1 0 . 6 - Friday,- Sept e mber
1983
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- THE- DETi011 11EW111 11 - 4EWS
Eurovision Contest Finalist Ofra Haza on Road to Fame
to all
By SHIMON BEN NOACH
our friends
It is often said that every
competition has only one
winner and many losers.
But while Israeli singer
Ofra Haza took second place
in this year's Eurovision
song contest the perform-
ance could hardly be de-
scribed as a losing one.
The contest provided the
perfect showcase for Haza to
launch her international.
career. Twenty nations
were represented at Munich
in April and the songs were
beamed live by television to
some 100 million viewers
World Zionist Press Service
and relatives
NEIL &. ENID MADGY, RENEE,
MATTHEW, DAVID,
ANTHONY & ALEXANDER
May the coming
year be filled
with health and
happiness for
all our family
and friends
PEGGY & RALPH GROSS
'anon
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to all
our friends
and relatives
HERMAN & YETTA
OPATOWSKI & FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
VIVIAN, GAIL & AL BEST
We wish our family and friend8 a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
ARTHUR & IRENE KEPES
N. Miami Bch, Fla.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MARSHA & HARRY KORN AND FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MR. & MRS. JAMES KOVACS
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
ALYCE & MAURY LEVIN
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
DAVE & ETHEL NATINSKY
OFRA HAZA •
throughout Europe.
Miss Haza's effervescence
and stunning looks, not to
mention her attractive re-
ndering of the song "Am
Yisrael Chai" (the people of
Israel lives), were clearly a
big hit. Show business
entrepreneurs from all over
Europe strove to sign up the
24-year-old Israeli from Tel
Aviv's poor Hatikva quar-
ter.
Within a month of the
competition Miss Haza
had toured Belgium and
Holland and had book-
ings for Germany, Au-
stria and France. In
Norway she is due.to ap-
pear- with actress Julie
Andrgws in a special
charity benefit for the In-
ternational Red Cross.
All this glamour and glit-
ter is a far cry from Miss
Haza's humble origins in
one of Tel Aviv's toughest
neighborhoods. Her parents
came to Israel from Yemen
in 1920 and Miss Haza is the
youngest of 10 children,
having seven sisters and
two brothers. As a child she
was always talented and
when she was 12 she took up
theater and music at a local
workshop.
In the army she served in
an armored corps rather
than an entertainment
troupe, but renewed her
singing career immediately
afterwards. She experi-
enced success after success,
quickly becoming a local
idol. The chance to extend
her popularity beyond Is-
rael's borders came last
February when she
triumphed in the national
song festival and thus went
forward to the major compe-
tition in Germany.
From the start it was
clear that the song's lyrics,
"The people of Israel lives,"
could be interpreted as a
Shofar's Origins Explained
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
GERRY & LEO ROCHKIND
713)13 Me"
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
KENNETH, NANCY, AARON & DAVID LIPSON
.
political statement by the
other countries of Europe
who would eventually be
asked to vote on the song's'
merits.
Miss Haza's fears on
this score were con-
firmed before the contest.
"A lot of delegations told
me they thought the song
was a political one," she
says. "Because of this I
was surprised to come
second. With Israel's lack
of popularity after the
war in Lebanon I would
have been happy with
sixth place."
Indeed there was a delib-
erate motivation in select-
ing the lyrics. Ehud Manor
who wrote the words knew
in advance that the song
would be sung in Munich
where the "bier kellers"
once rang with the songs of
the Nazis. Thus for him the
chorus was a celebration of
defiance against the Nazis'
failure to complete their
final solution. At the same
time Avi Toledano, who
wrote the tune, had selected
-a lively melody to counter a
mood of depression in Israel
felt by many following the
war in Lebanon.
Clearly most nations
voted according to artistic
merits with Luxembourg
just beating Israel. But be-
cause neither Turkey nor
Cyprus gave Israel a single
point there was a feeling in
Israel that political prej-
udices had cost Miss Haza a
well deserved victory.
Yoram Kessel reporting
in the London Jewish
Chronicle put this feeling
down to a national paranoia
stemming from Israel's in-
ternational isolation. He
points out that in the last
six years Israel has won the
contest twice and finished
second twice (coincidentally
both previous winners,
Yizhar Cohen and Gali
Atari, are also of Yemenite
origin). Kessel also notes
that such hostile countries
as Yugoslavia, which has no
diplomatic relations with
Israel, gave 10 points in the
voting.
Nevertheless, Miss
Haza did receive strong
hints from both the Tur-
kish and Cypriot delega-
tions in Germany that
strict instructions had
been given that no votes
were to be awarded to Is-
rael.
The highlight of Haza's
performances on her tour of
Copyright 1983, JTA, Inc.
Rabbinic sources claim
that the bend in the shofar
indicates the desirability
that the human being must
bend his will for the Al-
mighty in order to repent
and conform to the will of
the Almighty. A straight-
formed horn might indicate
unyielding stubbornness
while the bent form would
indicate conformity with
God's will.
Also, it is preferable to
use the horn of a ram for the
shofar. A popular theory is
that it was a ram which was
substituted for Isaac as the
sacrifice when Abraham
was tested by the Almighty
to see if he would be willing
to sacrifice his son. This por-
tion of the scripture is read
on Rosh Hashana. It indi-
cates that instead of forfeit-
ing our lives due to sin,
other sacrifices can he made
(such as charity, etc.) thus
preserving our lives.
Some claim that a horn of
a cow cannot be used be-
cause that would remind us
of the sin ofthe Golden Calf.
Others claim that the horn
of a cow is made up of layers
and the horn should be a
simple one like a ram, a goat
or a lamb.
Europe is of course the song
that came so close to win-
ning. But in the event the.
English translation of the
song has depoliticized the
lyrics with the chorus of
"chai, chai, chai, am Yisrael
chai" ("live, live, live, the
people of Israel lives") be-
coming "high, high, high,
higher than the sky." Other
lines on Jewish continuity
have also been rewritten.
But Miss Haza asserts
that her future is in Israel
where she is soon set to star
in a television spectacular.
Preach a sermon with
your life.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
TIL & AL HELFGOTT
6602 N.W. 14th Ave.
Tamarac, Fla. 33319
vaT1311 nal\3
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to all
our friends
and relatives
MARION & SOL
STEIN & FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
LORRIE & BOB ABROMOVICH
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
DR. MORRIS & ANNE BRENT
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MAURIE & FLORENCE CASCADE
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MR. & MRS. ALEXANDER FRANK
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
SEYMOUR & SYLVIA FURMAN
,
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MURRAY & GOLDA J. HARTZ
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
IMMEDIATE CONST. CO .
Florence & - Sam Landman
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
IRVING & MAMIE KATANICK
Plantation, Fla.
Me')
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
_