46 Friday, December 30, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Veterans of Jewish Legions
to Lead Independence Parade
JERUSALEM—The Veter-
ans of the Judean Battalions
have been invited by the
Israeli government to lead
the Israel Independence
Day parade next spring.
The parade will also fea-
ture men who fought with
British army units and units
of other Allied armies in the
Second World War (includ-
ing the Red Army), fighters
of the pre-state Haganah,
Palmach, IZL and Lehi, and
members of the Mahal unit
of overseas volunteers
which took part in the War
of Independence.
There will also be a con-
tingent of servicemen repre-
senting all the units of Is-
rael Defense Forces.
According to William
Braiterman of Baltimore,
some 300 of the 5,000 men
who served in the Judean
Battalions and the Zion
Mule Corps are still living,
and 150 live in Israel.
If they are too infirm to
march because of their age,
Braiterman said, "we can
put them on a float and
have it towed all the way."
The first volunteer unit to
serve with the British forces
was set up in 1915. It was
made up of young Palesti-
nian Jews who had been
expelled by the Turks to
Egypt.
They had asked to be al-
lowed to form a Jewish Le-
. .gion but were permitted
only to serve as a detach-
ment for mule transport.
They became the Zion Mule
Corps, 650 men in strength,
headed by Yosef Trurnpel-
dor and commanded by Col.
J.H. Patterson.
The Corps was sent to
Gallipoli in May 1915 and
disbanded at the end of the
ill-fated campaign.
Early in 1916, 120 former
members of the Corps again
volunteered for service with
the British forces and, at-
tached to the 20th London
Battalion, they became the
nucleus for the Jewish Le-
gion being sought by Zeev
Jabotinsky, Pinhas Ruten-
berg, David Ben-Gurion and
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
The Legion consisted of
the 38th Battalion, Royal
Fusiliers; the 39th Battal-
ion, (more than half of whom
were American Jews); and
the 40th Battalion, which
was all-Palestinian.
It was the Balfour Dec-
laration which generated
real enthusiasm for the Le-
gion, - says Braiterman.
Then a boy just 16, he had
lied about his age and en-
listed.
He remembers vividly the
recruiting drives on the
East Side of New York, with
the Zionist flag and young
Jews being called on to vol-
unteer to defend their home-
land, Palestine.
Once the war had ended,
the Legionaries had hoped
to form the nucleus of a
defense system for the Jew-
ish National Home.
But the British wanted the
Legion to quell rebellious
movements in Egypt. This
-
the Legionaries would not
accept. Then the demobili-
zation was ordered of those
who had volunteered in Brit-
ain. The Americans de-
manded to be demobilized,
too.
"Most of us would have
stayed in Palestine; but the
Zionist Organization was
powerless — they had no
money, no organization, no
work. So most of us re-
turned to America," Brai-
terman says.
The end of the Jewish
battalions came after their
members had taken part in
the defense of Jewish settle-
ments against Arab attacks,
despite orders confining
them to barracks.
In May, 1921, the few
Legionaries, still serving
under Col. Eliezer Margo-
lin, rushed to- the help of Tel
Aviv, which was under at-
tack from Jaffa. Margolin
was forced to resign for
unauthorized action, and the
Battalions officially dis-
banded.
Baal-Berith was the name
of the deity worshipped in
the earliest Israelite period
at the Temple of Shekhem.
The temple was destroyed
in the 12th Century BCE by
Avimelekh, the half-Shekhe-
mite son of the great judge
Gideon after his suppression
of a counter-revolt.
The Technion Sleep Laboratory
Works at Helping Tired Israelis
HAIFA A new labora-
tory at the medical school of
the Technion - Israel In-
stitute of Technology is
helping cure scores of Is-
raelis with sleeping prob-
lems.
The sleep diagnostic labo-
ratory, the only one of its
kind in the country, has
tested more than 100 Is-
raelis in the last year. Their
problems have ranged from
hypersomnia, an inability to
stay awake during the
daylight hours, to insomnia,
difficulty in falling asleep.
The advanced techniques
of the Technion sleep labo-
ratory have brought to Is-
rael the means for a more
exact diagnosis of sleeping
problems.
In the laboratory, patignts
are hooked up with electro-
des to devices that trace
brain movements, eye
movements, and muscle
tone.
"During sleep all these
variables change. The abili-
ty to measure sleep cycles
gives us an insight into
sleep disturbances and how
to treat them," says Dr.
Peretz Lavie of the Tech-
nion Medical School, De-
partment of Behavioral Bi-
ology.
Sleep is organized into
two alternating states, he
says. One is rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep,
—
during which dreams occur.
This is followed by a period
in which no dreaming takes
place. Generally, the
healthy person begins sleep
in the non-dream cycle, and
has "dreaming - periods
about every 90 minutes.
The patient's sleep is
measured all night, some-
times for a 24-hour period;
from data received a treat-
ment can be suggested,
whether it be pharma-
cological or simply a sug-
gestion to change sleeping.
habits.
Sleep disturbances are a
widespread phenomenon.
"Estimates taken in the
American population show
one-third of a percent of the
population have the problem
of excessive day sleep-
iness," explains Dr. Lavie.
"In Israel this would trans-
late to more than 9,000."
Excessive daytime sleep-
iness can be dangerous, he
adds.. Those suffering from
narcolepsy, a disturbance of
the central nervous system,
fall asleep without control
during the day.
"It can happen two or
three times a day, any-
place : while working, cook-
ing or driving a car," Dr.
Lavie says. "The dangers
are obvious—a man working
with heavy construction
equipment, ignorant of this
AAJE to Honor
Mandell Berman,
Robert Arnow
disturbance, may fall asleep
on the job endangering
lives."
Others being diagnosed at
the Technion suffer from an
inability to sleep at night.
There are various causes
and sysmptoms, from
trouble breathing during
sleep to early morning
awakenings and multiple
awakenings during the
night. Many patients suffer
with psuedoinsomnia. They
think they are tired from
not sleeping, but actually
sleep well. Others have de-
veloped insomnia from a
misuse of sleeping pills.
MANDELL L. BERMAN
The work of the labora-
tory is growing—as more
Israelis learn about the
service, demand for it is
constantly increasing. Tech-
nion scientists are inter-
ested in expanding their
work.
"We would like to do pre-
ventative medicine, to
check workers, to avoid ac-
cidents, rather than only
check afterwards, some-
times when an accident has
already occurred," he says.
"We don't know, for ex-
ample, what percentage of
industrial accidents or driv-
ing . accidents may be
caused by sleep related
problems. We would like to
find out."
ROBERT H. ARNOW
Robert H. Arnow and
Mandell L. Berman of
Detroit, outgoing president
and chairman of the
governing council of the
American Association for
Jewish Education, will be
honored at a Council dinner
Jan. 21 at the Fifth Avenue
Synagogue in New York
during a two-day meeting
of the Council.
Hollywood Will Film Menahem Begin Autobiography
HERBERT G. LUFT
(Copyright 1977, HA, Inc.}
HOLLYWOOD—Menahem
Begin's autobiographical
book, "The Revolt" (soon
to be published also in
Egypt) has been sold for
motion picture production
to Sandy Frank of New
York through the William
Morris Agency, exclusive
literary representatives of
the Israeli Premier whose
face in recent weeks has
been exposed on television
more frequently than the
one of a movie star.
Polish-born Begin, a
self-made man, came to
Palestine during World War
II as an ex-soldier to
organize a Jewish
resistance movement,
which under the Irgun
banner was to trigger the
uprising against the British
when it became apparent
that the borders and
seaports of Eretz Yisrael
remained closed to Jewish
refugees trying to save
their lives—as the
systematic extermination
went into full gear in
German-occupied Europe.
In 1943, this columnist,
who had gone through the
horrors of Nazi
concentration camps,
joined with others in
Hollywood in a militant
campaign headed by the
late Ben Hecht to rescue
the Jews of Europe by
supporting the Irgun. and
subsequently a Jewish
government in exile set up
in this country. The
countenance of Menahem
Begin then was known to
no one except the members
of his Palestine brigade.
Sandy Frank, up till now
basically involved in the
distribution' of filmed
television shows, will act as
executive producer of the
forthcoming motion picture.
He assures the public that
the filmization of "The
Revolt" will be in good
taste and fitting the stature
of the Premier and the
cause he has represented.
Sidney Beckerman
announces that he has
acquired film rights to
Andre Malraux's - Man's
Fate, - a romantic story set
against the epic events of
the great Chinese
revolution. MGM originally
planned production seven
years ago with Fred
Zinnemann directing, but
abandoned the project as
too costly.
Beckerman has now
reactivated the venture
with Paramount as his
partner, after their joint
production of - Marathon
Man" grossed a cool $30
million. Beckerman's
"Raid on Entebbe, -
originally made for
network television, is
successfully being
distributed in Europe as a
theatrical feature.
Beckerman plans a total
of seven films budgeting
$40 million in conjunction
with Paramount. While
Man's Fate" has a
maximum price tag of $15
million, his next-
to-the-highest budgeted
feature. "Bloodline," from
the still unpublished novel
-
by Sidney Sheldon, will cost
$10 million. An adventure
story with an international
flavor, "Bloodline" is being
transposed to the screen by
Oscar-winning writer
Edward Anhalt with John
Frankenheimer set to
direct.
Walter Bernstein,
Academy Award-nominee
for his screen play of "The
Front," adapted
"Semi-Tough," Dan
Jenkins' novel about
professional football, with
Michael Ritchie directing
for producer David
Merrick—the Broadway
magician—and United
Artists Corp.
The action-comedy
spotlights the escapades of
two athletes portrayed by
Burt Reynolds and Kris
Kristofferson with Jill
Clayburgh as their
romantic interest and
Robert Preston as her
father, the bullying owner
of the football team.
Lotte Lenya appears in
the cameo role of a
"muscle-relaxing - miracle
healer of real and
imaginary ills. Widow of
Kurt Weill and best known
for her portrayal in the
Bertold Brecht-Weill's -The
Threepenny Opera" in
pre-Hitler Germany, she
was seen in such Hollywood
pictures as "The Roman
Spring of Mrs. Stone, -
"From Russia With Love . '
and The Appointment. -
Steven Spielberg, the
29-year-old director of
Jaws" and - Close
Encounters of the Third
-
Kind, - switches to
producing, with "I Want to
Hold Your Hand," a
Beatlemania episode
involving six kids in the
first television appearance
of the Beatles at the Ed
Sullivan show in New York
almost 14 years ago.
Spielberg picked up the
screenplay by two
2 6-year-olds, Robert
Zemeckis and Bob Gale,
with the first one doubling
as director and Gale as
associate producer.
Spielberg acts as executive
and also directs second-unit
involving car stunts.
Best known in the
youth-oriented picture is
Susan Kendall Newman,
daughter of Paul Newman,
who has appeared on and
off Broadway and most
recently completed her
first big film role in Robert
Altman's - A Wedding.
Roman Polanski and
Lorenzo Semple. Jr. have
completed screenplay to
.Dino De Lauren-
tis-Paramount pro-
duction of "Hurricane,"
with sets to be constructed
at the South Sea shores of
Bora Bora where the
picture is scheduled to go
before the cameras next
spring if Polanski is
available at that time.
In the meantime, Roman
has surrendered for a
90-day prison study to
undergo psychiatric
examination prior to
sentencing in Los Angeles
for unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor.
Fritz Feld has been
honored by the Screen
Actors Guild upon
completion of his 425th film
role. The 77-year-old actor
entered film making in 1917
in Paul Wegener's "The
Golem," for Davidsohn's
Union (forerunner of the
UFA empire) in Berlin.
As tribute to Feld, two
films in which he portrayed
important parts were
screened in Hollywood,
Howard Hawk's "Bringing
Up Baby - and Mel Brooks'
"Silent Movie." the first of
the 1938 vintage, the second
made as late as 1976.
We need volunteers just
as George Washington
needed them back in 1776.
Volunteers who expect
nothing but the satisfaction
of serving a great cause.
Men and women with
spirit and compassion -.7.to
fight a foe that has killed
more Americans than all the
wars in our history.
We need you...to help us
in the fight against cancer.
When you give your time
and your effort to your local
ACS Unit, you are making an
investment that pays divi-
dends in the saving of lives.
Your nearest Unit is anx-
ious to hear from you. Vol-
unteer today.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY