yah it think $() is the shortcut for $(document), i seen it listed some place in the docs,
maybe try ... $(Array()).each()?
$(Array('')).each(function(i) { } )
Jquery has a DOM plug-in , that allows your to store dom in a Object format.
yet i think you can just do something like ..
$('#idContent').add('
test').find('a').each(function(){
});
above is just one way, i am sure other jquery users here will give you good suggestion other then above logic.
Nilesh