THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, February 11, 1977 53 Alma: The Sad State of a Decaying Upper Galilee Moshav BY UZI BENZIMAN (Copyright 1977, JTA, Inc.) The sheep wander along the single cracking street of Moshav Alma, walking right into the paint-peeled houses in their perpetual search for food. Boys and girls play- ing hooky from school, vociferously chase the sheep. Uniformly overweight women chatter noisily in Arabic while spreading red peppers in their cour- tyards in order to pickle them in the last of the au- mn sun. /ilma, a 100-family (750 p-erson) agricultural set- tlement ,populated by immigrants who came to Israel from Libya in the early 1950s, goes about its humdrum daily routine. Everything that hap- pens — and doesn't hap- pen — in Alma must be seen against the backdrop of a continuous and ongo- ing feud between the two clans which comprise the bulk of the population in the settlement. Ever since its estab- lishment, 25 years ago, Alma has been the scene of a bitter, emotional and sometimes violent dis- pute spiritedly conducted by the two clan heads. The dispute is, in fact, the key to comprehending- the miserable situation of this Upper-Galilee set- tlement. Local politicians run- ning each year for a seat on the village council use almost any means in order to achieve power. They resort to. pressure, terror, blandishments and promises in order to win votes. The politicians who win office improve the stan- dard of living of their own clan while deliberately discriminating against the rival family. The perpetual conflict between the two clans has been dominant in Alma's brief history. The poor conditions of the village are reflected in almost every aspect of its life. Physically, Alma re- sembles a refugee camp rather than an agricul- tural village. Its houses are cracked,' and chipped, and their courtyards littered with garbage. There are neither gardens nor lawns in Alma; any open spaces are unkept and overgrown with thistles. Most of Alma's families have many children, but `Dry Bones': A Best-Seller - r1.16. CHAIR 44AS U 1?(A) ADVISED - NAT Toe DisiitAuISRED Re??€S60-1\11U6.1. By MEYER LEVIN (Copyright 1977, JTA, Inc.) A surprise best-seller in Israel, now catching on here, is "Dry Bones," a compilation of cartoon strips from the Jerusalem Post, published by Cheeryfield Associates, Tel Aviv. Ya'akov Kirschen has a drawing- style and satire-slant en- tirely his own; perhaps the nearest model would be Jules Feiffer, but rschen's mockery is involuted. And he's warmer: • The cartoons, while ex- cellently drawn, with an amazing economy of line, are basically verbal. Kirschen's pet themes, spiced with the flavor of life in Israel, have univ- ersal frustrations, ironies, contradictions as the stuff for mockery. Thus, bureaucracy is a No. 1 target, as in the strip showing a series of pictures of a dejected an- cient. The balloons read 1. Methusalah, you're 969 years old!! 2. What keeps you going?? What secret of characters. inner drive pushes you Other favorite charac- on?? 4. How have you ters are Arafat and Kis- "hung on" this long?? singer, both deftly carica- (Methusaleh speaks) — tured. And then there is I'm still waiting for them Kirschen's own creation, to install my telephone. 6. Shuldig, a bald-headed (He slyly holds up two goo-goo eyed little man fingers in the V for vic- with a few side-hairs and tory sign.) a potato nose: Israel's av- The combination of a Bi- erage citizen, long- blical figure with a suffering, ever hopeful, present-day subject, while warm hearted; and a disil- a favorite use of anac- lusioned observer of in- hronism in the cartoon ternational politics, with world, is particularly apt wry comments on Kis- for Israel, of course, and singer, the United Na- Solomon is a recurring fi- tions, inflation, and gov- gure in the Kirschen cast ernmentalism. only a few of the parents are able to help educate their children. Only 20 percent of Alma's young pupils reach an accepta- ble academic standard. There is effectively no cultural activity whatever in Alma. Most of the villa- gei-s rarely leave the vil- lage. Most do not read either books or newspapers. Television is the single line of communication be- tween Alma and the world outside. Apart fromtheir formal participation in the yearly elections, the vil- lagers are indifferent to the political or practical situation prevailing in their village. The people of Alma con- sider themselves aban- Cantors Will Hold Parley doned and backward. They say that they are not competent to educate their own children, nor do they have a real chance to improve their lives. In purely economic terms, it must be stressed, Alma is not dificient. The villagers have quite high incomes and the au- thorities have over the years allocated considera- ble funds for individual and communal help when required. Nevertheless, it seems clear that without a basic effort to assist with the mental and psychological difficulties of Alma resi- dents, the village will continue to reflect a sub- standard pattern of civic life in comparison with mainstream Israel. NEW YORK — The first annual mid-winter conference of the Canto- rial Council of America will be held Sunday, at Yeshiva University's Midtown Campus in Manhattan. Music for Rabbis Hit Bingo, Passover will be featured. Millionaire Parties The third session will feature "Hazanut for BY BEN GALLOB Pesakh" with Cantor (Copyright 1977, JTA, Inc.) Hyman J. Adler, Cong. The use by synagogues Bnai David, Detroit. of such gambling methods as Las Vegas p nights and bingo to raise funds to help meet their budgets is strongly op- A quiz testing your knowledge about posed by the central or- Jerusalem has been prepared by Tamar ganizations of Reform, Grand and Dr. A.P. Gannes in obser- Conservative and Or- vance of the 10th anniversary of the thodox congregations reunification of Jerusalem. This fea- and does not appear to be ture has been prepared for the member a significant problem for papers of the American Jewish Press any category of syna- Association by the Department of Edu- gogues. cation and Hebrew Culture of the That conclusion American Section of the World Zionist emerged from the results Organization. of a telephone survey by 1. Wha.1 is Hakirya? the Jewish Telegraphic 2. How many members are there in the Knesset? Agency of the views of of- 3. How many houses are there in the Knesset? ficials of the (Reform) 4. Are there any Arab members in the Knesset? Union of American He- 5. What law was passed by the Knesset to protect brew Congregations, the free access and religious practice of all faiths? (Conservative) United 6. Who is the mayor of Jerusalem? Synagogue of America, 7. What made it necessary in 1948 to abandon the the Union of Orthodox University activities on Mt. Scopus? Jewish Congregations of 8. Who was the first president of the Hebrew Univer- America and the (Or- sity? thodox) Young Israel or- 9. Who is the current president of the Hebrew Uni- ganization. versity? The survey was made 10. Where are the two campuses of the Hebrew Uni- after an official of the versity located? Rabbinical Council of 11. What boulevard in Jerusalem was named for the America, an association first president of Israel? of Orthodox rabbis, de- clared that leaders of the 12. A street in Jerusalem was named for Ibn Gabirol. Who was he? major American faiths should band together "to 13. What street in Jerusalem is named for a leader of the World Mizrachi organization? There is also a combat the proliferation university in Tel Aviv which bears his name. of Las Vegas nights and other forms of blatant 14. What is the oldest Jewish hospital in Jerusalem? gambling in synagogues, 15. There is a color often used to describe Jerusalem and it is contained in a popular song title. What is churches and religious it? institutions" which he said "undermine the reli- 16. What kind of stone is traditionally used for build- ing in Jerusalem? gious character of these 17. What is Gan HaAtzmaut? institutions." 18. What famous hotel in Jerusalem bears the name of a biblical king? Greece•Uses Solar 19. The city of Philadelphia presented Jerusalem with Plates from Israel a replica of a famous American symbol. Whatis it? TEL AVIV (JTA) — An 20. What is the inscription on this symbol? Israeli company that Quiz Answers manufactures solar (snoiliAarn energy collector -plates „•puer- i.notprioatii uwelooad„ 'Og aqT i has licensed a Greek firm • eIuualuaolg u -eopaury aqT jo uopeaciaiaD to produce the devices to ut paTuasead sum Hag S.;iaqvi am. jo uatjda.z ata '61 provide hot water for pIneci .8T hotels and other public tuaiesnaar jo &41D maN aqT IaToH ill )1.1ed aouapuadapui 'LT buildings. auo;sauzii )luid-uapion 9T Two Greek hotels, one pion Jo maiesniar netrez tails uziSeietisrmaA ' ST on Crete and the other on 3 1431 eZ arouLls 17T the island of Myconos, are ueii-aeg nark poiqu'a *ST now deriving their -uieds SanivaD I T T jo aatidooutid pun energy from solar plates laod ma.maH 2uipeai e sum iodigen uca uotuoios gT patented by the Miromit prenainog uuutuzIam 'TT Co. of Israel. The Israeli uez{ 4eAlD pun sndoas •I.AT up OT firm has also supplied tie Luxe H illetreaAv '6 plates for one of the sau2evi ri crepnf zQ '8 largest hotels on Corsica •uoii.e.zacin jo aum aqT 2utarip and for Israeli hotels at squid; aqT Sci jjo Trio sum sndtueo am 64 .4 ssaoov Eilat on the Red Sea. )1aII0 31 SPPai *9 The rise in fuel prices L961 `2,3 has caused two kibutzim aunf uo passed Akw-i saDuid SioH jo uop5aToad aqy to shift to solar energy. .g aau °Jam luas Beit Hashita in the Jez- a.id TV •alup o; awl; tuoaj salaun aaquinu aq; `saA t reel Valley and Maagan auo :quo .o Michael, on the Mediter- OgT ranean coast, have instal- •paifeD st mapsruar led solar energy systems Jo luautuaano2 aq; levitik st 4ut.n. pu? based on the patents of ut lau.zsi alum 2u1u.eatu !mom ma-a-ciaH ati; st uSapjuH Prof. Harry Tabor. Jerusalem Quiz trI7rm, . . Pittsburgh Elderly Get Federal Aid PITTSBURGH (JTA) — A one-year federal grant to the United Jewish Federation of- Greater Pittsburgh will be used to develop a program of new services to the Jewish aged in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, ac- cording to Dr. Sidney N. Busis, Federation presi- dent. Busis said that the $78,809 grant will make possible "a bold new program of socialization, recreation, outreach, in- formation and referral" for some 2,500 persons over 60. The activities will be offered at the National Council of Jewish Wo- men's Anathan House and at the Jewish com- munity center's Irene Kaufmann center in Squirrel Hill. .