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The Canadian Jewish News .Thursday, June 5, 1986-Page 9
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Hardworking nuj^
-■•.By;,,.,,;.::;-,.,: ,
LEN BUTCHER
••TEL.AVIV,^'
It is 6.30 on a. Sunday morning and I am silting inTihepfflce of ShlonioLiihat. the raighiy. mayor of Tel A\'iv whey everyone affeciioniUely calls "Cheech.V '
During the 12 years he has been at the helm.. Lahat, 58, has guided the good ship Tel .Aviy through sometimes turbultMit waters wiihoui ever losing sight of its final, de.stination.
And that's to make Israer!; largest city into a : showcase for ali cities to imitate.     ^   , .
He has a reputation a.s a tough guy who fights hard for what he believes is best for his city and he wins more bureaucratic battles than he loses. His constituents see him as a doer and show hinv their gratitude at the polls — Lahat was elected to his third term with more than a 70% majority. ■ A firm believer in education. Lahat devotes much of His energy and taxpayers' mone> (25 % of the budget) to continually upgrading education in Tel Aviv.
Qne of his pet projects has been the south end cif Tel Aviv, which houses the city's poorest • people. ...
it is made up of Israelis, he says,"who either have lived there for' many years, or those who have come to Tel Aviv and have not been able to advance themselves."
A renewal project was begun five years ago and Lahat is pleased with the results!
"It was diflicult because the people living tha*e have always been in such a poverty situation that they don't believe in the government or the authoritieis and have a lot of hostilities;.
"The first thing we did was to provide good schools and adequate housing, which we were able to do because of assistance from the state, PJA and Jewish communities abroad.
"Then came roads and buildings, but the most important thing, I believe, was that we instilled a sense of pride in the people who lived there.
"Committees, made up of people living there, were elected to look after the residents* interests, insteaid of local politicians.
"So now we have asituation where young people are taking charge and looking out for the education of their children and the welfare of their neighborhood."
The program, which is now coming to an end, gave a real push to these neighborhoods, says Lahat, "but there's still a lot to do and it's always a question of money. But the project wasn't planned for a long time. The purpose was to give the first push.and then give the responsibility back to the people and this, for the most part, has been accomplished."
The core of the city, like so many cities-aroiind the world, is another problem area, but again, Lahat is rising to the challenge.
"Some 20% of oiir population Is over 65 and miany live in the downtown area, which affects the renewal of the city. Youi^ people jiist don't want to live in areas where the aged live, so they seek housing In the suburbs. .
' 'To attract these young people to the core area. 1 put a ban on die building of offices which were replacing residences and have offered benefits to anyone coming to live in the Centre ot'Tel Aviv."
These benefits are in the form of better educa-tioiial facilities, subsidized rents and the closing of streets to all traffic so that they may be used strictly for walking.
. The projeGt has been in effect for the past five years and is showing positive results.
One criticism by his detractors is that Lahat is obsessed with greenery. He doesn't agree that's he's bbsessed, but he points with pride to the greening of Tel Aviv.
"We are establishing 10 to 20 gardens in the city each year and huge parks are being developed in both liie north and south of Tel Aviv; Why shouldn't we have a beautiful city?'' [' Why, indeed! Lahat believes that people!ike 'and want beautiful things, whether it be gardens and parks or museums and theatre.
Tel Aviv is fast evolving into a world-class cultural cemre< thanks, says Lahat. lo the help from Jewish comniuniiies around the world. ^ "There is now a school of art for very young children and another school is now being built where children can. study nature and c'cology. And these schtx)ls are for children from all over, not just for Tel Avivians." he says;proudly.
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Lahat, in his conversation, keeps returning to the importance of education, which he feels Is the answer to many of society's problems, including poverty.
He tells of an apartment complex in Tel Aviv for low-income earners where half their rent is put into savings and after three years is given
to thehi in a lurnp sum so that they can get a start In a better areai of the city.
"This is only po.ssible," he says, "because the complex has been builnrith donations from other -countrie's. Bulit's a way to help these people. _^"Piusthc fact that the Tiipney we didn't have to u.se for the building.s carjjbe usedito improve •, education, which i.sniy;number one goal.
V'Ouryouthareoiin future and they must have ii good education."
One cloud on Lahai's. horizon is that of the plight of his city's Arab population. - "There are not that many.^rabs,in Tel Aviv ■.or Jaffa, but those who are here, although they . have equal rights, are noi partot the rehabiliia-. tfon program as yet. because of kinds.
"Thi.s means that they are worse off than the rest of the Jewish population and unfortunately, as time goes by, they feel more and more neglected. They may, in ihe fuiurCi be less ready to accept ntoney and think of themselves as part of the city or of the coun-try, becau.se they feel alienated. I'm concerned about this."
The registered population of Tel Aviv is 360.000. but the greater metropolitan area almost doubles that.
What problems does he face with a city this . size?'.',;
"Like most large cities, traffic is a real problem. Each daymore than half of the car population of Israel comes to Tel Aviv, which means more than 1.5 millioii people are passing in and
'out,.'.
"We are not equipped to handle that kind of traffic nor the f>arking problems that accompany it, especially with our narrow streets.
■ 'We are developing more parking lots and a better transit system but it all takes time and money, so we cope as;best we can."
Is crime a factor in the city?
"On the other hand, Tel Aviv is the saifest city in the worldr^A man or woman can walk our streets at any time of the day or night, anywhere, without giving it a second thought."
As for adrninistration ofhis city, he has cut city hall stafTfrom' 10.000 six years ago to 5.000 today and wants to trim tR"e fat even further.
Mayor Shiomb Lahat
A tough law-and'-order man, Lahat says,''No. That doesn't meah we don't have any, because we do; Unfortunately, But we don't have enough police manpower because of lack of funds:
"It's a situation Nvhere the police concentrate only on major crimes. The trouble with that is that people come to take the law less seriously when they see they can get away with things. Now I'm talking about minor things, like littering the streets or not paying their taxes.
Lahat".s. energy tires those half his age. Each day starts at home at 5 a.m. and he is at.the of-tice by 6.30: His staff say it is not unusual to get a call at 5:30 to dikuss.someihing.Lahat may-have i",eiad in.that morning's paper. .
He then, takes a tpiir of the city and as .one of his staff said,,"can tell you where a street lamp isn't working or whether a pile of garbage has . been sitting inthe same spot for a day. He's incredible, but everybody loves him.": ■
Does hehave.any other pbli'tical.aspirations?
"As you know, I'm a Liberal MK, because I feel I can help Tel Aviv even more by having a voice in the Knesset. But I like my job and 1 intend to staiy as long as they want me;"
His biggest problem,.he says, is gett^^ the necessary funds to carry out his projects.
''The state cannot support these things, othej than supplying the bare necessities, so I tr>' to raise funds.w'herever lean.''
This means traveling to North America and Europe as head of the Tel Aviv Development Fund.
"Anyone interested in donating to the fund Can write to me at city hall," says Lahat.
' 'They can donate for whatever particular project they want to and can come and see exactly where their money is going. That way they can really feel like they're partners in the project.".
He looks at his watch. It's how 7.30 and it may be alright for a reporteir to sit arqund, but Lahat has a city to check. . . . '
Israel needs the distingiiished philosopher
CARL ALPERT
JERUSALEM -
Not long ago Elie Wiesel published a provocative article which wasentitled:"WhyC)on't I Live in Israel?" V
At "the outset he is hard put to answer his own question. He is not in Israel "for reasons which escape me," he writes. His situation is ambiguous, complex and even painfulto him. He loves Israel, he says, unconditionally, but he is not ready to sacrifice the Diaspora for her.
Unlike Ben-Gurion, I w;ill not be drawn into passing judgment on all those Jews in the Diaspora who, for what are no doubt very valid reasons for them, refuse even to consider taking up a new'life in the Jewish state: But Elie Wiesel
is not eVeryman, He is a distinguiished modem philosopher of Jewish existence. His interpreta" tibns of the Holocaust have given new meaning to Jewish life.
There was a time, he writes, when he wanted to go to Israel but could not; after 1948 he could, but did not want to. He could not turn the page, "too many memories held me back, chained me. . . . The suffering of the Jews fascinated me more than their victory."
And in that unfortunate admission Elie Wiesel reveals a terrible and a tragic fact. Physically, he was one of the lucky ones who survived the Holocaust in body. He outlived Hitler and the Nazis, and in that there was a personal victory. But he fell victim to the perpetuation of the tale of suffering, as if for that the Jews had been created. Nazism has
Elie Wiesel
disappeared but it has taken its toll in those, like Wiesel, Who have transfohned their Judaism into a philosophy of suffering for which we are ordained.
"He declared that he is "horrified" by talk of liquidation of the Diaspora. He should be; the Very terminology is Nazi. But if he negates the primacy of Israel in Jewish life he is thereby ad-. vocating the pre-eminence of the Diaspora. They cannot be equal.
Diaspora (how different the meaning is when it.is pronounced Golus) is not just the United Stales and Canada. It includes lands wherever Jews may be — Syria, Lebanon, the USSR, Argentina, South .Africa and elsewhere. By its very definition it is the entire indivisible geographic area outside of Israel.
Yet Wiesel is obviously tormented. He is not satisfied with his excuses, and searches for others. He tells a story, the inference of which is that perhaps he is needed to serve the Jewish people wherever they may be; perhaps he is not worthy of going to the Holy Land. He says nothing of how much Israel needs the likes of him.
Alas his protests fall .short. His inspiring books, his eloquent lectures, his stimulating messages on the eternity of Jewish values and on the vie-. lories of the Jewish .spirit over all enemies, indicate that, like Yehuda Halevi. though his body ■:' may be in the'West, his heart is really in Jerusalem.
The greatest service that he could render to the Jewish people -r- and to himself — would : be to make his home in Jerusalem, and from there continue to .spread his inspirational messages — there, from his home, and not from the new and prosperous Golus which he exchanged for the old that collapsed under him. •
Israel needs immigrants for the human and Jewish values which they, can bring with them. It need.s immigrants to bolster its own morale in the face of political and economic buffeting. What a great as.set a man like Wiesel would be, an example to many, riiany others who respect and ad-. riiire him. His decision to remain away is a .severe . blow. ■ .
If I ttMt that Wiesel truly believes.he is at home in New York equally as well as he would be in Jeru.salem, I would have cause for despair. Yet on the basis of his own word.s I can not .say that he.has iruly made a final decision. He is obviously still engaged in_combat within himself — combat for the assertion of his Jewjsh dignity. May the better man win'.