THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 20 Friday, November 5, 1976 HARRY ABRAM SELLS MORE Happy in Homeland, Falasha Yearns for Family in Ethiopia By DR. MILTON MUTCHNICK Because He Gives on your trade in MORE al• discount (Editor's Note: This is the final article in a series by Dr. Milton Mutchnick, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. His annual visits to Israel take him throughout the country.) Menachem came to Is- rael just over one year ago and within three months of declaring him- self a citizen of his new country, he was inducted into the army. The period of adjustment to Israel's society has been eased by the regimentation of the service Give me a try before you buy ALL OUR OLDSMOBILES HAVE SAKS APPEAL LADIES SERPENTINE CHAIN 15 Inches-Reg. $22.97 SALE $17.97 MEN'S SQUARE LINK CHAIN 18 Inches-Reg. $58.65 SALE $39.47 UNISEX HEAVY ZIG ZAG SERPENTINE- 15 Inches- Reg. $96.75 14 Kt. Yellow Gold SALE $79.97 UNISEX HEAVY FANCY CHAIN- 20 Inches-Reg. $129.75 SALE $109.50 . 1 MONOGRAM NAME-14Kt.•Reg $70.00 Gold filled-Reg. $27.75 Reg. $74 50 2 DIAMOND PENDANT 3 PERSONALIZED DOG TAG-14 Kt.-Reg.'$70.00 _ SALE $46.90 . SALE $17.95 . Gold filled-Reg. $21.50 Reg. $9.50 4 14 Kt. Italian Good Luck Horn- LADIES FANCY RING- 27 Ct. Total Wt Reg. $400.00 . SALE $337.50 SALE $65.97 SALE $46.90 SALE $14.97 _ SALE $6.97 6 14 KT. YELLOW GOLD CROSS- Reg.$18.47 SALE $14.97 7 SCRAMBLED NAME-14 Kt. Reg. $97.00 SALE $64.99 Gold filled Reg $37 50 $27.25 8 HEAVY 1 KT. GOLD ZODIAC $131.27 ,SALE $87 95 1 LOVE KNOT RING Reg. $27.00 SALE $18.97 2 INITIAL FOR RING-Reg $12 00 SALE $7.25 3 DIAMOND INITIAL Reg $70.00 SALE $46.90 4 PHOTO CHARM 14 Kt. Gold 1 UNISEX TUBE STYLE- Reg. $48.50 SALE $33.50 UNISEX HEAVY I.D.- Reg. $147.50 SALE $95.97 2 OPEN LINK STYLE: Ladies-Reg. $119.50 SALE $95.97 Men's-Reg. $123.97 SALE $99.97 I 3 LADIES PLAQUE STYLE Reg. $14.97 SALE $11.47 4 LADIES OCTOGON BANGLE STYLE Reg. $187.97 SALE $167.97 Register To Win $50 Gift Certificates Reg: $21.50 SALE $15.00 MEN'S HEAVY SIGNET HAND CUT RING •Reg. $97.75 SALE $76.75 MEN'S DIAMOND CLUSTER 1 Ct. Total Wt.-Reg. $362 47 SALE $329.59 1 1/2 Ct. Total Wt.-Reg. $547 47 SALE $497.99 3 Ct. Total Wt •Reg $1147.47 SALE $1079.97 1 SOLITAIRE DIAMOND- 1 : Ct. Total Wt.-Reg. $117.47 SALE $89.75 1 Ct, Total Wt.-Reg. $661 50 SALE $539.27 2 GEOMETRIC & DIAMONDS- 10 Ct. Total Wt.-Reg. $147.50 SALE $1 21 75 3 SQUARE HOOPS-Reg. $29.50 SALE $19.97 4 MODERN HEARTS-Reg. $39.97 SALE $29.97 5 DOUBLE RAMS HEAD HOOPS-Reg. $39 97 $29.97 6 HAMMERED HALF MOONS-Reg.$34.97 SALE $27.89 €1kri 1k€€SC 101/2 at GREENFIELD LINCOLN CENTER, OAK PARK 48237 968-0303 MON., TUES.. WED., SAT. 10-5 • THURS. & FRI. 10-8:30 military service. The army has also served to substitute for the family Menachem left behind in Ethiopia. Menachem is a Falasha, a black African Jew, who has claimed the right of repatriation to his homeland. The Falashim claim to be de- scended from the Queen of Sheba and King Sol- omon. Their ancestors re- turned to Sheba, the pre- sent Ethiopia, and brought with them the re- ligion of the ancient Is- raelis. The Falashim have perpetuated their reli- gion which is basically unchanged from that practiced in Solomon's day and is devoid of all the subsequent commen- taries and oral laws of the later Jewish writings. It is estimated that around 100,000 Falashim live in Ethiopia, many of whom would prefer to emigrate to Israel. The Ethiopian government is not kindly disposed to this movement, particularly when prodded by their Arab neighbors. Thus, the Falashim remain an iso- lated group of persecuted Jews unable to control their destiny. Menachem arrived in Israel under the guise of requesting a travel visa to come as a tourist. He did not indicate to the au- thorities that he was Jewish. Upon arriving in Israel he declared his in- tention of attaining Is- raeli citizenship. Menachem has at- tempted to aid his family in reaching Israel but has failed to obtain exit visas from Ethiopia. He finds life lonely on occasion and has associated with other Falashim who have suc- ceeded in coming to Is- rael. When asked if he was accepted by Israelis, Menachem replied, "Al- though I am black, I have no difficulty because of skin color. I am most sur- prised that this is so, for when I lived in Ethiopia, I always thought that whites and blacks were at odds with each other. "I have not encountered any prejudice and, in fact, most Israelis want to hear about the situation of other Falashim in Ethiopia. I feel very- com- fortable here and am de- pressed that I cannot see my family." Menachem has four brothers and two sisters, each of whom is married with children. When asked why he doesn't re- turn to Ethiopia, he re- plied, "This (Israel) is my country; I am a Jew and I have returned home." Menachem has become a political activist along with other Falashim in an effort to expatriate his family and the many thousands of other black Jews remaining in Ethiopia. He expressed anger to- wards the religious au- thorities in Israel for hav- ing dallied so long before making the religious de- cision that the Falashim were indeed Jews. By that time, the opportu- nity to openly arrange for the immigration of the Falashim had passed. "Quite frankly," he said, "almost all Falashim would come to Israel in order to live as Jews and follow the Torah. My ex- perience as a black Israeli has been good, but thus far we Falashim number only 100. I would think that if we came by the thousands, some disruption would occur and some Israelis would react negatively." Menachem smiled as he concluded, "But this experience was endured by the Iraqi Jews, the Yemen ; . Jews, many of whom are black, and presently by the Russian Jews. Israel is our home- land and the Israelis are our kin." 400-600 Jews Left in Lebanon PARIS - Reports from recent Jewish refugees escaping the fighting in Lebanon put the number of Jews left in that coun- try as between 400 and 600, as reported by the Paris office of the Ameri- can Jewish Committee. A breakdown of figures by areas shows that about 150 Jews remain in Hamdoun; 40 in Man- sourieh, a village near Hamdoun; one family in Aley (formerly a refuge in the hills for many Jew: but now totally de stroyed); another 50 live in the Wadi Abu Jamil section of Beirut, in the synagogue courtyard and surrounding area; about 60 in the Hamra; about 50 in the northern Christian zone, and other families scattered throughout the country. The chief rabbi and another rabbi who serves as a shohet are also in Hamdoun. Rabin Man of Year in Poll TEL AVIV (ZINS) - The Israeli leaders do not enjoy a good measure of popularity among the citizens of the land re- ports Pori, an institute that researches and polls public opinion. On the question: "Who is the most positive per- sonality in the country - you would consider to be "Man of the Year?" the institute reports the fol- lowing results: Premier Yitzhak Rabin was in first place but received only 18 percent of the re- spondents. In second place was Shimon Peres, but he received only 11.7 percent of the vote. In third place: Menahem Begin with 6.5 percent; Gen. Arik Sharon was in fourth place with 5.9 per- cent of the vote. Others were: Gen. Dan Shomron (commander of the Entebbe operation) with 2.2 percent; Golda Meir with 2 percent; Moshe Dayan with 1.8 percent; Prof. Yigal Yadin with 1.5 percent; Yonatan Netanyahu (de- ceased hero of the Uganda operation) with 1.2 percent; Abba Eban with 0.7 percent. 28.1 per- cent found no suitable candidate. The institute also asked "Whom would you like to see in the three most im- portant positions - that of premier, defense minister and foreign minister?" The following were the responses:Premier, Yit- zhak Rabin 34.7 percent; Begin 14.4 percent; Peres 13.6 percent; Yadin 4.6 • percent; ,Dayan 2.8 per- cent; Sharon 1.6 percent; Meir 1.6 percent; Eban 1 percent; Yigal Allon 0.3 percent; Ezer Wetzman 0.2 percent; other candi- dates - 2.9 percent. A total of 22.3 percent abstained from voting. For defense minister: Peres 43.3 percent; Sha- ron 16.9 percent; Dayan 9.4 percent; Rabin 2.5 percent; Begin 1.1 per- cent; Yadin 1.1 percent. Weizman 0.8 percent. Allon 0.4 percent; Eban 0.3 percent; Meir 0.2 per- cent; other candidates 3.1 percent. A total of 30.3 percent abstained. For foreign minister: Eban 25.7 percent; Allon 24.3 percent; Yosef Tekoah - 2.8 percent; Peres 2.5 percent; Begin• 2.3 percent; Chaim Herzog 1.7 percent; Rabin 1.6 percent; Yadin 1.0 per- cent; Dayan 0.8 percent; Gad Yakobi 0.2 percent; Sharon 0.2 percent; other candidates 6 percent. A total of 30.3 abstained. The poll also showed that 45 percent of the population are in favor of allowing Kadum of Gush Emunim to remain in its place and 35.1 percent op- posed. Israel Budget Figured in Billions - JERUSALEM (ZINS) - Moshe Zanbar, the di- rector of Israel's Gov- ernment Bank reported that next year Israel's governmental budget will reach 125 billion Israeli pounds ($12.5 billion). By the end of the current year Israel's debt will add up to $9.5 billion. The in- terest alone will amount to $500 million per year. The inflation is con- tinually growing. Economic researchers report that the cost of liv- ing will continue to rise next year. Products that now cost 100 Pounds will cost 170 Pounds next year. Israeli Air Force Receives Tanker WASHINGTON - The Israel -Air Force has taken delivery of one Lockheed KC-130 tanker version of the C-130 (Her- cules) troop transport and is waiting delivery of a second aircraft, says "Aviation Week." It adds that Israel has also ordered a total of 24 troop-cargo versions of the C-130.