I NEWS I
Field Art Studio
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A Happy Passover
Specializing In
• Custom Bedrooms
• Wall Units
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FIELD
ART STUDIO
Custom Framing Since 1950
2646 Coolidge at 11 1/2 Mile
Berkley • 399-1320
HRS: Mon. thru Sat.
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
20%
30%
40
50
OFF EVERYTHING IN
THE STORE!
Open Easter Sunday 12-4
6692 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield
APRIL 1988
In The West Bloomfield Plaza
851-4410
U.S. 'Mitzvah Plane'
Saves Cuban Seders
New York (JTA) — Recently,
a small Beechcraft private
plane owned by a New Jersey
Jewish businessman landed
twice in 48 hours on Cuban
soil.
The first time, it unloaded
a small interfaith delegation
of American clergy, there to
assess the needs of religious
communities in Cuba. The se-
cond time, the plane arrived
with six cases of kosher wine,
20 boxes of shmurah matzah
and enough gefilte fish to feed
two community seders held at
the Great Synagogue of
Havana.
"I called it the mitzvah
plane," explained Rabbi Ar-
thur Schneier, president of
the Appeal of Conscience
Foundation, which arranged
the delegation's visit.
Schneier said the group
discovered that the expected
provision of Passover
necessities sent annually by
the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress had not yet arrived.
The rabbi obtained im-
mediate approval from the
Cuban minister of religious
affairs, Jose Carneado, to
send the plane back to Miami
for an emergency pickup of
Passover staples. The plane
belongs to businessman Jack
Rosen, who accompanied the
religious delegation.
The mission was ac-
complished, through Rosen's
auspices, in about 12 hours,
putting a small dent in the
longtime trade embargo bet-
ween the United States and
Cuba.
For the last five years,
Schneier said, the Cuban
Jewish community has been
unable to obtain kosher wine,
having to make do with grape
juice. He was shown a single
bottle of 5-year-old wine, a
carefully guarded treasure.
This, he said, underscored
the significance of the first
direct shipment of Passover
food from the United States
since Fidel Castro came to
power.
Schneier described the
visit, from March 14 to 17, as
the first interfaith delegation
to Cuba, whose objective was
to "assess on a first-hand
basis the church-state rela-
tionship, (the extent of)
religious freedom and
establish an ongoing contact
with all religious com-
munities."
The Appeal of Conscience
Foundation,- which aims to
"strengthen religious
freedom in all denominations
worlwide," also arranges ex-
change visits of religious
leaders and teachers to and
from Communist bloc
countries.
Israel Signs Secret
Agreement With Walsh
Washington (JTA) — Israel-
has signed a secret agree-
ment with Lawrence Walsh,
the special prosecutor in the
Iran-contra affair, which pro-
vides for the continued
cooperation of Israel in the in-
vestigation on a "govern-
ment-to-government basis," it
was announced Monday.
The agreement was signed
"recently," according to a
statement by the Israel Em-
bassy, and approved by the
Israel cabinet Sunday.
"The government of Israel
and the independent counsel
expressed their hope and
desire that with the attain-
ment of the agreement their
cooperation will continue in
accordance with th agree-
ment to their mutual satisfac-
tion," the statement said.
"The terms of the agreement
are classified."
Although the embassy
would not go beyond the
statement, the agreement ap-
parently means that Israel
will turn over to Walsh the
same information it
presented to the congres-
sional committee which in-
vestigated the secret sale of
arms to Iran and the use of
profits from the sale to illegal-
ly fund the contras.
Israel was angered by
Walsh last year when he tried
to subpoena David Kimche,
the former director general of
the Israel Foreign Ministry,
and Al Schwimmer, a
businessman with dual
Israeli-American citizenship,
who had been instrumental
in the transfer of U.S. missiles
to Iran.
The Israeli government
threatened to cut off all
cooperation with Walsh. The
Israeli government has. stress-
ed that the involvement of
any Israelis in the shipment
of arms to Iran was on behalf
of the Israeli government and
not as individuals.
Throughout the Iran-contra
investigation, Israel has been