24
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New ritual libel
Continued from Page 19
Jews, including those in the
USSR.
Both accusations recall the
Soviet anti-Semitic drive of the
early 1960s. A spate of stories in
the Soviet press recounted pur-
ported furtive meetings of Jews in
synagogues for the purpose of con-
summating illegal financial
transactions. Not only did such al-
legations repeat old anti-Semitic
charges about money-lending and
speculation, they also provided
Soviet authorities with a public
rationale for further anti-Semitic
action during the same period.
Several hundred Soviet
synagogues were closed, in large
part due to the "illegal economic
activity" conducted on their prem-
ises, and a disproportionately
high number of Jews were con-
viced of "economic crimes" in
trials conducted in 25 Soviet
cities. More than 50 percent of
those sentenced to death were
Jews.
The contemporary Soviet ritual
libel malign the Jewish faith and
the Jewish people; they cannot be
explained away as anti-Zionism.
Whether they portend large-scale
persecution of Soviet Jews cannot
be predicted, but the previous
Soviet record does not provide
cause for optimism.
It behooves every Jew who lives
in freedom to extend support to
Soviet Jews in this time of trial
and to inform USSR authorities
that Soviet actions are intoler-
able. If Judah Maccabee per-
formed a great miracle 2,000
years ago, contemporary Jews
must undertake a more prosaic,
but also urgent, task on the eve of
the 21st Century.
Copyright 1984, Union of Councils
for Soviet Jews.
THE ARTS
Bezalel designs its future
despite Israel inflation
BY MICHAEL ELKIN
Special to The Jewish News
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There is an art to maintaining
the arts in Israel, where inflation
is raging. That art involves fund
raising.
Officials of Jerusalem's Bezalel
Academy of Arts and Design fully
understand this, which explains
why Eli Eyal, chairman of the
board of governors of the interna-
tionally prominent school since
early last year, was in the United
States and Canada recently.
Of friends, there are plenty. The
American Friends of Bezalel
Academy has chapters in
Philadelphia, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Baltimore and St. Paul,
and planned groups in Houston,
Dallas and Washington, D.C.
While chatting about the
academy's supporters brings a
smile to Eyal's face, he is less
heartened when discussing the
inhospitable conditions arts
groups face in inflationary times.
"Inflation, of course, affects all
institutions of higher learning in
Israel," he says. "When we pre-
pare our budget, we have to pre-
pare with a calculator at the ready
— inflation increases so fast. It is
ridiculous."
Ridiculous but inevitable. "This
is the first year in Bezalel history
that we have a deficit," Eyal says
of the 78-year-old institution.
"Our professors do not enjoy the
same benefits professors have in
other universities. There is such
belt-tightening."
But Bezalel, he is quick to point
out, is not about to buckle under.
Indeed, Bezalel, the only school in
Israel to offer four-year bachelor's
degrees in the arts and design, is
about to undergo change — for the
better.
The school, which has more
than 600 students from all over
the world in seven departments at
numerous sites, is trying to con-
solidate. The plan — estimated to
cost $10 million — will entail
bringing the students and their
120 teachers into two buildings,
one new, the other renovated.
"We are hopeful to lay the cor-
nerstone of the new building at
Mount Scopus in 1985 and have it
finished in '86," Eyal says. "Right
now, we are dispersed all over the
city. It is very difficult to manage
an academy with such a disper-
sion." The project will mean rais-
ing $5 million from friends asso-
ciations to go with a $5 million
grant from Israel's Council for
Higher Education. Bezalel hopes
to eventually have a campus
population of 1,000 students.
Eyal notes that Israeli culture
may be overshadowed in the news
by talk of guns and butter, but it
will not be abandoned by Israelis.
"The everyday Israeli appreciates
the arts," he says.
Eyal should know; he has had
his finger on the quickening Is-
raeli pulse for the past 30 years
since, in 1954, he started a suc-
cessful career as a print/television
journalist.
The 50-year-old Tel Aviv na-
tive, who studied international
relations at Hebrew University,
worked with Haaretz, a daily
newspaper, and, in 1965, became
the paper's correspondent in the
United States. Headquartered in
Washington, D.C., Eyal sent
pieces back to Israel about
Israel-American relations and the
nature of American Jews.
In 1969, he joined another
paper, Maariv, and, in 1975, dur-
ing the height of Henry Kissing-
er's shuttle diplomacy between
Washington and the Middle East,
became a commentator on Israeli
television. In 1977, Eyal helped
found the Democratic Movement
for Change and, the following
year, was elected to the World
Zionist Executive.