UP FRONT

Tel Aviv's Quiet Now
But The Traffic Is Hell

Tel Aviv (JTA) — Life has
returned to a semblance of
normalcy in Tel Aviv,
Israel's largest city and
prime target of Iraqi Scud
missiles, at least in the
daylight hours.
As much as a third of the
population fled to safer areas
after the first missile struck
during the early hours of
Jan. 18, earning the epithets
of "traitors and deserters"
from Mayor Shlomo Lahat.
Many residents are return-
ing to the city, but not be-
cause the mayor shamed
them. Apparently, they ran
out of cash or outlived the
welcome of relatives or
friends with whom they
parked for the duration.
The exodus continues,
however, and is most
noticeable in the wealthier
neighborhoods, whose
residents presumably can af-
ford the costs of travel and
hotels.
In the early morning
hours, mammoth traffic
jams build up on the roads
leading into the city, as
those who fled during the
previous evening return to
their jobs.
The local authorities are
rushing to finish giant park-

ing lots some miles beyond
the city limits from where
motorists could be bused into
town. To ease the traffic
chaos, the city will soon ban
vehicles carrying fewer than
three passengers plus the
driver.
The situation is not good

The local
authorities are
rushing to
complete parking
lots beyond the
city. To ease the
traffic chaos, the
city will soon ban
vehicles carrying
fewer than three
passengers plus
the driver.

for business in this city of
shops. Some do not bother to
open for lack of customers. A
neighborhood shoe store
owner said she had made
only one sale in two weeks.
Other enterprises and ser-
vices find it hard to return to

normal in the absence of
Arab workers from the ad-
ministered territories, who
have been under strict
curfew since the missile at-
tacks began.
Meanwhile, the evening
rush hour has become an
afternoon affair. Most of-
fices, shops and factories
close between 3 and 4 p.m.
By 6 p.m., when darkness
falls, Tel Aviv streets are
deserted.
The civil defense au-
thorities have banned public
performances or any events
at which people are likely to
congregate.
There are no movies, no
theatrical performances, no
concerts. No restaurants or
cafes, and very few bars are
open.
At night, Tel Aviv
residents are hunkered
down at home with gas
masks at the ready,
prepared to rush into their
gas-proof room at the first
sound of an air raid alert.
This is an emergency
without blackouts. Missiles
are blind, anyway, so there
is no need to switch off the
lamps.
Street lights remain on, il-
luminating the empty

pavement. There are few
buses and taxis and even
fewer private cars out at
night.
A resident of a usually
well-traveled suburban
street counted only one taxi,
and nothing else moving for

more than an hour Sunday
night.
Across the street, in two
12-story residential
buildings, 80 percent of the
windows were dark. The
people who live there ob-
viously were out of town.

T'nuat AM Appeals
For Aliyah
New York (JTA) — T'nuat
Aliyah Masortit, the aliyah
organization of Conservative
Zionism, demanded at its
convention last month that
the American Jewish com-
munity provide more sup-
port for aliyah from the
United States and increase
Zionist education.
"Our movement, which is
so committed to education,
needs to give Zionism its
proper place in the cur-
riculum for all age levels,"
Matthew Diamond, a mem-
ber of the T'nuat AM exec-
utive board, told delegates to
the convention, held at the
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary.
Members of T'nuat have
committed themselves to
aliyah, but a major obstacle
is financial obligations, es-
pecially for former students
who have college loans to
pay off.
One proposed solution was
an aliyah loan fund. "There

is a loan fund for Soviet
o/im. Where is the help for
us?" asked David Green, a
student at Albert Einstein
Medical School who said his
college and medical school
debts have made aliyah im-
possible at this time.

ROUND UP

Pat Gives A
Boon To Israel
New York (JTA) — Singer
and born-again Christian
Pat Boone will become the
spokesman for the Israeli
Ministry of Tourism to en-
courage 60 million
Evangelical Christians in
America to visit Israel.
Mr. Boone, who wrote the
words for the song
"Exodus," approached the
Ministry of Tourism and
offered his services at no
charge. He volunteered to
make commercials en-
couraging travel to Israel, to
be aired on the Christian
Broadcasting Network and
other stations.
The Ministry of Tourism
will pay for the commercials'
air time.
Although this is not the
first time the Tourism Min-
istry has targeted an adver-
tising campaign at
Evangelical Christians, it is
the first time that a per-
sonality has been used as a
spokesman. It also comes at

a time when the ministry
has suspended all advertis-
ing (except in publications
aimed at travel agents and
tour operators) because of
tensions in the Persian Gulf.
Raphael Farber, Israel's
tourism commissioner for
North America, noted that
although tourism by Ameri-
can Jews dropped by 50 per-
cent after Iraq invaded
Kuwait, it declined 35 per-
cent among Evangelical
Christians.
To be considered a success,
the two-month ad campaign
will have to attract 50,000
new Evangelical Christians
to Israel, Mr. Farber said.
He said his office's entire
winter budget of $250,000
has been allocated to the
campaign.

Young Composer
Contest Announced
The Guild of Temple Musi-
cians of the Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew Congregations
is sponsoring a Young Com-

Could this be music to your ears?

poser's Award for composers
35 and younger.
Submissions should be a
three-to-five minute setting
of a text drawn from the five
books of Moses for four-part
congregational chorus with
or without keyboard accom-
paniment, and with or
without vocal solo. Entries
must be submitted by Oc-
tober 1991.
A cash prize will be
awarded and the winning
competition will be perform-
ed in concert.
For information, contact
Ben Steinberg, Chairman,
GTM Young Composer's
Award, Temple Sinai, 210
Wilson Ave., Toronto, On-
tario, Canada M5M 3B1.

Lodge Opened
In Czechoslovakia
Washington, D.C. — B'nai
B'rith has formally installed
a new lodge in Prague,
Czechoslovakia, the first in
that nation in 52 years.
B'nai B'rith International
President Kent Schiner
presided at the installation
for the new Renaissance
Lodge; the event marked the
establishment of a B'nai
B'rith presence in the 47th
country with official ties to
the international organiza-
tion. Prior to World War II,
17 B'nai B'rith lodges ex-
isted in Czechoslovakia.

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11