Wpm ISRAEL page 45 For Mother's Day Gift Giving DESIGNS IN DECORATOR LAMINATES For High Quality Formica Always At A Great Discount SPECIALIZING IN: • Wall Units • Bedrooms • Dining Rooms • Credenzas • Tables • Offices ALSO SPECIALIZING: • Woods • Glass • Stones • Lucite WEST BLOOMFIELD • MICHIGAN Orchard Lake Road • North of Maple 851-7727 IT DOESN'T HAVE TO COST A FORTUNE . . . ONLY LOOK LIKE IT! z ORIENTAL RUGS < CALL LOIS HARON 851-6989 Allied Member ASID I 358-2333 IA/ FRANKLIN of Southfield I PLAZA • PASSPORT •1 11- FILM PROCESSING 3,,i2x 5 or 4x6 SPECIAL I No Restrictions on Processing Time! 495 $ 795 $3.00 OFF 36 exposures 2 Sets • 1 set "Must Be Done At The Same Time" 2 Photos per passport (with coupon) 1 0% off on posters (Great for Anniversaries & Bar Mitzvahs) $2.00 OFF 24 exposures I $1.00 OFF 12 exposures or 2nd set of prints free. c-41 process only Not good with any other offer • We buy them, sell them, appraise them, clean them repair them and Love them! In-Home & Office Carpet Cleaning (313) 399-2323 OAK PARK OUTLET • 546 - RUGS BIRMINGHAM • 646 - RUGS ANN ARBOR • 973 - RUGS THE TABLE CONNECTION custom designed furniture We transfer your old movies, prints & slides to video cassette. laminates, wood, lucite FULL PHOTO SERVICES INCLUDING: BLACK & WHITE, ENLARGEMENT, POSTERS MURIEL WETSMAN 29215 Northwestern Hwy. at 12 Mile Rd. in Franklin Shopping Plaza 661-3838 1 Israelis is a turning inward. Preliminary research published by Hebrew University sociologist Baruch Kimmerling in the latest issue of Politika, a magazine on social, politi- cal, and cultural affairs, shows that relationship to family is the leading compo- nent of the contemporary Israeli's identity (34.5 per- cent placed this category first). Only 17.6 percent of Israeli Jews ranked their definition of themselves as "Israelis" as the leading component of their identity, whereas 28.3 percent ranked it as of no impor- tance at all. Moreover, though relegat- ed in importance to third and fourth place (behind family membership and national identify as an Israeli), the contemporary Israeli's professional and sexual identities take pref- erence over his ethnic, reli- gious, and political identi- ties, which have long been highlighted as key themes in Israeli life. Mr. Kimmerling's statis- tics show that a full 75.3 percent of Israel's Jews ranked their "ethnic identi- ty" (Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and the like) as of no impor- tance whatever. No other category was so massively denied. Ranked next as least important was "political identification."In some ways Mr. Kimmerling's study merely confirms what Israelis know just from reading the papers and observing their neighbors. The Age of Ideology is over in Israel. Politics has earned itself a bad name, and political causes no longer draw crowds onto the streets to demonstrate. Admittedly, pockets of polit- ical "messianism" have sur- vived, primarily among the religious settlers in the territories. In fact, the set- tlers (and particularly their teenaged children) are con- spicuous among those opposing the policies of the Rabin government. But Israel's "silent major- ity" has shifted its emphasis to other values. The "good life," improved education for their children, and a desire to fulfill themselves profes- sionally — a package more reminiscent of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness" than of the old values of simplicity and self-sacri- fice for the sake of state- building — have dictated the tone in Israel for years, now. One need only flip through the advertisements in the daily papers to see how far the country's self- image has changed. Many of the ads are populated by yuppie-like characters as the new national ideal. Others offer services for get- ting everything from a horo- scope to a date, and even a dose of pornography, over the phone. They remind Israelis that their society, once predominantly rural and emphatically intimate, has grown more urbanized and impersonalized from year to year. Time was when Israelis had the feeling that every- one in the country knew one another. Today the resi- dents of Israel's cities can be Politics has earned itself a bad name, and causes no longer draw crowds. as prone to the effects of anomie — loneliness and emotional drift — as their counterpart:3 in London or Los Angeles. In line with the current mood of yearning for the good old days, when Israelis kept a stiff upper lip and young people were taught to defend themselves with sticks, if necessary, this 45th Independence Day was something of a nostalgic affair. The state television net- work, once a strongly unify- ing medium (that has been surpassed by the cable revo- lution), reminisced about its 25 years on the air. Rather than spread out through the territories (as so many people did last year), Israelis jammed the heart of the country, flowing into Tel Aviv to watch the "fly past" and "float past" performed by the Air Force and the Navy. In the best tradition, Exodus was shown on television. Yaffa Yarkoni sang songs from the War of Independence (which ring increasingly hollow with every passing year), and the Armored Corps opened its memorial to exhibition. But at 45, Israel seems a bit tired, staid, interested in celebrating itself modestly and, above all, with a mini- mum of wrack and ruin. Some people find that disap- pointing. Others think it more refreshing. ❑