CONGREGATION
B'NAI DAVID

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MOVING FORWARD TOWARDS THE 21ST CENTURY

There's a proud feeling at B'nai David. A feeling that comes
from Congregants who share a genuine concern for their
Congregation, and above all their community. We are com-
mitted to the traditional form of Judaism that is suited to the
American suburban life of today, tomorrow, and well into the
next century. We here at B'nai David look forward to our
future with an even greater sense of vision.

Amateur Diggers Seek
Phoenician Connection

CARL ALPERT

Special to The Jewish News

H

aifa — The undu-
lating sand dunes
along Israel's north-
ern coastline look as if they
are shielding secrets of the
distant past — and indeed,
when I took shovel in hand
and began pecking away at
the rolling mounds (with oc-
casional help from a
bulldozer) I did open a door
(literally) into a fascinating
and not too well-known
chapter of the history of the
area.
For a week, I was a member
of an archeological crew,
headed by Eilat Mazar of the
Hebrew University.
Earlier work had been done
near the chosen site, and
Eilat had a good idea what
she was looking for. As
members of the team of
volunteer diggers (we paid for
the privilege) working with
the professional archeologists,
we shoveled and scraped and
spaded and scooped. We filled
buckets of sand and passed
them from hand to hand to
form new dunes, as we expos-
ed the hewn stones.
When the first stage of the
work was completed, Eilat
was able to make formal an-
nouncement of the discovery
of a Phoenician tomb, dating
back almost three millenia, to
approximately the time of the
reigns of King David and
King Solomon.
It will be recalled that the
Phoenician king, Hiram of
Tyre, had had a close relation-
ship with Solomon, and had
sent some of his skilled
workmen to Jerusalem to
help with the building of the
Temple. King Solomon's navy
in the Red Sea, as described
in the first Book of Kings, un-
doubtedly was aided by the
Phoenicians, who were the
master seamen of the time.
There is a fine art to ar-
cheological excavation. In the
early stages, the work is done
on a broad scale, to locate the
points of interest. Then, the
indiscriminate use of shovels
and hoes is replaced with
studied wielding of scoops. A
stone! Is it an isolated one, or
is it attached to another, and
then another? A wall? The
implements are now whisk
brooms, brushes, smaller
brushes, even a tooth brush
and a fine pointed paint
brush. We were eager and
willing pupils.
Our crew filled hundreds of
boxes with various items we
found — not least among

them a ceramic head of a bull
which had been buried with
the bones. There were also
large numbers of worship ob-
jects, figurines and various
ceramic utensils. This tomb
had apparently been in use
for many years, with new
bodies added as necessary.
The final burial was of 18
men, women and children, all
interred at the same time.
There were no signs of
violence. Results of a plague?
The tomb was then sealed,
the shifting sands took on
their camouflage duties, and
the valut, constructed of fine,
ly hewn ashlar stones, disap-
peared from view.
The entire region along the
coast, from Acre up to Achziv,
and then furher north into
what is now Lebanon, has
always been recorded by
Jewish sages as a land in-
habited by non-Jews.
We had some excitement for
a few days when black-coated
religious zealots invaded our
domain and began shouting
that we were desecrating
Jewish graves. "The Nazis
made soap out of Jewish
bones, and you are cannibals,"
one of them shouted at us
repeatedly.
One of the archeologists,
speaking Hebrew with an ob-
viously American accent,
tried to reason with them.
The reaction came without a
moment's hesitation. "Go
back to America where you
came from!"
We thought of the Phoeni-
cian family, buried there on
the hilltop overlooking the
sea and their ancient town of
Achziv. Perhaps one or more
of these people had been to
Jerusalem, as friendly gen-
tiles, following their own
pagan ways, but cooperating
with the Jewish kingdom.
And here, three millenia
later, these worshippers of the
bull's head were being for-
cibly "converted" to Judaism.

We would like to invite you to share with us this coming High
Holy Days, our vision of tomorrow-today. We are offering
special reduced rates for couples and singles 35 and under,
and for members of our senior citizen community.

We look forward to having your family join ours.

CONGREGATION B'NAI DAVID

24350 Southfield Road
Southfield, Michigan 48075

(313) 557-8210

Morton F. Yolkut, Rabbi Stuart D. Friedman, Cantor
Hyman J. Adler, Cantor Emeritus

Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results
Place Your Ad Today. Call 354 6060

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,,

JOIN US IN 1988 AND THE COST
OF YOUR HIGH HOLIDAY TICKETS
WILL BE APPLIED TOWARD YOUR
NEW MEMBERSHIP

For further information call
Congregation Beth Shalom
14601 W. Lincoln
Oak Park, Mich. 48237
547-7970

N EWS Immimm"'

Israel To
Cut Salaries

Jerusalem, (JTA) — Israel's
civil administration in the
West Bank and Gaza an-
nounced last week its plans to
lay off 350 Arabs working for
the administration. In the
past week 400 Arabs have
either resigned or been laid
off.
Last week King Hussein of
Jordan cut off salaries to
about 21,000 full- and part-
time workers there.

WHY NOT TRY BETH SHALOM
FOR THE HIGH HOLIDAYS?

David A. Nelson
Rabbi

Samuel L. Greenbaum
Cantor

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Samuel Semp
Ritual Director