I ISRAEL

"Not everyone is
having pleasant
dreams at 3 a.m."

New Concert Band
Seeks Sponsors

MIRIAM DAVIS

Special to The Jewish News

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azareth Illit, Israel —
As a former Detroiter,
I'd like to publicize
the existence of the newly-
formed concert band of
Nazareth Illit, which is look-
ing for a sponsor.
Nazareth Illit is a develop-
ment town in the lower
Galilee, on the midpoint of
the road connecting Haifa
and Tiberias. It sits on a
mountaintop overlooking the
Jezreel Valley to the south
and the Beit Netofa Valley to
the north. Because of its cen-
tral location in the lower
Galilee, Nazareth Illit serves
as a regional center for
government offices and it also
has commercial and in-
dustrial areas and a large
community center offering a
wide range of cultural and
sports- activities.
As a regional center,
Nazareth Illit would have lik-
ed to have a band to play at
official functions and bring
publicity to the city. The ar-
rival of several excellent
musicians in this past year's
wave of immigration seems to
be bringing this dream
within reach. Two local music
teachers of Russian back-
ground, Esther Ruderman
and Leonid Peterstein, took it
upon themselves to locate the
musicians among the newly-
arriving immigrants and to
convince the community
center to provide the place for
rehearsals.
At the first rehearsal there
were ten of us, including the
conductor, Leonid. By the
time of our first official ap-
pearances on Holocaust Day,
Memorial Day, and Israel
Independence Day, we were
thirteen. Since then, a few
more players have arrived.
The instruments in the
band include clarinets,
trumpets, saxophones, trom-
bones, french horn, flute, bass
guitar, drums and piano. Not
all the musicians in the band
were able to bring their own
instruments from the USSR,
so some are using instru-
ments belonging to the com-
munity center. The cultural
activities coordinator at the
community center, Osnat
Karni, has taken upon herself
the responsibility of schedul-
ing appearances for the band,
both at city functions and in
other locations.
The community center
would like to publicize the
band members as teachers of

their instruments, who will
join the staff of the communi-
ty center and teach the
childien of Nazareth Illit.
This would lead to the forma-
tion of a youth band.
Theoretically, the teaching
would provide employment
for the musicians of the band.
But if the fees the parents are
required to pay for the lessons
are meant to support the
whole operation, they will be
too high for most parents to
pay, and very few students
will register. In the end, most
of the musicians will seek
work in the big cities and will
leave Nazareth Illit. Neither
the professional band nor the
music school/youth band can
support themselves on a com-
mercial basis, and they must
be supported as a public
service.
If we are unable to provide
employment for musicians in
Nazareth Illit they will leave
when their absorption allow-

Some other cities
in Israel have been
"adopted" by
various Jewish
communities in the
U.S.A. who
sponsor cultural
and educational
programs. Will
Nazareth Illit find a
sponsor?

ante runs out. What has been
so painstakingly built up in
the past few months will
disintegrate.
Cultural and educational
services are legitimate
employment and a means of
absorbing new immigrants
economically. If the Israeli
government is unable to pro-
vide funding, then perhaps
Jewish communities abroad
can be persuaded to sponsor
such cultural activities by
providing an on-going
operating budget. Some other
cities- in Israel have been
"adopted" by various Jewish
communities in the U.S.A.
who sponsor cultural and
educational programs. Will
Nazareth Illit find a sponsor?
Any interested persons
please contact: Nazareth Illit
Municipality, 1 Hermon St.,
Nazareth Illit 17000, Israel.
The mayor • is Menachem
Ariav; the vice mayors are
Yaakov Windish and Edna
Rodrig, and the city spokes-
person is Niva Poran.

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