I NEWS I GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES! DESIGNER EYEWEAR SALE! SF Jews Bid Frond-Adieu To City Over New Deal TAMAR KAUFMAN Special to The Jewish News U bw bricv COMPARE AT $170 SALE '109 COMPARE AT $455 SALE '259 POLICE COMPARE AT $215 WEST BLOOMFIELD 626-9590 SALE '129 Tamar Kaufman is a writer for the Northern California Jew- ish Bulletin in San Francisco. SOUTHFIELD 647-9790 Prague To Be Flight Leg For Soviet Emigres 6667 Orchard Lake Road 30800 Southfield Road Bring in Your Prescription & Save! Bring in Your Prescription & Save! Above prices and discount offers good at West Bloomfield and Southfield stores only. Limited time offer. EXAMINATIONS AVAILABLE! WALK-INS WELCOME! .... .. . ... . . .. ... .. . • • •••• WINTERIZE YOUR SPRINKLER SYSTEM $ 35 489-5862 RICK WALD (upTo7zones, 14 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1990 nlike previous years, Jews who get palm fronds for their sukkot from the city of San Francisco are having to pay for them. The Recreation and Parks Department had provided the branches free of charge for more than a decade — to Jews in autumn for the Sukkot holiday and to Catholics in spring for Palm Sunday. This year, however, the agency will charge from $5.50 to $10 per frond, depending on the number requested. "Are they crazy?" asked Rabbi Eliahu Shalom Ezran when he heard the news. "I'm going to send someone to Los Angeles who will br- ing 100 back without paying one penny. This is ridiculous. It grows anyway." One hundred fronds is the number he needs for Magain David Sephardim's commu- nal sukkah, which even at the lower bulk rate would cost the congregation a total of $550. "I have other things to do with the money," Rabbi Ezran said flatly. Meanwhile, the city's superintendent of parks, Barney Barron, insisted he has no choice. The past practice of trimm- ing palm trees on Dolores Street and in Golden Gate Park twice a year, he said, was simply a community service the city could no longer afford. "Since my budget has con- tinued to shrink, and I've loSt personnel over the past few years, we are attempting to recoup some revenue. It's difficult to justify sending a truck with a driver and an employee to cut fronds, gather them and bring them to a central point for dispen- sing." Although Mr. Barron agreed that trees occasional- ly need pruning, he explain- ed that in the case of palms, the fronds "would fall nat- urally — so I don't have to send someone up a tree to cut them." It's unlikely the city will realize much profit from Sukkot palm sales, however, since none of the San Fran- cisco Jewish institutions contacted planned on mak- ing the investment, but will instead use bamboo mats, available at $3 a piece. ❑ Prague (JTA) — Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel has reaffirmed his promise to let Prague serve as a way station for Soviet Jews immigrating to Israel. Mr. Havel made the pledge Oct. 3 to Simcha Dinitz,. chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives. He told Mr. Dinitz that Israeli officials could fly here short- ly to work out the details. Mr. Dinitz also obtained permission from the Czechoslovak authorities to open a WZO office in Prague, according to WZO officials in Jerusalem. Mr. Dinitz, on a five-day visit to Czechoslovakia, was received by the president at the Prague Castle. He said afterward that they discuss- ed a wide range of subjects, including the establishment Jewish Telegraphic Agency of direct flights between Prague and Tel Aviv. That issue and Czechoslovakia's agreement to serve as a way station for Soviet Jewish emigres were discussed during Mr. Havel's three-day trip to Israel at the end of April. But bureaucratic delays ap- parently prevented implementation of the plans. The Czechoslovak leader, who was the first Eastern European chief of state to visit Israel, demanded "guarantees" that the newcomers would not be set- tled in the territories. Mr. Dinitz's visit, which began Monday, was widely covered in the local press, which referred to him as head of the WZO, as well as of the Jewish Agency. That appeared to signify that the longtime ostracism of the Zionist movement is over.