MICHIGAN S
STANDARDS FOR EXCELLENCE
DEALER...RINKE \

Gains Of Chance
Beckon In Tel Aviv

JENNIFER FRIEDLIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

1996 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

$1000 down

M OOS $ /1 7C
sm stea se l i ') mo.

52000 down

$

53000 down

432 mo. '389 mo.

EQUIPPED WITH: Chrome Wheels, Leather Seats,

ISB Package & Security System. 275 H.P., 4.6 Liter,
V-8 Northstar System. Anti-Lock Brakes, Airbank
System. Speed Sensitive Steering

Stk# T223065

1996 Cadillac Eldorado

EQUIPPED WITH: Chrome Wheels, Leather Seats,

Security System. 275 H.P., 4.6 Liter, V-8 Northstar
System. Full Range Traction Control, Real Time
Road Sensing Suspension, Speed Sensitive
Steering, Airbank System, Anti-Lock Brakes.

24

$1000 down

$2000 down

$3000 down

llts. $499 mo. $ 456 mo, '412 mo.

sni

Stk#T613542

1996 Cadillac Seville SLS

24

$1000 down

$2000 down

$3000 don

smartie se $562 mo. '518 mo, 5 474 ma

EQUIPPED WITH: Chrome Wheels, Leather Seats,
Security System. 275 H.P., 4.6 Liter, V-8 Northstar
System.. Full Range Traction Control, Real Time
Road Sensing Suspension, Speed Sensitve
Steering, Airbank system, Anti-Lock Brakes.

Stk# T822991

"GMAC SMARTLEASE 24 Mos. on Sedan DeVille & Eldorado, Seville SLS. First pymt, + acquisition fee, Ref. sec. dep. of S500, plus down payment as shown above on Sedan DeVille and Rio., 52,300
on Seville SLS.; plate or transfer fee due on defrvery.State & lux. tax additional. Mile limitation of 24,000 on Sedan DeVille & edorado, Seville SLS. 15c per mile excess charge over limitation. Lessee has
option to purchase at lease end. Sedan DeVie S26201, Eldorado S28,537. Seville S30282. To get total payments, multiply payment by number of months.

R

THE DETR O

INKE CADILLAC

I- 696 AT VAN DYKE

otors

1917

7 5 8 — 1 8 0 0

If traveling west on 1-696, exit Hoover, follow Service Drive to RINKE.
If traveling east on 1-696, exit Van Dyke; take second bridge past Van Dyke over expressway to RINKE.

•,

Open Mon. 7-9pm, Tues. 7-7 pm, Wed. 7-7 pm, Thurs. 7-9 pm, Fri. 7-6 pm

58

•

f Shlomo Grofman's dreams
come true, a little piece of Las
Vegas will light up the Tel
Aviv skyline.
Mr. Grofrrian, director-gener-
al of realtor Africa Israel, envi-
sions creating a "recreation
concept," with a casino propping
up his all-in-one vacation get-
away. Taking the cue from Las
Vegas' post-modern hotel-casino
combinations complete with faux
rivers, virtual reality games and
theme parks, Africa Israel is will-
ing to bet millions of dollars that
a casino coupled with a hotel,
miniature Disneyland, amuse-
ment park, bars and gardens will
offer big returns.
"All over the world, casinos are
a good business," says Shimshon
Harel, vice president of Africa Is-
rael.
Africa Israel's plans may con-
jure up unpleasant
images of Nevada-
style tackiness, but
the company's idea
reflects a local re-
ality of supply and
demand: Israelis
love extravagance
and businesspeo-
ple yearn for the
profits extravagant
creations promise.
An international
trend to use casi-
nos as a revenue-
generating tool
fuels the argument
for a sumptuous banquet of casi-
nos to enhance the meager meal
of state lotteries Israel has sub-
sisted on for decades.
But the odds, opponents say,
are a million to one.
Last summer, former prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin's Cabi-
net approved legalizing casinos,
and the government-appointed
Gavish Committee drew up a
proposal recommending a frame-
work for a full-fledged gambling
industry. Taking into account
casinos' potential to wreak crim-
inal, social and financial havoc,
the committee's proposal recom-
mends allowing a maximum of
five casinos — with the first two
targeted for Eilat and the Dead
Sea — forbidding casinos to grant
credit to Israelis, imposing a min-
imum age of 18, closing the casi-
nos during the daytime,
prohibiting compulsive gamblers
and housing casinos separately
from hotels.
Despite the controls and the
enticing revenue potential, when
the issue comes before the next
Knesset, advocates will find
strong opposition from both

":111'141":''

religious and liberal factions
who have successfully fought
against casinos for the past 30
years.
"We will do everything in our
power to make sure casinos are
not legalized," MK Rabbi Avra-
ham Ravitz of the United Torah
Judaism party pledges. "If it
turns into something legitimate,
gambling will grab many people,
not just the poor but those in the
middle who have the dream to
become rich. Society has to take
people's weaknesses into consid-
eration."
Writings from the Mishnaic
days underscore the historic un-
certainty about how to control
gambling. Although the sages
staunchly opposed gambling as
a sinful pastime with the poten-
tial to destroy families and com-
munities, they also recognized
their failure to
eradicate the
gambler's drive to
throw dice or play
other games of
luck and chance.
▪
In an effort to
dissuade gam-
bling,
rabbis
• branded compul-
sive and profes-
▪ sional gamblers
as unreliable by
disqualifying
them from serv-
ing as judges or
witnesses. But
rabbis also sanctioned gambling
on certain holidays and discour-
aged compulsive gamblers from
making hasty vows to stop gam-
bling, realizing that such vows
usually resulted in a double vio-
lation: gambling and breaking an
oath.
Advocates like Tourism Min-
ister Uzi Baram maintain that
this age-old failure to eliminate
gambling proves casinos should
be legal. They note that so long
as casinos are available else-
where, not having them hurts Is-
rael economically. Building local
casinos, says Mr. Baram, will
help deter Israelis from heading
off to Taba every night to drop
their money in the Hilton Hotel's
casino, where they comprise 90
percent of the patrons. And, he
adds, they will keep Israelis from
spending millions of dollars on
gambling trips to Turkey, Egypt
and Greece, which have joined
the growing list of countries to le-
galize casinos.
Mr. Baram's attitude coin-
cides with an international
trend to rely on casinos as a way
of raising billions of dollars in

