THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Jewish Programs on Israeli Radio, TV

By SHMUEL HIMELSTEIN

World Zionist Press Service

JERUSALEM — There is
a weekly song contest held
on Israel Radio to determine
which hasidic or other reli-
gious song will be at the top
of the "hit parade" for the
week. The Religious Song
Hit Parade is only one -of a
number run by different
channels of the
government-owned Broad-
cast Authority, but its very
existence is ..an example of
"Jewish" Israeli radio
TV are.
To start the day off at 6
a.m., when the radio finally
comes to life again, we are
treated to a short passage
from the prayers, followed
by the Ma Tovu melody
("How goodly -are thy tents
0 Jacob . ."), each day with
a different rendition,
featuring melodies of var-
ious Jewish communities
throughout the world.
This is then followed by
the study of the daily Mis-
hna (the primary text of the
Oral Law). As the length of
the Mishna study varies
from day to day, depending
on the material, it is not
surprising that the 6 a.m.
news is given "promptly" at
any time from 6:04 a.m. to
6:08 a.m. (Incidentally, that
is the only news broadcast
that is not exactly on time.
All the other hourly broad-
casts are so accurate that
one can set one's watch by
them).
Of course no morning
broadcast begins without
the date — given accord-
ing to the Hebrew and
secular calendars. Dur-
ing the period from
Passover to Shavuot,
both the radio and TV
programs for the day
begin with the counting

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of the `Omer for that par-
ticular day.
Then there are the av-
owedly Jewish programs —
although there are none
that are the equivalent of
the broadcast of a . church
service, as is found com-
monly overseas. For exam-
ple, each evening there is a
reading of a chapter or two
of the Bible, plus a learned
interpretation of that sec-
tion — normally by a pro-
fessor of one of our univer-
sities.
And how about a program
called: "Ask the Rabbi?"
This is normally broadcast
live from a different loca-
tion each time, and with a
different rabbi participat-
ing for each broadcast.
Those in the audience may
ask questions and the lis-
teners may call up and ask
questions by telephone.
The Sephardic Chief
Rabbi of Israel has his own
personal weekly program,
in which he discusses
specific questions of Jewish
law, giving all the sources
and determining what the
actual law is. Among some
of the issues that have been
discussed are the use of a
flashlight for checking for
hametz before Passover c
whether one may smoke a
cigarette in a synagogue
(during the week, of
course!), and from what age
children should be taught to
fast for at least part of the
time on Yom Kippur.
Television, too, has its
own regular Jewish pro-
grams, including one
preceding the Sabbath,
and one immediately
after the Sabbath. Both of
these are replete with
songs of the Sabbath and
with stories and extracts
of interest at the time.
There is even a controver-
sial program which is re-
corded before the Sabbath,
but is broadcast on Friday
night. It reviews the weekly
Torah reading and other
specifically Jewish mate-
rial.-As the religious do not
watch it, those who produce
it do so primarily for the
non-religious.
In addition to these pro-
grams, there is the Monday

special broadcasts before
every special day on the
Jewish calendar: Holy days,
remembrance days, an-
niversaries of famous Jews.
As far as broadcasting is
concerned, Israel is .a very
Jewish state.

night program, Morasha, or
(Jewish) Heritage, which by
its nature has far greater
freedom than the others. It
may examine a specific
community, or a poet, or a
custom, etc.
And there are the many

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