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his school year, Israeli ele-
mentary and junior high
students will have more op-
portunity to sleep — before
they get to class.
Adopting a recommendation by
the Technion (Israel Institute of
Technology), which researched
the issue last year, the Ministry
of Education recently decided to
end the schools' "zero hour"
classes, which started at 7:30 a.m.
or earlier.
From now on, classes will com-
mence no earlier than 8 a.m.
The zero hour classes led to
"lack of concentration, tiredness,
irritability, fights with parents
and other disruptions," said Prof.
Peretz Lavie, dean of the Tech-
nion's Rappaport Faculty of Med-
icine.
The Technion noted that Is-
raelis of all ages need more sleep.
High school students burn mid-
night oil studying for the tough
cumulative final exams, which are
far more difficult than those ad-
ministered to their counterparts
in the United States. Soldiers get
only a few hours of sleep during
their basic training, sometimes
going through "white" or sleepless
nights. And army veterans trav-
el the world, usually to the Far
East or South America, often hik-
ing all day and partying all night.
When they return home, they
work hard, raise families, perform
reserve duty, fight wars and en-
gage in peace negotiations.
So who has time to sleep?
"We have a government that
meets in the middle of the night,"
Prof. Lavie said, "and drivers who
drive when they are half asleep."
Who Cares? I do! I do!
Tzvika Pick has put out a new
album!
You probably don't know who
Mr. Pick is and don't care.
It's never been easier to subscribe to The Jew'
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333 today to begin receiving
Even in Israel, where Mr. Pick
is a household name, only a few
people care that the talented pop
singer and composer has put out
a new album after 12 years.
Mr. Pick, one of the country's
most popular and respected acts
in the 1970s, fell from grace in the
early 1980s and never regained
his star status. But he still ap-
pears in gossip columns, shows up
on television comedy and talk
shows and composes an occasion-
al hit song for another singer.
His new album, "To Make
Love," is not expected to become
a hit. That's a shame. It is a solid,
captivating effort. While it does
not reach the same artistic level
as his 1970s' releases, it does offer
its listeners many moments of
pure joy, including bittersweet
treats like "Everything Is Twisted"
and "Another Day."
They may put him back on the
charts, where he belongs.
Driven To Be No. 1
No country will pass Israel any
time soon in the world record for
auto accidents.
The Jewish state, which has
been No. 1 in auto accidents since
the early 1970s, has become an
even more dangerous place for
motorists in recent months.
Not a day passes without grue-
some photos and graphic details
of fatal or near-fatal accidents in
Israel's newspapers.
For every 1,000 automobiles,
Israel has lost 45 residents over
the years. That is more than twice
the number of auto fatalities per
cars in the United States (20 per
1,000).
Even if Israel manages to cut
this rate in half, it would still face
an unacceptable problem in a
country that loses too many of its
young and brightest to unnatural
causes.
Ride 'Em, Ministers
Recently, "Israel Beat"
reported that Israel's top three
leaders — controversial President
Ezer Weizman, even more con-
troversial Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin and ultra controversial
Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres — are the only govern-
ment officials who have fun
driving around in slick, heavy
imports from Motown.
But the government an-
nounced last month that in
1996 it will also buy the 20
ministers American cars.
That is, if the dollar does not
become too powerful.
The weakening of the dol-
lar in recent months has
made American cars less ex-
pensive, making it possible
for the ministers to start
dreaming about smooth rides in
big cars. But last week, the Unit-
ed States, Japan and Germany
joined forces to strengthen the
dollar.
This could be bad news for the
ministers. ❑