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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, June 27, 1975 — PACE 2
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You Don *t Have to be Jewish to Enjoy Lavee
Cart Alpert
HAIFA — Just before the
Haifa-Nazareth road to Tiberias
begins its dtp down toward the Sea
of Galilee it passes two con
spicuous twin hills on the left
known as the Homs of Hitlin. The
site is drenched in history. The
Talmud tells of the Inn (Pundak)
of Lavee located in the
neighborhood where *weary
travellers no doubt stopped to en
joy the brisk air before descending
into the hot valley. The name was
preserved in garbled form as the
Arab village of Luvieh
It was here in the-first week of
July, 1187, that Saladin's army
met and vanquished the Crusaders
in their last great military stand.
One can visualize the development
of the battle on the great plateau as
described in detail by every history
book.
And it was here in February of
1949 that a group of sixty settlers,
most of them from England, es
tablished their kibbutz under the
revived name of Lavee. Seventeen
more years were to elapse before
the ancient Inn, now in the modem
dress 'of an air-conditioned Guest
House, was to rise on the site, fac
ing the Horns of Hittin.
Skeptics predicted failure for
the enterprise. “Stick to your
profitable poultry raising and to
your field crops", the settlers were
told. “Your appeal to tourists is so
limited, and your handicap so
great that you can never make the
Guest House a financial success.”
The “handicap" was religion,
for Lavee is an orthodox kibbutz.
On Shabbat no traffic may move
STEVEN J. ZIER & CO.
INCORPORATED
Specializing in
Municipal and Corporate
Securities
Tax Sheltered Investments
THE NORTHSIDE TOWER
6065 ROSWELL RD., N. E.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30328
Phone 404/256-2780
Mnwbtr National Association of Securities Dealers, lac.
Access Meaters. New York aad A«ericaa Stock Excfcaaces
Securities Investor Protection Corporation
in or out of the grounds. The swim
ming pool, too, rests. Kashrut is
not just a certificate on the wall.
The whole mood and spirit of the
place is religious as practiced by
modern young people who also
serve bravely in Israel’s defence
forces. . *
And behold, the enterprise
flourished far beyond all expec
tations. Sixty percent of the
clientele are non-Jews, pilgrims
most of them, who come to visit a
land which is holy to them. For
them, this is another side of Israel.
They are not attracted by the
slums of Tel Aviv nor the villas of
Herzlia and Haifa. They are
repelled by the atheism of the left
wing colonies and the fanaticism of
Meah Shearim. They find Lavee
closer to their ideal image of Israel
than almost any other aspect of the
state. They ask lots of questions.
And they keep coming back, year
after year. The manager of the
hotel, Mordecai Shecter, told me
that in the middle of the Yom Kip-
pur War, when the fighting was
still raging at the Canal, a cable
was received from a Christian
group which many months earlier
had made reservations to arrive
early in November. “We are com
ing". the cable read, and come
they did I
For Jews, too, Lavee can be an
experience. Many Reform and
Conservative Jews discover here a
new religious conception and a
new breed of orthodoxy. They may
come by accident or out of curiosi
ty. As guest at Lavee they assume
the “burdens" of observance in
WAV* A'TAMPA
ci<SAe
w
Jewels
Sublimes
Blunts
PanatMas
Buy Them
c$M0KE f«E^
Enjoy. Enjoy
such matters as grace at meals,
kosher food, donning of a
yarmelke, etc. On the Sabbath
the atmosphere is hallowed rather
than hectic, but those who plan to
travel are reminded that no
vehicles move here on the day of
rest.
For the religious, of course, this
is a heaven. The greetings of
“Shabbat Shalom" and “Shavua
Tov", or the mingling with kibbutz
members inside and outside the
synagogue provide a people-to-
people relationship which the
tourist industry aspires to, but
seldom achieves elsewhere.
I wonder, was the spirit like this
in the Talmud days of Pundak
Lavee, without the air-
conditioning and the swimming
pool?
ELECTRICITY AND
THE CONSUMER
Straight Talk by
Bob Scherer
President,
Georgia Power Company
These days we hear much talk about
“the consumer.” Sometimes it seems "the
consumer” has just been discovered.
Since Georgia Power Company was
formed in the late 1920’s, our only reason
for being in business has been to serve
that "consumer,” or customer.
In our early years, it was easier to
provide for our customers’ electrical
needs than it is now. We were in an
expanding economy, able easily to borrow
money and achieve earnings necessary to
finance the ever-increasing needs of a
growing Georgia. For example, it took
until 1964 to reach an investment of
$1 billion in electrical plant to serve our
customers. In just 10 more years, that
investment increased bv more than two
and a half times to rearh $3.7 billion in
1974. During this period we decreased
our rates 16 consecutive times. Unfor
tunately, those days of decreases are over.
Since 1971, we’ve had to request annual
rate relief to help us meet your future
electrical demands.
All this means is that we, like you,
are facing the problems of inflation, reces
sion and rising costs of doing business.
It’s tougher to provide you with
electric service today. But as the new
president of Georgia Power Company,
1 want you to know that our newly
organized management team is taking a
positive view of the future. We are looking
at every way we can to reduce costs while
maintaining the level of service you, our
customers, deserve.
* I would welcome your suggestions
about how we can better provide for your
present and future electrical needs.
Write:
Bob Scherer
P.O.Box 4599
Atlanta, Georgia 30302
Georgia Power Company
A citizen wherever we* serve 9