THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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to all
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to all
our friends
our friends
and relatives
and relatives
ABE, BLANCH, ELLIOT &
PAULA DUKE
MR. & MRS.
RUBIN HERMAN & RONNIE
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
LANKA & MARTIN ILKOW
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
THE STERNfAMILY
KARL, MARGIE, MICHAEL& BRIAN
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MR. & MRS. LEO WEBER & FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
LOIS & LOU ZAHLER
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
BARBARA & LARRY EISENBERG
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
DAN & DIANE HECHTMAN & FAMILY
Friday, September 17, 1982 105
The Ostrich Man of th e Negev
By BILL CLARK
Israel Scene Magazine
JERUSALEM — Accord-
ing to the Bible, the ostrich
is cruel, unclean, mournful,
forgetful and just plain
stupid.
But Mike Van Greven-
broek is ready to forgive all
these shortcomings. He also
regards this giant flightless
bird as beautiful, ecologi-
cally appropriate and finan-
cially lucrative.
Working with a one-
square-kilometer farm
about 40 kilometers west of
Beersheba, Mike is now
putting together Israel's
first ostrich farm. In fact,
it's the only ranch for these
ungainly birds outside
Soath Africa.
The Dutch farmer, who
for 10 years managed Is-
rael's Hai-Bar wildlife re-
serve, is quick to point
out that the ostrich was
always a common sight in
the Negev Desert. Be-
sides Job, the great bird
was seen by Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Micah and many
other prophets, saints,
and recluses who went to
the desert to seek sol-
itude and wisdom.
"We know for sure that
ostriches were to be found
all around this region,"
Mike notes. "So it's obvious
they should do quite well
here. This is their habitat.
They're well suited to the
climate and the vegetation.
They make a lot more sense
here than many of the exotic
farm animals imported
from Europe and America."
With his flock numbering
nearly 40 birds now, Mike
expects to have hundreds
next spring, when most of
his birds will be mature and
producing up to 20 eggs
each. His plan is to raise a
large number of ostriches
and then sell them to other
farmers, both in Israel and
abroad. He also plans to sell
the feathers to fashion
houses.
He has made several in-
novations. He touches a
fence, and it shakes for 10
meters in both directions.
* *
"One of a farmer's biggest
problems is caused by ani-
mals running into fences.
And the problems is even
bigger for herds of flocking
animals, like ostriches, or
even cattle or sheep.
If they're startled, they
run. And since you can
see through fences, they
often run right into the
fence and hurt them-
selves. And if there's a -
large flock of 20 animals
or so, they can run into
one another and receive
many injuries.
"But this fence is flexible,
and it radiates shock. When
a single animal bumps
against it, it quivers, and
any other animals change
direction and avoid it. This
eliminates pile-ups."
Another innovation is his
farm house: "It ought to be a
museum piece," says Mike,
pointing to a small hill
where a cluster of old rail-
road cars stand. "They're a
century old, and as solid-as
any private house you can
find . . . More solid, in
fact."
The cars are British-built
railway wagons designed to
transport horses. The Turks
bought them in 1881 for use
by their army, and after
World War I they were
side-tracked, so to speak.
They kept well in Israel's
arid climate.
For less than $1,000 the
rail cars were purchased
and delivered to the farm,
giving an unusual, yet
serviceable, home that is
quite a bit larger than
the average Israeli_
apartment.
With a little more money,
the cars were restored, win-
dows and doors opened, and
a new home made.
innovations
Other
abound, but perhaps the
greatest innovation is the
man who put it together,
and the system under which
it functions.
Mike Van Grevenbroek is
showing that there is still
room for individualism in
Israel.
"I love it," he says with a
vanDn nalz nan
broad grin. "12 m my own
boss. I solve my own prob-
lems. And I make my own
living."
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
'
to all
our friends
and relatives
MARSHALL & ESTYR
REICHSTEIN
HUGO ICZKOVITZ & FAMILY
1
.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
THE KANDELS, EITAN, LISA & DANIELLE
-Palm Beach, Gardens, Fla.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
TUT, ANITA, MIKKI & JAY MENTZEL
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MR. & MRS. ERNEST STECKER
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MAURICE & LILYAN VICTOR
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
MR. & MRS. SAM SELTZER & FAMILY
*
o ,
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
' Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
IRVING & FLORENCE HERMELIN
'mike Van Grevenbroek with his ostriches
‘P 4
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
No Peaceful Co-Existence
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
PAULA & MAURICE POSEN & FAMILY
"There will be no exist-
ence for either the Palesti-
nian people or for Israel un-
less one of them disappears.
The Arabs must deal with
the Palestinian problem
from the vantage point that
there will be no peaceful
co-existence with Israel.
"The PLO has no right to
discuss recognition of the
enemy Zionist state. The
final goal of the PLO is to
restore to the Palestinian
people sovereignty over its
lands, and there to establish
the independent state."
The above statement was
made by Khaled Hassan,
political adviser to Yasir
Arafat, in a Jan. 12, 1982
interview with the Arab
newspaper Sada Usbu.
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness