L) 4,..Ca24• STUDIO 330 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 L 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 R2 P A 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 L 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.