If you are not wearing it . . . sell it! You can't enjoy jewelry if it's sitting in your safe deposit box. Sell it for immediate cash. We pur- chase fine gems. Diamonds and Gold Jewelry. A SERVICE TO PRIVATE OWNERS BANKS & ESTATES GEM/DIAMOND SPECIALISTS AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA IN GRADING & EVALUATION 4 00"14t afik Fine Jewelers EST. 1919 30400 Telegraph Rd., Suite 134 Birmingham 642-5575 Hours: Daily 10:00-5:30 Thurs. 10:00-8:30 Sat. 10:00-5:00 30% OPINION OFF CUSTOM FRAMING deed Grossman G4Ilery in the Sunset Strip 29528 Northwestern Hwy. Southfield 350-1686 HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERN ETTA MENDELSON COHEN WE LOVE YOU L 0 D R MARCI V IRWIN D Our Survival Begins With The Individual BETH COOK Special to The Jewish News A recent discussion fol- lowing Shabbat serv- ices centered around changes in tradition, vis-a-vis women's participation in synagogue ritual. It was asked how we should view changes the Conservative momement has brought about. There is still disagreement in our com- munity over these issues and perhaps these splits will only be hedled in coming genera- tions. But a more important issue was raised during the same discussion: the fact that in Conservative congregations the percentage of families really practicing Judaism at home is very low. This issue naturally brings to mind the high rate of intermarriage and assimilation and the questions of how will Judaism survive and whether our people are dying spiritually. I consider the great number of families in this community whose children are marrying out of Judaism. Then I recall the words of the "Sh'ma": "Thou shalt teach them dili- gently to thy children, speak- ing of them when sitting in thy house or walking by the way, when lying down or rising up." I seriously wonder how many parents study or discuss Torah at home at all, much less on the regular basis described in the Shima. We cry when our children intermarry or leave Judaism, but how many really try to prevent that by making Judaism a positive, meaning- ful experience in the home? Perhaps we blame the rabbi, teachers or community when things don't turn out right, but isn't that an easy way out? We are surely a hypocritical people if we utter mere words at synagogue and never put these words into action. The prophets warned us that empty prayers and rituals are not enough. They didn't say to eliminate rituals. Observances are beautiful vessels for the teachings of our tradition. They can make life special and raise us up out of the ordinary. Yet ritual alone is not all of Judaism. Only a thoughtful approach to ritual can give meaning to Jewish life; that is, connecting rituals to wisdom, compassion and righteous liv- ing; connecting Torah study to the manner in which we live each day. So many of our problems have to do with the challenge of freedom and democracy. Obvi- Beth Cook lives in Bay City. 36 Friday, February 27, 1987 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS ously no one can pry into the lives of others to see how they are practicing Judaism. The social pressure of ghettos and close-knit Jewish neighbor- hoods is gone for most of us. The burden rests on the indi- vidual, and a heavy burden it is. As much as we cherish it, will the freedom we experience in this country be our undoing? Our Torah and traditions give us the fundamentals of how to live good lives, even in the relative chaos of whatever Will the freedom we experience in this country be our undoing? larger society we live in. Many choose to ignore that tradition. But those who follow it may soon discover that attending synagogue is only a beginning. They face a daily struggle to live these ideals, not just pro- nounce them. They fail many times but they keep trying. It is never hypocritical to keep seeking knowledge and truth in a world filled with lies. Only the one who constantly blames others is a hypocrite. Only the one who stops seeking and striving is spiritually .dead. Whoever said it was going to be easy? Exercise Not For Everyone Haifa β€”In findings which challenged conventional wis- dom that exercise is good under any condition, Technion re- searchers in the faculty of medicine and department of biology discovered that even mild exercise β€” roughly the equivalent of jogging β€” can cause damage to muscles, re- duce the efficiency and protec- tion of body cells and put undo pressure on the kidneys. The Technion tests, which were carried out on laboratory mice, showed that while exer- cise had a positive effect on the muscles of young animals, it caused considerable damage to the muscles of those past mid- dle age. Results for middle- aged mice were mixed, depend- ing on whether the subject started to exercise at a young age or not β€” those mice which began exercise in their youth and continued into middle age showed positive results. The young mice (six months old) were roughly the equiv- alent of the human age of 20-30 years, the middle-aged mice to 50-60 human years, and the old ones (27 months - old) to 70-80 human years.