HOLIDAYS

. . may the
New Year
be one of joy,
happiness and
prosperity
for all mankind

THE JEWISH NEWS STAFF

And Their Families

Extend heartiest greetings to the entire
Jewish Community of Michigan with
gratitude for the splendid cooperation
that has enabled us to work together
for good community spirit.

Charles A. Buerger
Arthur M. Horwitz
Philip Slomovitz
Gary Rosenblatt
Dan Chovanec
Deb Branner
Alan Hitsky
Elizabeth Applebaum
Phil Jacobs
Kimberly Lifton
Glenn Triest
Seymour Manello
Richard Pearl
Susan Grant
Gail Zimmerman

Danny Raskin
Rick Nessel
Kathy Johnson
Susan Brooks
Adrian Williams
Betsy Leemon
Lisa Marshall
Patty Zorlen
Dharlene Norris
Marlene Miller
Betty Wolocko
Percy Kaplan
Melanie Wilson
Pauline Max
Jeri Poma

Shirley Berman
Sylvia Stafford
Ellen Warshaw
Sherryl Adler
Donald Cheshure
Cathy Ciccone
Curtis DeLoye
Joy Gardin
Gayle Schmidt
Ralph Orme
Carla Jean Schwartz
Bert Chassin
Bud Davis
Ron Ostroff

Wishing The Jewish Community

A HAPPY HOLIDAY

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181 SOUTH WOODWARD AVENUE
BIRMINGHAM, MICH. 48011
Daily 9:30-5:30, Thurs. tii 8

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Next to Birmingham Theater
Adjacent Free Parking

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Holiday Appeal

Continued from preceding page

wrong with fund-raising ap-
peals and ticket sales, as
long as they are not done
"with a heavy hand."
"Those who find it offen-
sive are out of touch with
some of the fundamentals of
0 Jewish tradition," he said.
"Honors on Simchat Torah
have always been auctioned
off. It's the people who didn't
grow up seeing this tradition
who find it gauche now," he
said. "People just have to be
made aware of what's hap-
pening and that it's consis-
tent with Jewish tradition."
No one will be turned
away from Temple Israel

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who cannot afford the
tickets, said Rabbi Silton of
the Albany congregation. In
fact, even people who can af-
ford tickets, but for some
reason do not want to pay for
them, will not be turned
away.
But Rabbi Silton hopes
these people "feel guilty."
"It is every Jew's respon-
sibility to support the syn-
agogue according to his
means," he said. "In fact,"
he added, "it's not just a
responsibility — it's a privi-
lege to give to anything that
helps the Jewish religion
live and flourish." LI

ISRAELI

Jezreel Valley Land
Is Turning To Salt

CATHRINE GERSON

Special to The Jewish News

I

t was once the most ver-
dant area of Israel, the
Jewish state's
agricultural showpiece
where pioneers drained the
malarial swamps and turned
them into arable land.
The Emek Jezreel, the
broad valley east of the
coastal plane, gateway to the
hills of Galilee, inspired
songwriters and poets.
It was and still is the site
of some of Israel's largest
kibbutzim.
But now the green is
fading, as patches of dry,
yellow, desolate earth ap-
pear on tens of thousands of
acres of what was once prime
agrarian land.
Because the soil has
become' too salty, nearly 40
percent of the avocado fields
have been damaged, the
cotton fields are in danger
and so are other crops.
At an emergency meeting
at the Agriculture Ministry
last year, it was decided that
the Jewish National Fund,
Israel's land acquisition and
reclamation agency, would
supply 40 percent of the
budget to save the valley
over the next four to five
years.
It was JNF, at a historic
meeting in The Hague in
1921, which changed its
earlier practice of buying
land for the Jewish
patrimony in and around
Jerusalem and in the Negev.
It decided instead to con-
centrate on the Jezreel
Valley, which became the
byword in Israel for lush fer-
tility.
While draining the
swamps, the JNF contained

the water, a precious
resource, for irrigation.
Ironically, it was the success
of that project that brought
on the current crisis.
JNF director Ori Orr, a
retired Israel Defense Force
general, explained what
happened during a recent
press tour of the region.
"Because the natural
underground water sources
of the area always had a
high percentage of salt, the
earth became steadily more
salty as a side effect of the
large man-made reservoirs
built to increase the volume
of water available for irriga-
tion," Mr. Orr said.
These reservoirs upset the
natural process that washes
the salt out of the soil every
year.
"Large tracts gradually
absorbed too much salt and
became unsuitable for the
agriculture on which most of
the area's settlements de-
pend."
Mr. Orr said the problem
dates from the construction
of the Baruch reservoir three
years ago to preserve water
for farmers. It became ap-
parent that the good inten-
tions backfired.
The dam built on the
Kishon River diverted river
and rainwater away from
their natural path to the sea
into the reservoir. No longer
was the soil washed of salt
by torrents flowing to the
Mediterranean.
That wash was needed to
keep the underground salt
from saturating the earth,
Mr. Orr-explained.
The JNF has committed
some $5 million toward cor-
recting the problem, and the
Agriculture Ministry about
$7.5 million.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency