Natural Health Foods & Vitamins Quenching The Thirst Israel's growing population and dropping rainfall is turning water shortage into a national crisis. NECHEMIAH MEYERS Israel Correspondent Rehovot, Israel in the former Soviet Union is expected to prompt almost a quarter-million of its citizens to make aliya over the next three years. While surely something for Israelis to cheer about, many here are asking if the country can supply enough water to quench the thirst of this latest wave of new- comers, let alone enable them to wash their clothes, brush their teeth and flush their toilets. This is because Israel faces an increasingly severe water shortage. Indeed, the country's population has increased 25 percent during the past decade, while its water supply has remained where it was a decade ago. Worse, the Israel Hydrological Service recently released statistics showing why the level of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main reservoir, has dropped dangerously low. Sparse rain- fall in the region has cut the water coming into the lake from the north. The Banyas, a tributary of the Jordan, is now providing only 50 percent of nrest •sd,IM:'"‘::.M.,;:.:MVs.tV'Anz: • ..\b:W:%•4 , AV....\We..k%.:4M Purchase Any Of Our Large Selections Of: KOSHER VITAMINS, HERBS, FOODS OR FROZEN FOODS 10% OFF OFF With This Ad. Offer Expires 11/14/99. $ 5 00 ANY VITAMIN, FOOD OR HERB PURCHASE In The Amount Of $50 or More! With This Ad. Not Inc. Kosher Items. Offer Expires 11/14/99. 221 W. Nine Mile Road • Ferndale • (248) 546-5908 (One Block West Of Woodward) • Parking Front & Rear Hours: Mon.- Thurs. 9:30 - 7 • Friday 9:30 - 9 • Sat. 9:30 - 7 • Sunday 11 - 3 WE ACCEPT: VISA • MASTERCARD • DISCOVERY • AMERICAN EXPRESS ANNOUNCING THE BRONFMAN YOUTH FELLOWSHIPS IN ISRAEL 2000 or the fourteenth consecutive summer, a group of outstanding Jewish teenagers in the U.S. and Canada, coming from a wide variety of backgrounds and entering the twelfth grade of school, will be recipients of the Bronfman Youth Fellowships*. They will spend five fulfilling weeks of study, dialogue and travel in Israel. F U.S. vs. ISRAEL ANNUAL WATER USAGE The Bronfman Fellows will be selected on the basis of character, intellectual interests, special talents and leadership qualities. Merit, not financial need, is the program's selection standard. Fellowship activities begin June 27th, with a return from Israel August 3rd. All meal's will be kosher, and Sabbath activities will be in keeping with • \..z;. , the sanctity of the day. Based in Jerusalem, the Fellows will engage in an intense interaction with a diverse rabbinic faculty and counselors, representing a wide range of Jewish perspectives. They will explore Jewish texts against the background of Israel's land, culture and customs ... meet with Amitei Bronfman, our Israel counterpart program ... take part, at a time of rapid change, in seminars with some of the country's leading political and cultural figures ... debate ideas and search for insights on the different ways to define oneself as a Jew today, all in an atmosphere of mutual respect and open dialogue. The purpose: to return home with a new understanding of the myriad issues facing the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and a new appreciation of the need for dialogue among Jews of all kinds. * Fellowships cover all expenses including roundtrip transportation between New York and Israel, room and board and travel in Israel. Completed applications must be postmarked by January 31. 2000 For a descriptive brochure and application form,please call or write at once to: The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel 163 Delaware Avenue, Suite 102 Delmar, NY 12054 Telephone: (518) 475 721 2 Fax: (518)475 7207 E-mail: YFl@bronfman.org Website: www.bronfman.org _ ' 11/5 1_999 A PROGRAM OF THE SAMUEL BRONFMAN FOUNDATION, INC. its flow during an average autumn. A similar drop has been recorded in water from the Dan River and other sources. So far, the shortfall is being dealt with through a 40 percent cut in water formerly allocated to farmers. However, that too has its limits if agri- culture isn't to disappear completely from the Jewish state. What is urgently required are measures both to save water and to increase the supply of that precious commodi- ty. To be sure, the prob- lem has been exacerbated by three years of drought and near drought. Yet, such periods are normal in the region. And it's not that Israelis are wasteful. At 100 cubic meters per per- son (26,417 gallons) each year, Israelis use considerably less water than U.S. residents, whose use is 220 cubic meters per person (58,118 gallons). It is not the planners, however, who are to blame for the current situation. Rather, the politicians take this honor. As long as only farmers suffered from a water shortage, the lawmakers ignored the problem. Now that everyone is liable to suf- fer, avoidance is no longer an option. 4't ".• • * ♦ .