class with a sweeeeet professor.  Not too hard either.

ENVIRON 309 - haven't taken it, but GIS is a very marketable skill, so if you are looking to make yourself marketable, you should take this class.

ENVIRON 418 - I hear Ivette Perfecto is an incredible teacher.  I haven't had him, but I am taking a class with him next semester, so come hang out with me and we'll see if he lives up to the hype

James Diana is in charge of the U-M bass fishing team.  He teaches ecology of fishes.  Who woulda thunk it?  Oh, but he's not that great of a professor.  Nice guy though.

Screen Arts and Cultures (Formerly known as Film and Video Studies)

When looking at SAC classes, there is a distinction between a SAC major and someone who is just dabbling in the department.

To take production classes, you need to have taken SAC 236-Art of Film (which is a class I would recommend)

SAC 309 - Take Screenplay as Literature, taught by Victor Fannuchi. In the class, you learn how to analyze screenplays. You read 10 of the greatest screenplays ever written. It is also cross-listed in English

Mark Kligerman is a great teacher. He teaches a number of classes: from French cinema to sci-fi. He’s a great guy (Jewish, also). This semester, he is teaching SAC 366 (The Road Movie and American Culture), SAC 441 (French Cinema), and SAC 455 (Post-classical Hollywood Cinema).

SAC 351 - Richard Abel is a great teacher. He’s teaching early film history.

It is not being offered next semester, but you should look into to taking Perspectives of Shakespeare in Film. I believe it is offered in the fall.

If you have taken SAC 236/290, take Screenwriting with Terry Lawson.

If you are looking at spring courses, that’s the best time to check out the film classes, especially if you are not a film major. They will often test out the niche classes then, which can be really interesting.

English

The three most oft-mentioned professors in Shmooze meetings are Eric Rabkin, John Rubedeau, and Ralph Williams. You should look into taking their courses, but they are hard classes to get into.

Ralph Williams - He is a university legend. If you have never taken a class with Ralph Williams, that is why you need to take a class with him. Rumor has it that this will be his last semester at Michigan. He’s offering ENGLISH 483 (Primo Levi –just one credit [I audited this class two years ago and it was a great decision]), ENGLISH 371 (1600-1830 Literature), ENGLISH 401 (The English Bible: Its literary aspects and influences). He is also involved in Great Books.

Eric Rabkin – What I’d like to suggest to you is that you take this class. He insists upon excellence from his students while he demonstrates (daily) that excellence in English education—whether in terms literary theory, innovation, or tangential anecdotes—still exists. Texts are engaging (and quite manageable), lectures are well-structured and informative, and weekly responses comprise most of the course grade. He teaches ENGLISH 313 (Science Fiction) and ENGLISH 417 (Graphic Narrative). If you can take the graphic novel class (I’m not quite sure whether non-English majors/non-seniors can take it, but everyone can take Sci-fi), take it. It’s a small class. If you are interested in it, it’s very cool. It’s a hard class to get into. In other words, he’s a pretentious asshole, but you’ll learn a lot. He once kicked Adam Milgrom out of class for doing a crossword puzzle. He was so intriguing that Shmooze programming director emeritus Aaron Kaczander created an Amazon.com listmania of the books he’d like to suggest to you: (books that are outside of the syllabus). http://www.amazon.com/Professor-nbsp-Rabkin-nbsp-What-nbsp-I-d-nbsp-Like-nbsp-To-nbsp-Suggest-nbsp-To-nbsp-You/lm/R2U4U7BK08DRSN/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1

John Rubedeau – Take ENGLISH 325/425! Regardless of your major, this should be a prerequisite for graduation.

Another great English teacher is Julian Levinson; he teaches Jewish American Literature. He's a bit of a hard grader, you need to stay on top of the reading, but his class is a pleasure to go to.

A recommendation from a Shmoozenik from abroad: Take the New England Literature Program in the spirng. A testimony: It is the best thing I did in school (besides attending two or three Shmooze meetings). The professor is Rubedeau-esqu.

Not being offered next term, but keep in mind for the future: Jewish literature with George Bornstein. A great class, especially for Shmooze.

Joyce Meier is great. It’s essay writing. She teaches ENGLISH 326 (Community Writing and Public Culture)

Leigh Woods does a English/theater class ENGLISH 444. It’s intro to drama and theater. It’s very interesting. He’s a good guy, good teacher. It never hurts to familiarize yourself with drama and theater.

For senior English majors, take English 417 with Nicholas Delbanco- The Sincerest Form. You read 20^th century American short stories and write your own.

English 225 - with Nick Harp specifically…excellent teacher… I think he also teaches 125 (or maybe 325). great writing coach. Topics of the course vary by semester. When I took the class, we had 4 writing assignments and we could write on whatever we wanted.

ECONOMICS

Environmental econ is a good class.

(I hope to expand this section but haven’t received any advice to pass on yet

HISTORY

Matt Lassiter won the Golden Apple Award. History of Suburbia is a fall class you should take it. He also teaches post-1945 American history.

HISTORY 201 - Rome is an easy class. It’s straight forward. Van Dam. It’s a great class. It can be part of your intro sequence for History majors and minors.

Paolo Squatriti is a good teacher in history department. HISTORY 391- Medieval Catastrophes and HISTORY 211 – Late Middle Ages

Jonathan Marwil- excellent professor, harsh grader, If you want something out of the class, take it with him.

History 384- Jewish History- Prof. Howard Lupovitch—awesome visiting professor. I don’t know if he will be back next semester because he only a visiting professor. But he has been at Michigan twice in the last two years, so odds are he might come back. If he does, take his class. It is awesome.

For the history-major in you, Social History of 20th Century American Wars is great. I think it may only be offered in the fall, the teacher is a hard ass, but it is definitely worth it and the reading is actually enjoyable.  For any history majors who need to fulfill their colloquium requirement, there's a class on the history of American Medicine (taught by Martin Pernik) that was really enjoyable.

SOCIOLOGY

Sociology 389 – Very little work. You go and tutor one day a week. There are many sections. You can even be taught by me (well, not myself but somebody with the same name)

Don’t shy away from things that sound stranger (e.g. Congolese Dance) because it might be the best thing that will ever happen to you.

AMERICAN CULTURE

You need to look at it two different ways: majoring vs. pop culture. For lower-level classes with no intention of majoring, try to find someone who has taken the professor. It’s all about the professor.

Any class with Richard Meisler is worth taking.

Bruce Conforth is another professor worth checking out

Hebrew and Jewish Culture Studies

If you have any questions about these classes, let me know. I haven’t found anybody to write about them for this course gudie but I could find answers to specific questions about professors.

HJCS 200 - intro to world religions.  great class--- co-taught by three professor….Williams (great), Jackson (awesome), ginsberg (very fair).

PSYCHOLOGY

We will get a more thorough rundown of the psych department.

Psych 418- Psychology of Spirituality. Dick Mann.  Highly recommended.  Students grade themselves at the end of the semester (lots of reading, though).  Hard to get into the class…applicants must submit an essay about their experience with spirituality and Mann selects the class members.

OTHER GENRAL ADVICE

For anyone who is quantitatively challenged, stats 350 could or couldn't be the way to go.  It knocks out your QR requirement and Gunderson has a reputation for being great. Being the number-hater that I am though, it was impossible for me to like the class (though I think most people do when it's taught by her)

And lastly, for any science haters, bio 118 is a nice, whole 4 credits with the reputation for being the biggest blow-off on campus. The teacher (Robert Bender) is absolutely nuts, but it definitely keeps class interesting. One piece of advice would be: study his old tests! Seriously, all his tests are largely based on old ones. And, for anyone looking for a 1 credit natural science credit: avoid Climate & Mankind, take Coral Reefs.

The following does not represent the opinion of all of our members or our parent organization, University of Michigan Hillel. It is just the compilation of the opinions of some of its members and receives the Shmooze Club stamp of approval.

Each year, I play the "how many of these people do I recognize" game. I think I'd heard of 13 last year. Now, let's see.
I think that's 19 this year.

Note: I'm only writing down the names of people I recognize.

Mukasey? Check.
Do I count Rogen and Apatow as one? No, two.
Sheldon Adelson? Check.
Waxman? Check.
Bloomberg? Check.

At this point, you probably want me to stop listing people whose names I've recognized. What else am I going to do, my homework? No.

Jimmy Delshad? Check.
Dershowitz? Check.
Soros? Check.
Yoffie? Check.
Arnold Eisen? Check.
Foxman? Check.
Gutow? Check.
Tarsy? Check.
Messinger? Check.
Spektor? Check.
Chabon? Check.
Steinhardt? Check.
Robert Aronson? Check. You might actually know Robert Aronson if you're from the Detroit area.

Amazingly, I only had to include three first names with the last names. The other 16 last names are pretty recognizable.

Preicebreaker conversation:
Michigan equestrian, Michigan polo, NCAA equestrian, NCAA polo?, summer camp, going to a small high school, history of Instituto Dr. Jaim Weizman

Icebreaker: TV you watched and loved, and then went downhill (and might still watch)
Ian: 24
Shira: 90210
Erick: Prison Break, The OC (David liked the OC until the end)
Tedi: One Tree Hill (but she and Shira have such a dedication to it)
Matt: Family Matters. It actually became better the worse it came. Any time you introduce time travel…
David: The Sarah Silverman Program should never have existed. I watched the last five minutes of the shown and then I watched Drawn Together. And I actually liked Drawn Together more.

Shabbat Dinner:
We debated whether or not to have the Shabbat dinner this week?
Pro: We scheduled this six weeks ago. We should stick with the date. It would give us a deadline to organize the “storage� room in our house that is supposed to be the dining room.
Con: It’s Fall Break. No one is going to be here. Matt can’t do this week. People have many tests this week. The room next to our kitchen is not organized.
Meh: Eh, I could with either.

And the winner is … next Friday.

Andrei Martkovitz:
Shmooze agreed to have Golden Apple Award-winning professor Andrei Markovitz speak. The initial topic was Jews in European Soccer. People in attendance didn’t think many people would attend this event. We tried to think of a broader topic that would appeal to more people.

In the meantime, the conversation shifted into whether Ralph Williams is really retiring. What else will he do with his time? If he were to spend his time writing, does he have an extra big keyboard? Shaq has an extra big bed.

While this was occurring, I was typing and thinking of ideas. Here we go: Racism in soccer.

Tomorrow, we’ll run it by him.

World-record dreidel spinning: stay tuned for details.

Two weeks ago, New York Times' writer William Safire did an in-depth study of the word "schlep" in his On Language column in the newspaper's Sunday Magazine.

He explains the two accepted definitions of the word and some that are unacceptable. The verb of schlep is to drag, haul or lug, normally involving weariness works. The noun form of the word is a pull, drag or jerk doesn't work so well.

The parts of the article that I like the most are when he talks about the word schmooze (obvi) and when he quotes James Joyce as one of the earliest references of schlep in English (derived from the Yiddish).

After reading this article, I am also a huge fan of lexicographer Sol Steinmetz (I'm going to go buy his lexicographer rookie card). He is a fervent believe that shlep — just like shmooze — should not be spelled with a "c."