Rest easy on

R 131W

you deserve it!

Prepare for a relaxing

Labor Day weekend by

saving at least 50% off

and more, on quality

patio furniture!

Hurry in now because our great selection

from qualify manufacturers like Brown

Jordan, Tropitone and Woodard is going

Paul Katz and Felix Ryansky are looking for investors.

fast! These are the lowest prices of

Jewish Region
Seeks Investors

the year! All floor samples must go

Sale applied to in-stock

KIMBERLY LIFTON

merchandise only.

Staff Writer

T

ALSO: Don't forget to pick-up patio

furniture winter covers/

C*SWLi 4211130011 FIRCURE

We will be closed Labor Day
Monday, September 7th to honor and
enjoy the holiday.

NOVI
48700 Grand River
348-0090

hl

Completely Casual
for Over 46 Years

LIVONIA
29500 W. 6 Mile Rd. • 522-9200

ALL STORES NOW OPEN SUNDAY 11-4

BIRMINGHAM
690 S. Woodward
644-1919

Valentina's Important Think Show
Featuring These Three Exciting
Fashion Lines For Fall '92

Don't Miss This!

Frid.ayig 28 - 11 to 6

LAINIE DESIGNS — Fabulous
decorative sweaters, sweats and fall tee shirt-
ing. Great selections in sizes ranging from 1-
X up to a generous 7-X to accommodate
everyone. Lainie will be here in person to
show her latest in contemporary sports-
wear.

PARSLVEN DESIGNS Meet the
designer...Libby is looking forward to meet-
ing you and presenting her latest in over-
sized cotton-knit wardrobe dressing. Sizes
1-X to 4-X will accommodate up to 52.

—

Z ART Matching pant and top sets of
colorful Tie-Dye prints available for all sizes
1-X to 5-X.

-

Saturday, Aug, 29 - 11 to 6

Applegate Square • Southfield
354-4560

10

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1992

—

Hope to see you there!

WINE AND CHEESE WILL BE SERVED

he Jewish Autono-
mous Region (JAR)
of Russia was a pro-
sperous haven for Jewish set-
tlers during the early 1900s.
Yet because of glasnost
and the fall of communism,
businesses located in the re-
gion that were once owned
by the Soviet government
have closed, leaving
thousands out of work.
Paul Katz, a Soviet immi-
grant now living in Detroit,
and his cousin, Felix
Ryanksy, a professor from
Birobidzhan, want to change
the status of the JAR.
The area is rife with oil,
farms, timber, coal mines.
Empty factories abound
where shoes were made and
tractors were built and
assembled.
Everything is up for sale in
the new free trade zone — at
least $1 billion worth of
businesses.
The two cousins are
scouting businessmen
throughout the United
States and Canada to raise
capital and attract investors.
On a recent visit to Detroit,
Mr. Ryansky said he is mak-
ing progress.
The payback for investors,
Mr. Katz said, is simple:
profits.
Birobidzhan sits in the
center of the JAR, situated
on the bank of the Amur
River and surrounded by the
mountains of Maly Khingan.
There are more than 20
kinds of fur-bearing
animals, including sable and
mink, and raw materials for
the ferrous metals industry.
The JAR's population
numbers 200,000. In
Birobidzhan, home to 90,000

residents, nearly 40,000 are
Jewish.
Though the synagogue of
Birobidzhan is closed, anci
there is no minyan, Jewish
residents do not want to
leave.
"They are Jewish. They
want to be Jewish. But being
Jewish to them is different
than in the West," Mr.
Ryansky said.
Due to anti-Semitism anc(cH
displacement after the 1917
Revolution, Jews found
themselves impoverishecr51,
and unemployed in the
Soviet Union. The Soviet
government agreed to work
on a solution to their econi
omic hardships by settling
them on the land in the JAR.
Birobidzhan was selected
primarily for strategic con-

"I want to help the j
Jewish people."

Paul Katz

siderations to safeguard th'e
far eastern frontier from
Japan.
The Soviets had hoped that
creating this homeland
would help them receive
moral and financial support
from Jews throughout the
world.
The most Jews ever to live
in the region numbered
14,000 in 1935.
"We were given an oppor- <
tunity to have a nation of
our own before Israel
became a state," Mr. Ryan-
sky recalled. "It was to be
our homeland. Jews went , j
there from all over the
world."
From Oct. 3 through Oct.
10, several Russian institu i
tions will host an interna-
tional symposium in the
Jewish Autonomous Region
to educate potential in-
vestors. ❑