Newspaper Page Text
Pag* 14 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 23, 1*77
STEVEN J. ZIER £& CO.
INCORPORATED
| Correspondent Members Principal Stock Exchanges
6006 Roswell Rd. N.E./Suite 605/Atlanta, Georgia 30328
'404-S56-27B0
•Homemade Dough
Sicilian or Thin Crust
•Spaghetti Dinners
•Lasagna
•Antipasto
•Italian
Sandwiches
•Draft Beer
& Wine
hella
phone 255-9122
Dining Room or Take Out Open 7 Days
6435 Roswell Road
1.3 Miles North of I-285
LESTER PAZOL
Hennessy Cadillac
Incorporated
3040 Piedmont Rd., N.E.
Invites You
To Step Up To
78
With the best possible purchase arrangements available for
our New Cadillacs and Prior Owned Cadillacs. Warranties
up to 36,000 miles or three years.
With That Great Hennessy Service
PLUS MY EVER PRESENT PERSONAL SERVICE
Too*Hhsy To Visit Our Showroomf
Call 261-5700 For A Test Drive
Uri Zohar
Israeli star finds religious roots
Uri Zohar and friend
by Diana Lerner
Anything can happen in Israel
and usually does. Take, for
instance, the former Yeshiva
student from America who eased
up on his religious observances
when he immigrated to Israel
because “in America 1 clung to
very strict orthodoxy as a means of
maintaining my Jewish identity.
Here I’m a Jew without trying.”
A religious Israeli could punch
milewide holes in that reasoning,
but it happened.
Or, more astounding than that
example of “anything can happen
in Israel,” take a case that’s the
exact opposite and made headlines
here. Hold on to your yarmulkas
for this one —Uri Zohar has got
religion! A top Israeli showbiz
star—very funny comedian,
popular host of Israel TV’s “That’s
My Secret,” much in demand as a
talk-show guest, a so-called
freethinker who never disowned
his drug-addicted friends—Uri
suddenly “converted” to Judaism.
He quietly entered a yeshiva a year
or so ago; now he always wears a
kip a (yarmulka) and tsitsis (the
fringe upon the comers of a man’s
garment to remind him of the
Commandments, the mitzvot).
When he first showed up on
“That’s My Secret” dressed that
way, the cast thought it was a
stunt. But he meant it and he hasn't
backslid an inch. It seems to be the
answer to his personal search for
truth, security, a solid place to
plant both feet. It has given him
roots, he feels, a tradition to be
part of and proud of. “People who
observe the mitzvot are more free,”
he said on TV recently. “I can’t tell
you why, but putting on a kipa
makes you think. Maybe seeing me
in one will make others think.”
And it has. As an idol of young
Israelis, Uri is makings lot of them
think, and the kipa and tsitsis
manufacturers are doing very well
these days. Mr. Begin’s
determination to observe kashrut
and attend synagogue, even when
he’s abroad, has helped many
Israelis gain pride in being
observant that they never quite felt
before.
Even the ex-yeshiva student is
having second thoughts. “I admire
Uri for what he’s done," he says .
Uri hasn’t turned to religion as an
escape from an unsuccessful career
or an unhappy personal life. He is
at the height of his profession,
happily married and the father of
three. He continues his daily swim
off the Tel Aviv beach at daybreak,
he’s producing and starring in
films, appearing on TV and radio,
performing at army bases (no
charge), entertaining handicapped
children (no charge), entertaining
handicapped children (no
charge)—aU while studying Torah
and practicing the mitzvot like any
other observant Jew.
Two of his friends are also
students at his yeshiva—Ika
Israelis, an artist, and Pupik
Amon, a rock and roll singer who
was recently ordained a rabbi.
Says Rabbi Noah Weinberg,
head of Ash Hatorah Yeshiva
where Uri and his friends study: “A
lot of young Israelis grew up
believing that religion is the opium
of the masses. Now they are
turning to Torah instead of the
opium.” Rabbi Stanley Gold,
formerly of South Orange, N.J.,
and today living in Petah
Tikvah says: “Jews cannot live
without Torah and it is natural to
return to it. Children of non
believers are reaching out for
Torah because they feel their
emptiness. It is, in any case, a
positive phenomenon.”
That Uri Zohar’s return to
Torah is a phenomenon, no one
will deny. jt*uh Di»«i
Mail to AMPAL / 420 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
YES, I want a free copy of
"HOW AMPAL WORKS TWO WAYS
HELPS YOUR MONEY GROW WHILE
IT HELPS ISRAEL GROW”
AMPAL WORKSTWO WAYS...
HELPS YOUR MONEY#ROW
WHILE IT HELPS ISRAECGROW
AMPAL was founded in the United States, even before
there was an Israel, to forge a sturdy link of invest
ment to the Jewish state.
AMPAL is now a major American corporation that has
made loans and equity investments close to
S1 billion dollars in a variety of Israeli industries.
And. we've never missed a dividend
AMPAL investors have had their trust rewarded with
increasingly larger dividends — NOW AT 10°o —and
interest earnings—always in U S. dollars.
American Israel Corporation
THE PRUDENT PIONEER
420 Lincoln Road Miami Beach. Florida 33139 ' (305)532-4476
New York Miami California / Chicago Tel Aviv
