NEWS REAL ESTATE UPDATE Ray A. Fox, Licensed Realtor WHY DEPOSIT HELD IN ESCROW QUESTION: I've just put a deposit down on a house I plan to buy. Instead of it going directly to the seller to hold, it was held in escrow by the seller's agent. Why? ANSWER: Escrow is the deposit of a deed, deposit money, or other instruments with a third party for delivery upon performance of a condition. In real estate, the broker frequently acts as the escrow agent, but any third party could do this. Escrow protects the seller - his documents will not be used until full payment is made. It protects the buyer - his deposit funds will not be used until he obtains a clear title. ALAN SNITOW Special to The Jewish News DEPOSIT MONEY HELD IN ESCROW protects both the buyer and the seller. Please phone Ray A. Fox or drop in at CRANBROOK ASSOCIATES, INC. 32440 Franklin Road Franklin Phone: 626-8700 Presented in cooperation with Chase Manhattan of Michigan Jim Linnane, Second Vice President Bloomfield Hills: 313-645-6466 MIL CHASE 1.11 CONTEMPORARY • furniture • lighting • wall decor • gifts • silk florals • interiors G raduate to the finest in home furnishings, gifts and accessories casual living modes For the best in contemporary home furnishings and accessories for over 35 years! 5444711 • 22961 WOODWARD • FERNDALE FREE MANICU RE WITH PURCHASE OF SHOES. New Customers Minimum $30 Exp. 5-28-90 AUDRIANNA'S SHOE GALLERY L 28649 54 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield 355 1640 FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1990 Festival Shows Jewish Life Is Possible In USSR - L ast month, the largest Jewish cultural event in Soviet history took place in Moscow. Fifty thou- sand people attended the eight-day long Jewish Film Festival, packing four theaters from 10 a.m. 'til midnight to hear 21 film- makers from a half a dozen countries discuss their in- spiration for making 31 Jew- ish- subject films. Through it all, there were no anti-Semitic demonstra- tions or threats even though millions of Soviets heard about the festival on televi- sion and opening night was reported on the national radio network. Jewish com- munity leader Boris Kelman heard the radio report at his home in Leningrad and later said the festival was a miracle, a phrase repeated many times by others. I have little faith in miracles. Too risky. Festival directors Janis Plotkin, Deborah Kaufman and I didn't work for two years and raise several hundred thousand dollars on the ex- pectation of divine interven- tion. We had solid reasons to think it could be done. Those reasons may surprise many American Jews who have been led to believe that Jew- ish revival in the Soviet Union is impossible and perhaps even a dangerous il- lusion. From the start of our plan- ning, we found a strong desire, a hunger for Jewish renewal among Soviet Jews we met. As they told us themselves, for 70 years they have been cut off from Jewish life in the rest of the world. Jewish activists were im- patient with us. Why just Moscow? They wanted us to bring the films to Riga, Len- ingrad, Tblisi, Kiev and Vilnius. For them, the films were an open door to the richness of Jewish life, his- tory and artistry from around the world. The fes- tival was about Jewish cul- ture, not as relic, folklore, or nostalgia, but as a way of living. Need and desire, however, are not enough. We also Alan Snitow is the president of the board of directors of the Jewish Film Festival. believed that for the first time a festival was polit- ically possible in the Soviet Union. We based this convic- tion on several factors, in- cluding the growth of Jewish institutions in the USSR. After decades of oppression, the Soviet Jewish commun- ity can lay claim to major new achievements. Over the past year, Jewish activists have created the Va'ad, a national umbrella group of remarkable breadth, soli- darity, and diversity. They also have successfully marginalized the "official" Jews, who receive state resources as the loyal repre- sentatives of Jewish culture. Jewish organizations have persisted and even grown in spite of the loss of tier after tier of leaders and activists to emigration. The leaders who plan to stay have sup- ported the emigre movement wholeheartedly. The first new Soviet Jew- ish feature film, Jewish Cemetery, which we hope will be in this summer's fes- tival, ends with Jewish leader Roman Spector say- ing goodbye to one of his closest friends at the airport. Spector is joyous that his friend can finally make aliyah. But he is also sad and frustrated that after a long struggle and a victory, what is left behind is a vac- uum and a sense of loss. It's tough to create institutions when so much effort goes into helping those who are departing. The Soviet Jewish move- ment for renewal has ac- complished much, even though Soviet Jews, like other Soviet people, have little experience with public life or community organi- zing. They share with other Soviets a unique experience of tyranny and the in- security of massive social change. With glasnost, this shared experience has resulted in the emergence of democratic political coalitions supported by Jewish activists. During recent local elections in Len- ingrad, Jewish activists joined the drive to unseat the old guard and elect a majority of democratic can- didates for city government. The results were astoun- ding. The democratic coali- tion won majorities not only in Leningrad, but in Moscow and Kiev as well, the Soviet Union's three largest cities. In the Baltic Republics, Jews are respected allies and par- ticipate in the democratic and independence movements, which have also won electoral majorities. Anti-Semitic candidates suf- fered defeat after defeat. Soviet Jews may not be so well organized, but they are learning along with every- one else the meaning and power of coalition politics, the form of politics necessary for the success of minority communities everywhere. These emerging coalitions are the most hopeful grassroots response and in- itiative to Gorbachev's top- down reforms. Jewish and non-Jewish activists in these movements are now becom- ing important public figures, elected members of the local, regional and Russian coun- cils and parliaments. Others Jewish activists were impatient with us. Why just Moscow? They wanted us to bring the films to Riga, Leningrad, Tblisi, Kiev and Vilnius. are editors of new indepen- dent newspapers, magazines and wire services. They are creating an infrastructure for shaping public opinion at a time when Soviet public opinion is becoming a force in the nation's life. International public opi- nion is also more effective now than in the past. When lameduck anti-Semitic leaders of the Moscow city council, defeated in the elec- tions, tried to cancel our theaters, we went to the American press, to our sena- tors, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. For months, we had been telling the Soviets that the festival would be viewed in the United States as a test of perestroika. They knew that cancellation of the festival would send a bad message abroad about the feasibility of doing business in the Soviet Union at a crucial time of economic crisis and transition. In the end, the combination of the foreign press, U.S. diplomats and Soviet reformers pressured the Soviet Communist Party to overrule the local au- thorities. These were some of our