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Happy New Year
to all our friends
and customers.
We look forward to
another year of
assisting you in all
your gift-giving needs.
fine china, fine crystal and interesting gifts —
Bloomfield Plaza • 6566 Telegraph Road at Maple • Bloomfield Hills
851-5533
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Morris Bednarsh, Anthony Ferrari & Chris Schornack
Extend
TH E DETR OI T JE WIS H NE WS
Hearty Wishes To Our
Customers and Friends
For A Very
Healthy and Happy
NEW YEAR
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M.B. JEWELRY
DESIGN & MFG. LTD.
Applegate Square
Northwestern Hwy. at Inkster
(810) 356-7007
Next time you feed your face, think about your heart.
Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated
fat and cholesterol. The change'll do you good.
V American Heart Association
WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
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David Blatt,
Basketball Coach
BONNIE ROCHMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
n mid-April 1996, as Hezbol-
lah rockets rained down upon
the north of Israel, David
Blatt called a team meeting.
Blatt, the American-born coach
of Israel's northernmost profes-
sional basketball team, gathered
his players together in the gym,
not far from where a missile had
landed several days before, and
gave them the option to leave.
"It was right before the play-
offs," Blatt recalls. "People were
very nervous, but we decided to
stay and gut it out."
Galil Elyon (Upper Galilee)
ended up making the Final Four
as a result of that decision and,
even more important, raised the
spirit of the battered region,
which lies only miles from the
Lebanese border. "We put the
team on a bus and traveled
every morning to different shel-
ters to visit kids and boost
morale," says Blatt, who is orig-
inally from Boston. "It lent
something special to the team.
It bonded us. And it had a real
positive effect on the kids."
With looks of awe on their
faces, children shyly handed
over scraps of paper for the team
to autograph. Visiting the chil-
dren was one way for Blatt and
the team to use their influence
as role models outside of com-
petition.
On the court, Blatt, decked
out in a red sweatshirt embla-
zoned with both the Fila em-
blem and Galil Elyon, written in
Hebrew, speaks English for the
benefit of the three American
players. "Most Israelis under-
stand English, but I talk in He-
brew if the foreign players aren't
around or if I notice someone
doesn't understand."
After graduating from Prince-
ton University in 1981, Blatt
moved to Israel, where he had
played on the U.S. Maccabiah
team that won the champi-
onship that year, and signed a
three-year contract to play for
Maccabi Haifa, one of 12 pro-
fessional teams in Israel.
When his contract ended,
Blatt left for Atlanta, where he
went to work for Xerox. But he
missed being in Israel, where he
had mastered Hebrew and felt
part of the society. He also ap-
preciated the enthusiasm Is-
raelis showed for athletics. So in
1986 he returned and spent the
next seven years playing for
teams in Jerusalem, Netanya,
the upper Galilee and Hadera,
where he tore his Achilles ten-
don badly enough to put an end
to his career. Shortly after, he
accepted an offer to become the
assistant coach of Galil Elyon.
When the head coach was let go
soon after, Blatt found himself
in charge, only 11 games into the/
1993-1994 season.
Money problems forced Blatt
to release all the players at the
end of the next season and Galil
Elyon had to start from scratch.
He began building a team of all
young players, except for the
captain, American Andrew
Kennedy, Blatt's Galil Elyon
teammate in 1988-1989, and
within a short time Blatt hadC
put the upper Galilee on the
map for reasons other than pol-
itics. Galil Elyon did so well that
it qualified for next year's Eu-
ropean Cup Winners Cup, a
league of teams mostly from Eu-
rope that finished at the top of
their league.
On nights he is not coaching,
Blatt works as a basketball com-
mentator for Israel Television,‹
providing insight into NBA and I
Israeli matches. He also offers
clinics to children around the
country, combining his love of
the game with his desire to have
a positive impact on Israeli
youth. ❑
WZPS
`Bridge' Builder
Goes To Finland
ABRAHAM RABINOVICH
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Forty-eight year old teacher All
Yehie, who took it upon himself
a lifetime ago to span the chasm
between Jews and Arabs in Is- c\
rael, not only remains implaca-
bly cheerful but is about to
assume still another load as Is-
rael's first Arab ambassador.
Deputy director of Ulpan Aki-
va in Netanya, Ali Yehie (pro-
nounced Yekhyeh) was
confirmed by the government to
the Finland posting, which he
expects to take up in December.
This pioneering role is not alto- `\
gethe-r new for Mr. Yehie, who
in 1984 was the first Arab to
light one of the 12 torches at the
traditional Independence Eve
ceremony on Mount Herzl, the
central national ceremony of the
Jewish state.
For the past 24 years he has
taught Hebrew to Arabs, includ-
ing Palestinian leaders, and Ara-
bic to Israelis, including ministers
and generals. He points out to
both groups that the "other" not
only speaks a similar tongue but
may not be unlike themselves.