THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israelis People of the Book — Live Up to Their Name
By JENNIFER
ARENSTEIN
world. What is more, this
year's International Book
World Zionist Press Service
Fair in Jerusalem enjoyed
The People of the Book unprecedented success.
are still living up to their
At' the 20th annual He-
reputation in modern times. brew Book Week (or Book
Despite the country's eco-..- Celebration as the Pub-
nomic and political prob- lishers' Association prefers
lems, Israel continues to to call it), held in June in
publish, import, and buy Israel, 35,000 new books
more books per capita than and new editions were in-
any other country in the troduced. The chain of pub-
lishers' booths extended as
far as two kilometers in
some major cities. Mordecai
Bernstein, president of the
Publishers' Association, es-
timates that one hundred
In The Heritage Bldg.
million Israeli pounds were
NORTHWESTERN AT EVERGREEN
spent by Israelis during
NOW AVAILABLE FOR
Book Week.
What books do the Is-
PRIVATE PARTIES
raelis buy? More children's
SATURDAYS TIL 6 p.m.
books than ever before,
especially educational vol-
SUNDAYS TIL 2 a.m.
umes for the family library.
HAPPY NEW YEAR]
Generally speaking, men
• Bar Mitzvas • Showers
tend to like biographies, or
books written by current
• Sweet Sixteens
leaders such as Moshe
• Disco Parties
Dayan, Ezer Weizmann or
• All Occasions
Abba Eban. The women pre-
fer novels, or often poetry or
ASK FOR TED
classics recommended by
353-4010
the bookseller. Detective
novels are increasingly
popular with both sexes.
The Israeli reader, who
also reads more news-
papers than anyone else,
is influenced by world
.Sinrere 1?c..1 11 i.shv•
events in his choosing of
1•nr 1
non-fiction books. An
In(1•Perteqiil
American President's
Neu. )(:(Ir''.'
visit, for example, will
empty the shelves of his
biography, as well as
other material on Ameri-
can government. Other
events from sports
championships to hit
movies will usually affect
book buying.
Always a comparative
bargain in Israel, books are
becoming increasingly fash-
ionable gifts. The mark-up
on imported books, though
still formidable for an Is-
raeli salary-earner, is still
considerably less than the
mark-up on other imported
items. At the same time, the
advent of ultra-modern
local printing presses has
heightened the attractive-
ness of many Hebrew books
and rendered them suitable
19172 Grand River
for gifts.
THE
411\
PERFECT
BLEND
1
TO ALL OUR
FRIENDS & PATRONS
CHUCK
JOSEPH'S
PLACE FOR STEAK
the
s•omtm
lertw•e
as
•
27822 ORCHARD LAKE RD.
.1, -
At 12 Mile, Just Off U.S. 696
',
851-4094
Open Mol thru Sat. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 a.m.
WISHES EVERYONE
A HEALTHY AND
HAPPY
NEW IYIEVIR
WE'RE COOKING UP SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR
THE MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER
SPECIAL DINNERS FOR TWO . . . MON. & TUES. UNTIL 11 p.m.
WED. THRU SAT. BEFORE 7 p.m.
Includes
Antipasto &
1 /2 Liter or
House Wine
• VEAL SCALLOPINI
• VEAL FRANCESCO
• VEAL PARMESAN
'1 5 couple
a
c
-
Friday, September 21, 1919 59
SERVINGITALIAN-AMERICAN
CUISINE IN THE FINEST
TRADITION
Hebrew cook books, home countries like Singapore
and child care books, and and Kenya contributing for
handicraft guides are ex- the first time.
tremely popular. Surpris-
OVER
The two largest civilian
ingly, in the fact of the eco-
40 YEARS A
research projects in Israel
nomic situation, expensive
DETROIT DINING LANDMARK
are being conducted at the
art, and "coffee-table" books
(YOUR HOSTS: DAN & MARCELLA MOODY,
Technion.
One
project
actually sell more and more.
One bookseller attributes purifies sewage while pro-
this to the "nouveau riche" ducing an algae that can be
class in Israel, who buy or- used in place of soybeans
and fishmeal as a food for
namental books so as not to
#zo
chickens and fish. The sec-
appear tasteless.
ond project aims at produc-
Israel is a cultural and
17630 WOODWARD (4 Blks. N. of 6 Mlle)
tion of methane gas from
linguistic melting pot, and
animal
and
vegetable
ATTENDANT
PARKING
great care is taken to gauge
869-3988
was to .
the increasing literacy rate.
According to a 1979 census
of the reading public, fifty-
three percent of those 14
and over read at least one
=eft IN
ia
book a month, and half of
1. •
air
ak el • AN ilk
these read three or more
ai
books a month. Three quar-
ters read in Hebrew.
Only one third of these
readers borrowed books
(near the
from the library. This is,
intersection at Maple/15 & Pontiac Trail)
in part, due to the lack of
a satisfactory com-
♦
prehensive library sys-
tem in Israel, but also a
result of the traditional
Israeli desire to own
books, and build up the
family collection.
The problem, however, is
that the price of Hebrew
books has been rising stead-
ily, while that of imported
reading material, upon
which 25 percent of the
readers rely, has been
skyrocketing along with in-
flation. The price of retail
. z.
books in Israel, unlike in
e l _ :,:zy
Europe, includes value
1 ir 'fll'
added tax. In addition to
this, Hebrew printers must
pay customs duties on the :
.
1
AND
raw materials used in print-
ing books.
.
♦
Gathering
The exchange rate in ef-
fect among the book-sellers
seems to remain about 20
percent ahead of the banks,
with periodicals ever
higher. For example, a
magazine whose printed
price is the equivalent of 40
Israeli pounds will fre-
quently sell for around sixty
pounds.
University students are
among the hardest hit by
the high prices of imported
volumes. An assigned text
can earily cost as much as
500 Israeli pounds (about
$20) — a serious dent in a
student's budget.
The Book Publisher's
Association in Israel has
taken a giant step to re-
ctify this financial situa-
tion, as well as to bring
Offer Best Wishes
Israeli publications into
For A Year Of Peace, Good
the highest scholastic
circles. Although they
Health, Happiness and The
cannot hope to cover the
entire field for a long time
Joy Of Lasting Friendships
to come, a new company,
"Yachidav," is working
To Our Customers and Friends
toward that end. Com-
posed of 36 members of
the Book Publishers'
Association, "Yachdav"
May They Be Inscribed In
is a mutual shareholding
company which sets its
The Book of Life
goal at producing six to
eight Israeli textbooks
every year.
Finally, it shoudl be noted
that Jerusalem's Interna-
tional Book Fair is now the
second largest book fair in
the world. This year, 1,280
publishing houses from 55
28815 FRANKLIN ROAD AT NORTHWESTERN •
countries participated, with
WISH EVERYONE A
VERY HAPPY
NEW YEAR
4MIM11•11 ■ 110.
••••••••••• NOT SO • ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
161F
:To=
• I
1402 S. COMMERCE
624.6600
♦
♦
♦ ♦ ♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
And Norm LePage's
Entire Staff
Heartily Wish All
Their Customers and
Friends The Utmost In
Health, Happiness and
Prosperity On The
NEW ,YEAR
,
♦
FAMILY TAVER
Neighborhood
Place
♦♦♦♦ ******** ♦♦♦♦*♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
PAT ARCHER
The Management and Employees of
1979'15740
Southfield 358 3355
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