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Two posters produced by the Shamir Brothers, now on display at the Tel Aviv
Museum, reflect the very different values of Israel in the '50s. The poster with
the flag marks May Day, while the other urges residents of urban areas to
move to agricultural settlements.
"I've been making records, produc-
ing records now for nearly 50 years,
and this time I stopped because it's a
young man's business, and I didn't
want to go on doing things I didn't
think that I'm as good at doing as I
used to be," he said.
Some of Israel's top musical artists
appeared alongside the Israel
Philharmonic in the two scheduled
performances.
Their enthusiasm about the project
and the opportunity to work with Sir
George was palpable.
"The amazing thing about the
songs is that they evoke pictures of
our youth," singer Yehudit Ravitz said
during a rehearsal.
— Naomi Segal
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Those Were The Days
Speaking of the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra, going to a subscription
concert of the IPO these days is rather
like visiting an Indian reservation: In
both places a valiant attempt is being
made to preserve a hard-pressed cul-
ture that is out-of-step with the sur-
rounding environment.
Most of the men and women in the
IPO audience are elderly, despite the
orchestra's efforts to attract young peo-
ple with special concerts — like the
Beatles tribute conducted by Sir
George Martin — and a high-powered
publicity campaign to sign up new
subscribers.
Such a campaign would have been
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inconceivable a couple of decades ago,
when subscription tickets could be
obtained only by people who were
"lucky enough" to inherit them from
recently deceased relatives.
Another aspect of Israel's changing
character is reflected in a graphics
exhibition now on display at the Tel
Aviv Museum. It features the work of
the Shamir Brothers who, between the
'30s and '60s, were the country's lead-
ing graphic artists.
They designed everything from
political posters and labels for jam jars
to the emblem of the new State of
Israel and its first currency.
While the posters are not that old,
they conjure up a very different Israel.
Many exalt, for example, an all-power-
ful Histadrut Labor Federation, which
once dominated the country's econo-
my but today is bankrupt, both finan-
cially and spiritually.
Others glorify the red flags that
once flew on May Day (a holiday long
since abandoned) and Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion (whose name is
familiar to young Israelis, if at all,
because it is associated with Israel's
main national airport).
Most anachronistic of the posters
are those calling on men and women
to move from the city to agricultural
settlements. Today traffic is completely
in the other direction, as residents of
outlying districts flock to metropolitan
areas, leaving some 3 percent of
Israelis to work in agriculture.
Linked to the abandonment of the
red flag and of the belief that Jews
must return to the land is a general
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Detroit Jewish News
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