THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israeli Automobiles May Run on Sugar Cane
JERUSALEM — If Dr.
Menahem Zur has his way,
, Israel's cars will soon be-
come alcoholics — fueled by
ethanol, an alcoholic fluid
that can be produced from
simple sugar cane and, he
claims, does a better job of
powering a car than
gasoline.
Dr. Zur, head of the Dept.
of Introduction at the Israeli
, Agricultural Research
Organization here, has
since 1977 been studying
y to exploit Israel's ideal
6_ —itions for sugar cane
cultivation and thereby
help make this tiny country
one of the world's leaders in
producing this type of
energy.
Ethanol has a high per-
, formance rating. Tests
indicate that a liter of
ethanol can power a ve-
hicle for eight miles while
_a liter of gasoline can
only provide six miles of
power. Moreover,
ethanol has an octane
rating of 98.5, compared
to the 94 octane rating of
top grade gasoline sold in
Israel.
It is also non-pollutant.
-
--
Unlike gasoline, all of
ethanol's components are
consumed in the combus-
tion process.
The first automobiles
ever devised ran on alcohol.
But gasoline soon proved to
be a cheaper and simpler
fuel. "Then," says Zur,
"came the Yom Kippur War
oil embargo and with it, the
boom in energy reserach."
Sugar cane, unlike oil,
coal and natural gas, is a re-
plenishable resource. "We
are facing a situation," Zur
explains, "in which the
major conventional sources
of energy will disappear in
the not-too-distant future.
According to the experts,
the world supply of oil will
be depleted by the end of the
next century. At that time
coal will reach peak con-
sumption — and then fall
swiftly."
In the meantime, oil im-
porting countries have to
contend with spiraling
prices and the growing
political power of the oil
producers.
Israel's situation is par-
ticularly precarious, and
it is investing much effort
toward solving the prob-
lem. Ethanol is one of the
alternatives being pro-
bed, and the preliminary
results are more than
promising.
"Brazil is one country
that has gone all out for
ethanol," says Zur. "By
1983, some three million
Brazilian cars will be pow-
ered by that fuel. There,
ethanol is already produced
commercially, but the yield
is between 1,600 and 2,400
liters per acre of sugar
cane."
Often thou drainest the
gall of fear while evil is
Zur planted about four
acres of sugar cane in var-
ious parts of Israel. His
yield: 4,000-6,000 liters per
acre.
Why is Israeli cultivation
so much more productive
than Brazilian? The answer
lies in Israel's most plenti-
ful natural resource — the
sun. It seems that a sub-
tropical climate is perfect
for cultivation of the cane
because of the large number
of cloudless days in the year,
whereas in Brazil's jungle
climate, many days are
overcast.
Friday, April 9, 1982
passing by thy dwelling.
—Tupper
WATCH FOR
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Wedding Tradition Explained
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
(Copyright 1982, JTA, Inc.)
There are a number of
reasons offered for the cus-
tom of breaking a glass at a
wedding ceremony.
The basic source seems to
be the Talmud Brachot
30b) where it is mentioned
that a rabbi who was in the
process of celebrating the
- wedding of his son noticed
the extreme boisterous atti-
tude on the part of his col-
leagues at the celebration.
He therefore smashed a pre-
cious vessel in their
presence in order to restore
a semblance of balanced
sobriety.
The medieval commen-
taries (Tosafot) deducted
the practice of breaking a
glass at weddings from
tthis mode of reaction on
the rabbi's part. In this
sense it is to be noted that
Jewish tradition is an-
.tagonistic to extremes in
STRIP-
OH!-
GRAM
-
GORGEOUS MEN
AND WOMEN WILL
DELIVER YOUR
MESSAGE IN TANTALIZING
GOOD TASTE FOR
ALL OCCASIONS.
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behavior of any kind. It
forbids drastic injury to
one's body in case of
mourning. It also forbids
extreme and uncontroll-
able elation at happy oc-
casions.
A second explanation by a
medieval author is that
breaking the glass reminds
us of the destruction of the
Old Temple, indicating that
at the height of our personal
delight we should not forget
the tragedies that our
people endured in the past.
JWB to Honor
Three Detroiters
NEW YORK — De-
troiters Sidney Freedland,
Richard Maddin and Sam
Rich are among some 120
men and women who will be
given national recognition
by the Jewish Welfare
Board (JWB) at that organ-
ization's biennial conven-
tion May 12-16 in Chicago.
The group of 120 will be
cited for their work with
local federations and
Jewish community centers.
The theme of the convention
is "From Generation to
Generation."
Canadian Group
Debates Railway
Project in Israel
ELIAT (JNI) — Members
of a Canadian trade delega-
tion, including the directors
of 12 large Canadian firms,
have reportedly expressed
interest in _extending the
existing railway line from
Nahal Zin to the Red Sea
port of Eilat, some 70 miles
southward.
Canada imported $51.3
million worth of Israeli
products last year, while Is-
rael bought Canadian goods
worth $124 million.
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