Lunch 11 a.m. Dinner 4 p.m.-1 a.m. ENTERTAINMENT Banquet Facilities NOW APPEARING TUES. THRU SAT. T ROY NORTHERN LIGHTS Reservations 362-1262 Concourse, Top of Troy • 755 W. Big Beaver COUPON-1- GOOD 7 DAYS A WEEK DINNER FOR 2 - CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS From 3 p.m. to Closing • BROILED BREAST OF CHICKEN • BROILED WHITEFISH • BRAISED LAMB • VEGETARIAN PLATE • 1/2 MOUSSAKA & 1/2 SPINACH PIE • FRESH VEAL PARMESAN (Sow Of Salad, Spaghetti, Meat Sauce) 95 FOR TWO! ALL DINNERS (Except Veal Parmesan) INCLUDE: SOUP OR SALAD, VEG., POT. OR RICE, Expires 3-20-87 BREAD & BUMR RESTAURANT MIDEASTERN • GREEK • ITALIAN • AMERICAN MST SOUTHFIELD 0. F11111111 11111/1ierftwatim MN. 569-1112 Danny Raskin Continued from preceding page Micah in Wyncote, Pa. outside of Philadelphia, who does it part time. Rabbi Alper made a debut at "Going Bananas," a popular comedy club there, with things like, "A woman whose husband had just died called, asking, `Rabbi, how long after the fun- eral can I start dating?' Sud- denly my other phone rang. `Wait a minute,' I said. 'Thank you,' she said, and hung up." The rib-tickling rabbi .. . ("Maybe next time, I'll offer the audience some Passover songs. You know the ones I'm talking about, don't you? `Afikomen around the mountain when she comes . . . ) has already been booked for six engagements in the Philadelphia area . . . with groups and organizations fast to sign him after he vowed audiences and Going Bananas co-owner Barney Eeiss at the "1986 Jewish Comic of the Year" Contest . . . Alper finished third of 13 finalists. He was an assistant rabbi in Buffalo . . . poor Buffalo, the butt of some funny Alper jokes . . . Like the one where he went Here are two great values on two great meals. First, our complete prime rib dinner, featuring a 6 oz. slice of tender, juicy prime rib, soup or salad, and a big baked potato is only $5.95. Second, we're offering that same meal, plus a big serving of succulent crab legs for only $2 more. Either way, it's a lot to eat and a lot to like, for a very little price. Come to jojos before this offer walks away. Southfield 29069 Greenfield Rd. 559-8587 60 Friday, March 6, 1987 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS to the local synagogue to hold services during a storm and got snowed in, giving new mean- ing, he said, to the line, "And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Some people there linger on the irregularity of a rabbi also being a comic ... But it's not so unusual, said Alper in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent . . . "Both are opportunities to serve people, whether you make them laugh or help with some difficult moments." Alper acknowledged that there may be some who think a rabbi's only place is at the bimah.. . . "There are probably people who would raise an eyebrow at a rabbi doing com- edy. But let them see what I do. I would like them to hear the reactions of Jewish and gentile audiences. Both come away feeling, 'Here's another exam- ple of a rabbi who can be warm, humorous and fun.' . . . It lends an added dimension of humanity to the rabbinate, he said. "In Talmud, Rabbah, before his lessons, would always tell a joke and relax his students. What I am doing is not a new idea." Israeli Film Sparks Knesset Controversy MICHAEL ELKIN Special to The Jewish News N ew York — Avanti Popolo, Rafi Bukaee's film about an Israeli platoon meeting up with two ragtag Egyptian soldiers at the end of the Six-Day War, has been involved in a skirmish or two of its own. The Israeli film has caused some consternation in the Knesset, where it has been derided as an unwar- ranted entry to represent the nation in the Academy Awards race. The guns are now muffled. The film didn't get an Oscar nomination. But that is now history. As happy as he is that the film got as far as it has, Bukaee was not always so sure of his film's suc- cess. "I didn't make any pre- views available for anyone," he says. "I was very scared be- cause of the story and the way I told it." The story focuses on a rela- tionship between the Israelis and Egyptian soldiers. The title comes from an Italian fighting song, meaning "For- ward the People." (The Egyp- tians are portrayed by two Is- raeli Christian Arabs.) The way he told it? It is a story depicted in very human terms. No one wears white or black hats. "I didn't know how people would accept it," says Bukaee. Its screening here at the Israel Film festival last year stem- med those fears. "The audience went crazy." Bukaee has been crazy about film all his life. "My parents own a little cinema in Israel; I'm a cinema freak," he says. But film wasn't his first career choice — law was. "I studied law at Tel Aviv Uni- versity, then dropped out after some weeks. Then I started taking film courses there." He learned enough to make his first feature. Funds were in such short supply during the Avanti Popolo shoot, he relied on friends from the army and the -movies as the actors. All lived together in a com- mune environment, often eat- ing at area kibbutzim to save money. Kastel Communica- tions Ltd. came to the film's fi- nancial rescue and is serving as its distributor. For those who wonder why Bukaee chose the Six-Day War as a backdrop, he explains it was an easy choice. "I wanted to make a plot that would talk to everybody — a universal story," which he thinks the Six-Day War offered. "I did not want a provocative story. I didn't want the film to start a big quarrel in the Middle East." No argument which films have influenced him most. "I have a big affection for Ameri- can films," he says, citing Wit- ness and Frizzes Honor as in- spirations. Bukaee is now inspired to do other films. But for now, he will be happy if audiences come home after seeing his film thinking about its subject. For all his film's humor, Bukaee wants moviegoers to realize that war is no laughing matter. Play Festival Due March 20 Avon Players Community Theater had been chosen as the host for the Community Thea- ter Association of Michigan's play festival to be held March 20-22. The winner of this state fes- tival attends the regional fes- tival, to be held March 28-29 in Peoria, Ill. Parks Benefit The Oakland Parks Founda- tion will benefit from a per- formance of Evita at 8 p.m. March 14 at the Birmingham Theater. For tax deductible tickets, call the foundation, 335-2771.