LIFE IN ISRAEL

the finest expressions of love come from . .

Cantor Vladimir Pliss of Moscow's Choral Synagogue, right, is the first
Jewish functionary from the Soviet Union officially permitted to study in
Israel, studying choral composition and Russian hazzanut history at the
Israel Institute for the Cantorial Art in Tel Aviv. With the cantor is Dr.
Jerry Hochbaum, executive director of the Memorial Foundation for
Jewish Culture, who negotiated an agreement for training Soviet Jews.

FIN E J

105

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38

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1989

Cream Of IDF Battles
With English At ELI

DAVID HOLZEL

Israel Correspondent

F

rom a bluff overlooking
the Mediterranean Sea
comes the sound of
voices singing the Battle
Hymn of the_ Republic. The
voices belong to 16 high-level
officers of the Israel Defense
Forces. These majors and col-
onels render the American
Civil War-era standard in a
thick Hebrew accent.
Earlier, these same officers,
teamed up in pairs, were
dancing the Virginia Reel.
But these activities were
only diversions, a respite from
the much more serious
business of learning English.
The men are enrolled in six-
and-a-half week crash course
for senior IDF at the English
Language Institute, ELI for
short. Attached to an army
base north of Tel Aviv, ELI
has graduated some 1,000 of-
ficers including five generals
during its 10-year existence.
According. to Frieda Platt,
one of ELI's six teachers, of-
ficers who enroll in the course
are seeking posts abroad and
need to improve their
English. Others are between
assignments and are looking
for self-improvement
possibilities. Still other of-
ficers are about to retire and
come to ELI as a perk. The
students are the cream of the
IDF, says Platt, who has
taught at the institute for five
years.
Highly motivated, the of-
ficers don't recoil at the pro-
spect of speaking only

English — even during breaks
-- nine hours a day, five days
a week.
"At the beginning we were
really exhausted," says Lt.
Col. Effie G. "But after the
third week we just enjoyed it."
He adds he spends four or five
hours a day doing homework
in addition to class work.
Emphasizing listening and
conversation, ELI attempts to
give students more than a
textbook knowledge of
English, staff members say.
One class discussed check
writing in the United States,
listened to the morning's

"If the guy with
three felafels said
something, the guy
with one felafel
kept quiet."

BBC news and pondered the
difference between stocks and
bonds in the space of 45
minutes.
"The program brings a stu-
dent to a level where he can
think in English, not just
think in Hebrew and speak in
English," says reserve Lt. Col.
Rami Ganor, a graduate of
ELI's second session in 1979.
He says the course not only
gave him a better grasp of
English, but increased his
self-confidence.
"It encouraged me to open
my mouth," he says, echoing
a sentiment expressed by
others in the course. "I had no
problem understanding or
reading English. But when