ED DONNA
The Merchant of VINO

Neutet9emeat awe smfr ioyee4

eedewediee4%
74ea e‘edtemetd, clad 9teeiteld
%ft
Veit* , ee.eterlig cuedeet/ziay

Many Buy
A Dream Ticket

WSW *E6,41R

ANDREW ROSE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

4050 Rochester
Wattles/Rochester

ANN ARBOR
769-0900
7789 Plymouth Rd.
North Campus

SOUTHFIELD
354-6505
29525 N.W. Hwy.
Betw. 12 & 13 Mile

ROCHESTER HILLS
652-2100
1404 Walton Blvd.
Walton and Livemois

BIRMINGHAM
433-3000
254 W. Maple
Wabeek Bldg.

0

TROY
"Coming Soon"
2880 W. Maple

MA !COW LOW

Of
Wes+ Bloomfield

Pi.ot,idly Wishes Ots

Ct4S+0111e1AS and

FytievIcis

A Vepty Happy & Healthy

New Yectp.

Orchard Lake Rd. & Lone Pine Rd.
Crosswinds Mall
932-3133

WO%

Enjoy Our Specialties
• Fresh Fish • Excellent Pasta • Sweetwater Smashed Potatoes
• Breast of Duck • Our Famous Rack of Lamb • Etc.

Dinner Tuesday thru Thursday 5 to 10, Friday & Saturday 5 to 11, Sunday 5 to 9

Best Wishes

To

OUR CUSTOMERS & FRIENDS
FOR A HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Fresh & Fantastic Mid-Eastern Cuisine

THE DETRO IT J EWIS"H NEWS

WE MOST HEARTH.),

1140

Wish

494",

OUR CUSTOMERS

ANd FRIENdS

A HEAlThy & HAppy
BACkROOM
NEW YEAR
Xde geZem,lie/.."
7295 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD At Northwestern Hwy.

(810) 851-1133

Fax: (810) 851-0092

:.-Perfect Family Gift...
A Subscription to the Jewish News.

4,

810-354-6620

is 4'

":.!

n a bitter evening last De-
cember in the well-to-do
Jerusalem neighborhood
of Rehavia, Elisheva, a
housewife, gingerly filled out a
lottery ticket for the first time.
She had not intended to par-
ticipate, but stopped at the lot-
tery booth on a whim, attracted
by the furor of last-minute buy-
ing as the nation descended on
ticket booths all over the country
in the hope of winning the record
18 million shekel ($6 million) first
prize.
One mile down the road in the
less affluent, largely Sephardi
neighborhood of Katamonim, the
buying was just as furious. Arik,
an unemployed taxi driver, wear-
ing sweat pants, denim jacket,
baseball cap and an earring, is
a regular player. He usually buys
a 13 shekel ($4.30) ticket, using
birth dates of family members;
but this time he spent 100
shekels ($33) because of the
record prize. His plans if he were
to win? To donate a Sefer Torah,
"help those who are needy," then
buy himself a small business.
Both Arik and Elisheva fell
prey to "Lotto-mania." For days
the airwaves assaulted listeners
with reminders to purchase a
ticket; callers shared their for-
mulas for choosing numbers;
posters inscribed simply "18"
abounded. Israelis throughout
the land excitedly discussed how
they would dispose of their win-
nings, while financial advisers
recommended ways to invest the
prize money.
A magician even appeared on
prime-time TV, predicting the
winning combination.
Lotto, run by the government-
controlled, nonprofit Mifal Ha-
Payis (the Lottery Enterprise),
estimated 70 percent of Israel's
adult population bought tickets
for the record draw.
Besides Lotto, their most suc-
cessful earner, Mifal HaPayis
runs several other weekly corn-
petitions, including bingo and
games which bet on randomized
card drawings and the stock ex-
change.
According to Chairman Gidon
Gadot, business is booming. Rev-
enues for the first half of 1994
were 671.4 million shekels ($224
million), up 36 percent from the
same period in 1993; and, as he
pointed out, the money is being
put to good use.
Of an annual budget of 1,358
million shekels (almost $453 mil-
lion) for 1994, 420 million shekels
($140 million) went back to the
public through an extensive de-

SAMMY AVNISAN

TROY
689-0900

An Israeli buys a Lotto ticket.

velopment program run in con-
junction with local councils, edu-
cational facilities, centers for the
elderly, family heath centers and
other countrywide projects.
Despite the mass enthusiasm
for Lotto, there is considerable
public ambivalence, according to
Miri Freund, a doctoral student
studying the sociology of betting
at Tel Aviv University. While

Callers shared
formulas for
choosing numbers.

motivated by the chance to get
rich quick, she says, others feel
that a cap should be placed on the
maximum prizes.
The report thought it " ... fit-
ting the Mifal HaPayis be aware
of the negative influence the sys-
tem of accumulating the first
prize has on the general public,
from the standpoint of their will-
ingness to invest large sum bets."
But it would seem that such
advice has had little effect. Back
in Tel Aviv at Mifal HaPayis
headquarters, shortly after tick-
et booths closed, optimistic tick-
et holders crowded the
auditorium where the draw was
to take place, hoping to minimize
the distance traveled to collect
the winning check. The draw was
shown live on prime-time TV and
was watched by millions of ex-
pectant Israelis.
After the celebrity presenters,
attired in evening wear, sang a
short ode to the lottery, the num-
bers were drawn in the form of
six numbered balls out of 49, pop-
ping randomly from a bingo ma-
chine, plus an additional bonus
number. This time an English-
born kibbutznik from the Galilee
was the sole winner of the 18 mil-
lion shekel ($6 million) jackpot.
The rest of us simply must carry
on dreaming. ❑

VVZPS

C.