1 Arts & Entertainment The Writing Is On The Wall Through a collection of charming posters, a new exhibit at the JCC's Janice Charach Gallery tells the story of Israel's early years. Elizabeth Applebaum Special to the Jewish News A stroll along the streets of the new State of Israel would never have been lonely. A colorful chorus, offering enthusiastic advice on just about everything, was always right there. Use Izhar Oil! Worker! Soldier! Settlement Man! Vote MAKI (the Communist Party)! [Support] the Unemployment Fund! Drink Milk! Give a Hand to the Transit Camps! Buy Eggs from a Jewish Farm! The slogans appeared on posters that were pasted onto billboards in every city throughout Israel. The posters became popular in the 1920s as Jewish culture began to develop in the country, expanded in the 1930s when immi- grants escaping Hitler poured into the land and flourished in the early years of the state's development when they called for an army of the people, the absorption of immigrants and support for Zionists ("Your Children's Future Depends on Jewish Produce"). "The Writing Is on the Wall," an exhib- it of commercial and propaganda post- ers from Israel, 1930-1960, opens 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, and runs through Nov. 16 at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's Janice Charach Gallery. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, "Writing" features posters from the col- lection of Israeli businessman Ronny Douek. The event is free and open to the public. "This exciting exhibit is a culmina- tion of programming, presented by the gallery, the JCC and the Federation, on behalf of Israel's 60th birthday," says Gallery Director Terri Stearn. "We're going out with a bang!" Ronny Douek began his collection in 1996 and was told the posters would never be worth much. Although they are, indeed, valuable today, Douek writes that he was attracted only by what the posters reveal: "ideology, values, a national ethos and a naive outlook, as well as the experiences and emotions of a formative period. These posters are fascinating and are moving landmarks in the development of the Israeli society, the Hebrew language, political propa- ganda and national missions such as the absorption of new immigrants and sup- port for local agriculture and industry." What is likely to charm visitors is not only the vibrant beauty of the post- ers — many of which were created by immigrant artists from Germany — but a kind of innocence which, despite the Holocaust and wars with the Arabs, often define the images: the profile of a muscular man who, we assume, became so shapely because he drank orange juice "for strength"; a little girl, a polka- dot scarf atop her dark hair, incredibly happy thanks to clothes made clean with Gal detergent; a smiling female soldier, adorned with scarlet cheeks and lips, helping "Shorten the Road to Victory." The collection also is notable for its diversity. While many of the posters show flags of Israel — or variations of blue and white — and advocate sup- port for the state, they also tout the benefits of "Izhar's Bath-Soap, made in Palestine, keeps the body fresh"; Nitan perfumed soap, so full of fragrance the bar is jumping right out of a poppy-like flower; Shelltox for getting rid of flies (a very important product, indeed, if flies were in fact as large as they appear — at least as big as a human hand — in this poster); Mr. Clean — "the ultimate cleaner"; mineral water; the Maccabiah; and the need for using only well-main- tained tools at work, a message from the "Institute for Professional Hygiene in Industry." Also on exhibit in the upper gallery is a collection of larger-than-life doves painted by local artists. All doves are for sale, with proceeds to benefit Israel edu- cation programs. ❑ Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing specialist at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit. avzvl Irox 4i"1 1t' rntrfrernrt rilLttl 'my ay? tiv '7.az tavrtrirti 1"Mtrin 17r= .048.403 worm 'at ftrom wts 1- e) Y11:1-*1 Independence Day, 1949, lithograph by Buy Your Eggs from a Jewish Farm, Yohanan Simon lithograph by Fritz Rushkewitz linocut by Rudy Deutsch Dayan. Izhar was a factory built in the 1930s that, in addition to its oil, was A poster from the Dubek Cigarette well known for its soap and detergent. Factory, by Franz Kraus ltzhar "The Writing Is on the Wall," runs Oct. 4-Nov.16 at the Janice Charach Gallery in the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays and noon-4 p.m. Sundays. (248) 432-5579 or jccdet.org/culturalarts/gallery. An opening-night reception, open to the public, begins 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Reservations are requested: (248) 432-5448 or rubin@jfmd.org . October 2 • 2008 C9