24 Friday, December 21, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS INSIGHT We Will Beat Your Best Price BI-FOLD SUPER SPECIAL Existing Doors $123.99 Installed $128.99 Installed • $145.99 Installed 4 ft. openings 5 ft. openings 6 ft. openings NEW MIRRORED BI-FOLD DOORS—FINEST QUALITY Slim Fold° $190.00 Installed $200.00 Installed $250.00 Installed 4 ft. openings 5 ft. openings 6 ft. openings Lowest Prices On All Types of Mirrored Walls, Furniture, Bars, Cubes, Etc. Heavy Glass Table Tops, Shelving, Beveled O.G. Edges. Shower and Tub Enclosures, Replacement Windows. dlb MIRRORED WALL SPECIAL — 12'x8' High $425.00 Call today for free estimates: 552 0088 - Atlas Glass & Mirror PERFECTION IS OUR REFLECTION Where quality work, discount prices and you the customer make us #1 552-0088 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 Pearls of Wisdom... Shop at Topper's and SAVE! What's new in jewelry, you'll find at Tapper's. Exciting designer styles, at low, low discount prices. Come in and browse, you'll see why everyone is talking about Tapper's! *Items shown are available in limited quantities. Specially priced, SAVE 20% off retail prices every day Tapper's has the right gift for you... FREE GIFT WRAP 1461 CASH REFUNDS •••• ■•■• 26400 West Twelve Mile Rood in SouthReld's Rocquetims Mal Northeast comer of 12 Mk G Northwestern Hwy. MON.-SAT. 10:00-5:45 THURSDAYS 10:00-8:45 ORDER BY PHONE 357-5578 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.