THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Israeli Editors Say Farewell
to Southern Sinai Desert Region

(Continued from Page 1)
and jeeps. In their fields
they use modern tractors.

The Bedouins have now
developed many water re-
sources and are no longer
compelled to wander. They
use electricity and drive on
modern roads. The Israeli
authorities installed mod-
em sanitary and health sys-
tems. Clinics were brought
into many places. Jewish
loctors and nurses are con-
stantly visiting distant
places in the desert and give
medical help. The Bedouins
say they will be missed in
the future.
Many Bedouins are
working in military
camps, building roads
and oil-drilling. They are
employed in gas stations,
hotels and citrus groves.
They are worried about
unemployment when the
Egyptians take over.
The monks of Santa
Catharina Monastery, who
have become used to Jewish
tourists, are worried - about
their future after the end of
Jewish rule. The monas-
tery, allegedly situated on
Mount Sinai, was built in
the Fifth Century and is one

r

of the oldest monasteries in
the world.
We visited the library of
the monastery which is fil-
led with ancient manu-
scripts. We admired the old
thorn-bush in the desert.
According the monks it was
here where God revealed
himself to Moses. We saw
the famous cellar with hun-
dreds of skeletons. These
are the skeletons of monks
who have lived and died in
this monastery since it was
built. The dry climate
preserves the skeletons.
In the vicinity of the
monastery lives a Bedouin
Bribe which came from
Romania and Sudan in the
time of Emperor Justinian
in order to work for the
monastery. When the Arabs
took over the Sinai Pennin-
sula in the Seventh Century
these Bedouins became
Moslems.
From here we flaw to
Ezion, the modern mili-
tary airfield near Eilat.
When American Defense
Secretary Harold Brown
visited this airfield a
short time ago, he regret-
ted that because of a dis-
tance of five miles from
the future border be-

JERUSALEM — Scien-
tists in the Energy Research
Center of the Hebrew Uni-
versity of Jerusalem are
joining the worldwide drive
to find new sources of
energy, so as to liberate
modern civilization from its
bondage to petroleum. Some
of these scientists are trying
to harness the energy of the
sun.
"Theoretically, no form of
energy used by man is as at-
tractive as solar energy
would be," says Prof. Joseph
Rabani, head of the Energy
Research Center.
"The beauty of solar
energy, is we ever get it to
work practically and
economically, is that we
will create a closed cycle:
the sunshine comes
down, is used, and is re-
turned; there is no pollu-
tion. We have a beautiful
model in nature, the
photosyntheses of plants.
But finding such a model
`oesn't mean that we can
...eproduce it artificially."
Prof. Rabani said he sees
many difficulties ahead be-
fore man can switch on solar
energy like he switches on
an oil combustion engine.
The main difficulty is
that the energy of the sun,
which may seem so intense
to somebody sunbathing on
a beach in midsummer, is
really very scattered and
diffuse. It has to be concen-
trated, converted into heat
or electricity and stored.
Prof. Rabani's own group
is trying to store solar light
in chemical systems. A sec-
ond group in the Energy Re-
search Center, headed by
Prof. Renata Reisfeld, is try-

ing to develop glasses which
will both concentrate the
light and change its
wavelength in order to re-
duce the cost of photovoltaic
cells.
He believes that the
best way to store solar
energy is in chemical
form. "We're working on
a way to convert solar
energy to chemical
energy, somewhat on the
lines of the model of
photosynthesis. We have
to find a chemical system
which will absorb
photons of light, so that
the absorbing chemical
becomes 'excited,' and
acquires a higher energy
level than it originally
had. Subsequently, We
can release the energy in
a controlled way
whenever we want to do
so."
One possible technique
may be the use of solar
ponds containing a dark
chemical, with the ponds
kept under glass to avoid
evaporation.
He concludes with a
warning: "What I've been
telling you is pure theory.
Although it is theoretically
feasible, we have many
basic problems to solve. It
may take years before we
can produce anything prac-
tical."
Prof. Reisfeld is more op-
timistic in her forecasts
than he is, although she too
wraps her explanations in
cautionary warnings that
many obstacles lie ahead.
But she has succeeded in
her laboratory in creating a
new type of colored glass,
which should simplify the

Kfar Habad: Village of Schools

JERUSALEM — Kfar
Habad is a sprawling vil-
lage near Tel. Aviv on the
old highway to Jerusalem.
It is unlike any other village
in Israel. Seventy-five per-
cent of its 400 families are
involved in education, and
school buildings rather
than acres of crops mark the
scenery.
The name of the village is
a Hebrew acronym meaning
wisdom, understanding,
knowledge and explains
this pre-occupation with
learning. Habad is an
offshoot of Hasidism.
Whereas the parent move-
ment practices an emo-
tional approach to religion,
Kfar Habad stresses intel-
lectualism.
Over 2,000 students from
many countries receive
their education in Kfar
Habad.
They range from toddlers
to teenagers and young
adults immersed in advance
Torah studies.

tween Isarel and Egypt,
$1 billion will have to be
spent for building a new
airfield in the Negev.
Ezion is built on a height
of 800 meters. It is situated
in the desert and has a com-
fortable climate for flying
throughout the year. We
saw young technicians pre-
paring fighter planes.
Among the technicians
were some young girls. One
of them, Judith Maimon
from Jerusalem, brought up
the rockets and bombs to the
plane, which was ready to
take off within a few min-
utes.
The Ezion airfield was
completed in September
1972. In the Yom Kippur
War in 1973, this airfield
served both the Northern
and Southern fronts.
Israel has agreed to trans-
fer the military airfields in
Sinai:to Egypt. The U.S. has
taken upon itself the obliga-
Many of the pupils
tion to finance the building
of two new military airfields come from broken homes
in the Negev, which will or are delinquents. Fre-
take approximately three quently they are per-
ytivs. This is one of the sua.ded to come to Kfar
pMes Israel will have to Habad by their contem-
pay for the peace with poraries who have pre-
ceded them there.
Egypt.
Every institution has its

Hebrew Univers4 Scientists
Work on Ways to Harness Sun

conversion of solar energy
into electricity, and should
make the process far more
efficient and economical.
The idea is to replace, in
part, expensive solar cells
by cheap glass.
Based on the extensive
research carried out by
her team, Prof. Reisfeld
has invented a method of
treating glass with inor-
ganic ions. Sun rays, fal-
ling on the glass, cause
the glass to fluoresce. The
light is concentrated and
reappears in intense
form on the edges. When
the glass is placed in jux-
taposition to a silicon
solar cell, large amounts
of light energy are trans-
ferred.
Heat is not wanted; an
advantage of the system is
that it keeps heat away
from the silicon cell, as heat
diminishes the cell's effi-
ciency. But Prof. Reisfeld
believes that the heat can be
used as a by-product to heat
water.
Given the means, she
hopes that she can produce a
working model within three
years.

And
Ruth
said:
"Entreat me not to leave
thee, and to return from fol-
lowing after thee; for
whither thou goest, I will
go; and where thou lodgest,
I will lodge; thy people shall
be my people, and thy God
my God; where thou diest,
will I die, and there will I be
buried; the Lord do so to me,
and more also, if aught but
death part thee and me,"
—Ruth 1:16-17

Friday, August 10, 1919 5

own boarding school, but
the children have families
in the village who look after
them and where they can
find a home-like atmos-
phere whenever they feel
the need.
The bond with the village
remains after graduation
and throughout army serv-
ice, and some of the
graduates decide to settle in
Kfar Habad after their dis-
charge from the army.
The village is also the site
of an absorption center for
new immigrant families op-
erated in conjunction with
the Jewish Agency.
Almost an institution in
herself is one of the vil-
lagers, • Shifra
Golomovitch. Having lost
her husband in the Six-
Day War in 1967, Shifra
has taken it upon herself
to look after war widows

and war orphans all over
Israel.
The mass Bar Mitzva cel-
ebrations for fatherless boys
at Kfar Habad have become
legendary events attended
thousands.

Deity—Hospital
Srepathy

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