New maN isn't just for men ... it's for women too! preview our spring collection at bip somerset • the mall • troy • 649-9415 Two Great Names 0 Samsonite & Marmel But One Great Sale FITS LIKE A GLOVE. ® of America, which nourished their own families — despite underlying sympathy for Israel's needs. From the Israeli point of view, American Jewish insistence on refugee status (and advantages) for the Soviet Jews seems like seduction. A small, struggling ministate in the Middle East surrounded by hostile neighbors cannot compete in the "free choice market" with the magnetic allure of the American economic colussus. Yet Israel desperately needs a larger critical mass of population, particularly people with high educational attainment. As the Israelis see it, questions of survival must outweigh questions of ideological sen- sitivities. And when it comes to ideology, building a Jewish homeland takes un- ashamed precedence for them over other values espoused in the Diaspora. Historical experience has shown Israeli realists that the majority of Soviet Jews who come out seek a better life for them- selves and reunion with family members in the United States much more than they hunger for spiritual rejuvenation or Jewish national identity. Only the vanguard of Soviet Jews, committed refuseniks like Natan Scharansky who have risked their lives and well being for Zion, can be ex- pected to be unswerving in their selection of Israel if the choice — America or Israel — is set out before them. Soviets anti-Zionist propaganda has had a much stronger hand in shaping Soviet Jews' image of life in Israel than positive Jewish education. Indeed, only a very small segment of Soviet Jewry has had any significant Jewish education at all. The ex- tent of the revival of Jewish life in the USSR is nothing less than miraculous given the circumstance under which most Soviet Jews were educated. Israeli authorities believe that larger numbers of Soviet Jews would freely choose Israel if only they would come and see it for themselves. But the feedback to the USSR from Soviet Jews who have set- tled in Israel cannot compete with the feed- back from those who have settled in America. Can Israel reasonably offer all prospec- tive immigrants from the Soviet Union a big (by Soviet standards) apartment, a col- or television set, two big cars and no pro- spect of military service for the children? Also, the tangled Israeli absorption pro- cess does nothing to advance their case. Reform of the competitive, duplicative system in which government and Jewish Agency departments muddle through emigrant absorption ought to be a high priority. With all that, Israelis are justly proud of the society they have created. They are confident they can sell a larger proportion of Soviet Jews on Israel if they can only get hold of them. Soviet Jews have their own communica- tion system. The word they send back home is: Go to America first. If you don't like it, it's easy to go to Israel. But if you go to Israel first and don't like it, you'll have a devil of a time getting to America. You will have lost your refugee status. — and all the benefits thereof, including financial support for settlement, education and job training — because you are not coming from a land of oppression but from Israel, a free country. You will have to save enough money to finance your move, no small sum for an Israeli wage earner. And you will have to enter under the normal American quota for Israelis — and lots of them want to come to America, too. So the Israelis and the Americans are on a collision course. If Soviet authorities would permit direct flights from the USSR to Israel, a solution to the impasse would be simpler. Soviet Jews with Israeli visas would naturally board El Al flights to Tel Aviv. But the Soviets do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Therefore no flights. A flight via Rumania, rather than Vien- na, might do the trick. (Rabbi Schneir an- nounced this week that he has negotiated such a plan, - but Israeli or American of- ficials confirmed neither this information nor a Soviet intention to increase Soviet Jewish emigration). Soviet Jews are resourceful people. A few years ago American Jewish refugee relief organizations tried cooperating with Is- rael's wish that they deny aid to Soviet emigrees. The Soviet Jews turned to other American immigration organizations, in- cluding anti-Zionist Orthodox groups and church agencies, and found their way here. One suggestion recently presented was temporary suspension of the Israeli law of return for a few months until arriving Soviet Jews could orient themselves to Israel. Israeli President Chaim Herzog told an American Jewish audience recently that he had floated that idea but was summari- ly rejected. He should try again. A solution to the current impasse needs negotiation now — before any substantial new Soviet Jewish movement begins. Is- raeli and American Jews need to recognize a situation in which positive values and im- peratives of two similar but different societies are in conflict. With diplomatic finesse, a humane solution acceptable to all sides — Israeli, American Jewish and Soviet Jewish — should not be beyond the capacity of Jewish ingenuity to achieve. El SAVE 30% ON ALL SAMSONITE PATIO FURNITURE Suggested list for chaise, dining chair & ottoman $524.00. Now only $366.80. Tables and matching umbrellas available. Additional 5% for Cash & Carry. Pick up at Lone Pine & Orchard Lake only. 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