12 Friday, September 14, 1979
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Jerusalem's Lack of Industrial Development Creates Problems
Israel's
Jerusalem,
largest city, has not been
developing industrially at
an adequate pace in recent
years according to a recent
story by Harley Braidman
in Israel Digest.
Industry should account
for nearly 20 percent of eco-
nomic activity, yet it now
accounts for only 11.5 per-
cent of all economic activity,
as compared with 25 per-
cent in Tel Aviv and 19 per-
cent in Haifa. City indus-
trialists are concerned be-
cause in the last five years
no industrial firms have
been established in the cap-
ital, the number of building
starts and apartments in
stock has fallen, and there
are no new hotels under
construction.
One of Jerusalem's main
problems is the fact that it
has a special character as a
university, civil service,
and government adminis-
trative city. These account -
for the majority of activity
— no less than two-thirds in
fact. Further, Jerusalem's
work force is much lower
than the national average,
due to the fact that the
population includes a par-
ticularly large number of
people on welfare and many
yeshiva students.
is
then
What
Jerusalem's industrial
situation on the ground?
The capital enjoys De-
velopment 'B' status,
under the Encourage-
ment of Capital Invest-
ment Law. It also pos-
sesses industrial parks,
extensive research and
development facilities,
modern highways and
very good banking serv-
ices.
There are excellent voca-
tional schools and colleges,
but because of the dearth of
science-based industries,
there is a drain of trained
personnel in the capital. Al-
though the expensiveness of
the land and the high de-
velopment costs have deter-
red potential investors from
coming to Jerusalem,
industrial rent is relatively
low because the Jerusalem
Economic Corporation has
provided space to scores of
small plants and workshops
which moved to five indus-
trial parks.
Nevertheless, the eco-
nomic organizations and
firms in Jerusalem have
been lobbying the Knesset
members to press for De-
velopment-'A' status or even
special status under a new
law.
As for the employment
situation in industry, there
are, a disproportionate
number of Arab production
workers in Jerusalem, fac-
tories and workshops,
which make for an imbal-
ance in the political and se-
curity situation.
One-third of the indus-
trial force is Arab, and
absenteeism by Arab
workers could disrupt
industry severely. There
are indications of syn-
dicalist action outside
Histadrut frameworks by
Arab workers, and even
political organization in
the guise of social and
economic activity.
At the moment, 9,000
Jews are needed annually to
redress the employment
balance in industry, or a net
rise of 4,000 workers. In
fact, however, in Israel as a
whole, only 4,000 people
went into industry last
year.
What can be done to re-
medy the situation? The an-
swer seems to be science-
based industries which can
provide work opportunities
for university graduates.
One such firm, Basic Auto-
mation, which produces
micro-processors, has pro-
vided employment for 40
graduates.
Six new industrial
science-based firms are
going up in Jerusalem this
year in the medical, phar-
maceutical, food and acous-
tic waves fields. A toxicolog-
ical laboratory is being es-
tablished and the Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and
Tourism is hoping for an-
other 10 new firms to be es-
tablished in 1980.
Despite this turn for the
better, there are other
problems. For example,
Atarot, the largest indus-
trial zone, does not even
enjoy a regular bus serv-
ice for bringing em-
ployees to and from
work. The East
Jerusalem Electric Cor-
poration has not been
able to maintain a consis-
tent, unbroken electricity
supply and some firms
have installed their own
generators to offset the
millions of pounds worth
of lost production. The
answer, industrialists
say, is electricity from the
Israeli national grid.
Another vital drawback
is the high cost of housing,
which is causing young
married couples to leave the
capital. Prices of apart-
ments more than doubled in
1978.
Yet another field in which
Jerusalem could be further
boosted is tourism, though
there has been fine progress
in the past. Atarot Airport
should become interna-
tional, with charters direct
to Jerusalem. There should
be an air terminal in the
capital to ease the pressure
on Ben-Gurion Airport. The
train service to Jerusalem
must be improved, with a
new terminal. A new route
to the coastal plain should
be planned.
Land should also be made
available for hotel building
and a special center built for
holding international con-
gresses, as rather unexpec-
tedly, the Jerusalem Con-
vention Center is fast be-
coming too small for this
purpose. Commercial and
tourist complexes in
suburbs would eas
pressure on the cente f
town and attract investors
to the capital.
Even though Jerusalem
has a special character as
the capital city, a university
town and the center of the
country's administration, it
is unhealthy that its eco-
nomic and industrial base is,
not developing more rapidly
and the authorities should
surely give a higher degree
of priority to reversing the
present-trend.
Deaf Brother's Feel for Sound Led to Youth Seeking Cantorate
By DANIEL STONELEIT
(COPYRIGHT 1979, JTA, Inc.)
"What do you hear?" I
asked him.
"Corey opened his mouth
and his voice would rise and
fall, getting softer and
louder; just like shaping
phrases in a piece of music
where you have a crescendo
and decrescendo to bring
across the words more effec-
tively. He was feeling my
expression and imitating it
He was able to pick up the
vibrations of my voice by
feeling his bed and the wall,
which conduct sound. Corey
would also watch my
mouth. He's a very talented
lip reader, and was able to
piece this into his under-
standing of what music is.
"That night was a tre-
mendous discovery —
and it helped to shape the
course of my life since. I
discovered Cong. Bene
Shalom and began work-
ing with it.
"Shortly after, an old
woman came up to me in the
congregation after I had
been singing and said she
hadn't heard a human voice
that clearly in her whole
life. Nobody had ever sung
for her before — and I was
singing for her!"
"People often ask me,
Why a cantor for the deaf?
They can't hear you,' "
Ronald Eichaker says.
For six years, beginning
at age 16, Eichaker has
served without pay as can-
tor for Cong. Bene Shalom,
Hebrew Association of the
Deaf, in Skokie, Ill.
A first-year student at
Cantors Institute-Seminary
College of Jewish Music,
which grants the diploma of
cantor and the degree of
Bachelor of Sacred Music to
those men wishing to enter
the cantorate, Eichaker
maintains his close ties to
the congregation, flying to
Skokie for High Holy Day
services and keeping in con-
stant communication with
the congregation.
His commitment to this
unique congregation, the
only one of its kind in the
country with a full-time
rabbi, began long before
he wanted to be a cantor.
It stemmed from his rela-
tionship to his younger
brother Corey, who is
deaf. Eichaker shared a
room with his 10-year-old
brother. One evening
when he was practicing
There had been a congre-
his singing, Corey lay
gation for the deaf in Skokie
down to go to sleep. for 20 years, but it had no
Eichaker stopped sing- rabbi or cantor, and was run
ing. Corey looked up and
asked him why he had on a volunteer basis. The
congregation would rent
stopped.
"It surprised me," rooms in other synagogues
Eichaker remembers. "I for services since it could
not afford a building of its
said, 'But you can't hear
own.
At this point, a rabbin-
me.' Corey replied, 'Yes I
ical student at Hebrew
can.'
Union College, Douglas
Goldhamer, would fly in
from Cincinnati to conduct
weekly services for the con-
gregation. The members of
the congregation decided
that they wanted to hire
Goldhamer as rabbi when
he completed his studies.
It was Eichaker's mother
who suggested that they
meet. Eichaker recalls,
"Rabbi Goldhamer and I
talked about a service that
would serve the needs of the
deaf. He was taking sign
language instruction in
preparatien for his future
assignment. Deaf people
wanted a real congregation.
I was very enthusiastic
when I heard of his plans
and hopes. When he asked
me to be the cantor of the
congregation, I made one
stipulation: I could not ac-
cept payment. This was to
be my mitzva."
on,
then
From
Eichaker drove 100 miles
from Northern Illinois
University every week to
participate in services.
His brother is a member
of the congregation. His
mother had assumed
Corey would not have a
Bar Mitzva because he
was deaf. Rabbi Gol-
dhamer began to teach
Hebrew to both the adult
deaf and the children.
Since then, many have
marked their Bnai Mitzva
with biblical readings —
including Corey.
Eichaker explains the
format of the services for the
deaf. The rabbi reacts the
prayer in Hebrew first. He
then repeats it in English
while using sign language.
This has a function of ex-
pression, of drawing words
out, as in music and dance.
A sign can be made to shape
a phrase so it's not just
words out of a book, but a
feeling being expressed.
Similarly in the sermons.
Sign adds a dimension, like
Marcel Marceau miming
`Charge- of the Light
Brigade' and Orson Welles
reading it. It combines vocal
and visual communication.
This is the essence of the
services. When the rabbi
reads from the Torah, again
he reads first and then
signs. Bar Mitzva boys
learn to pray in the same
way the rabbi does and to
deliver their sermon the
same way."
Eichaker chants the serv-
ice in Hebrew, and says that
it was a slow process to edu-
cate the deaf in Hebrew. "I
now have a choir of deaf
people, led by a woman, Lois
Gordon, who has been with
me for the entire six years.
She's hard of hearing, but
not totally deaf. She can
pick up my sounds a little
easier than a deaf person.
Her knowledge of sign is in-
valuable; she signs while I
sing. Usually it is just she
and I in a Sabbath service.
She stands next to me. It's
not word-to-word relation-
ship in sign language. I'
shape the phrase of a song
and there is a rest in the
music. I hold the note out to
see where Lois is, and end
the phrase at the same time.
It is very important that we
begin and end every phrase
at the same point to keep
the symmetry of the song.
"When we do Hebrew it's
even more difficult. Lois
cannot read my lips in He-
brew so it's up to me to know
the prayers in English and
know where she is. This
takes practice since most of
the service is now in He-
brew."
It has been only in the
last two months that a
very significant event has
happened in the congre-
gation: the deaf are now
singing; they are moving
their lips and making
sounds as they sign!"
Cong. Bene Shalom pur-
chased its own building four
years ago. It now has a
membership of 250. Some
congregants travel from
Tulsa, New Orleans,
California and beyond to
attend services at least onf.e
a year, and many deaf and
hearing people from the
greater Chicago area come
every week.
Stamps Depict Israel History
Pictured above are Israel's first stamps, released
on May 16, 1948. The stamps depict ancient Hebrew
coins which were issued almost 2,000 years ago.
It was decided that every
By ISRAEL I. BICK
year the most important
Israel Stamp
events linking the Jewish
Collectors_Society
Starting in 1948 when the people should be commemo-
first stamps were issued rated, regardless of any
almost on the day of inde- other stamps released that
pendence the founders year. As a result, the annual
unanimously agreed that New Year and Indepen-
the_ancient coins of the last dence Day series came into -
periods of freedom should be existence.
The first commemo
portrayed. Thus the stamps
at
were inscribed "Hebrew issued after the
Post" and depicted coins of Hebrew coins was a series of
the Bar Kokhba (132-135 five in 1949 honoring
CE) and the war of the Sec- Jewish New Year and pic-
ond Temple (66-73 CE). turing antique scrolls.
The first Iridependence
Mechanical facilities and
supplies were virtually un- Day series showed some of
obtainable, yet they were the early ships bringing
Jews hoMe to freedom in.
issued in two days.
When Israel was chosen their own country.
The 1950 high holida;
as the name of the free
Jewish state, a stamp was series was designed by
issued in blue and white, tist Arthur Szyk, t :!"
showing the flag with the onetime indifferent Jev,
Magen David that had been who rediscovered his faith
chosen as the official banner alter the state of Israel came
into being.
of the state of Israel.