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Golden Shadow, 18K solid gold, gold weight 1009,
also available in gold and steel.
B
eauty in things exists in the mind which
contemplates them.
The
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Sapphire crystal. Diamonds.
18
Karat
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For those who view the world differently .
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Exclusive Agent
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with this ad
ish means to view the ordinary
as extraordinary: a child's smile,
the voice of the wind in the
trees, the morning light, the ro-
mance of lovers, the petals of a
rose, the glow of a rainbow.
These are the real miracles of
life and Judaism trains us not
to miss their significance. That
is why there is a bracha, a bless-
ing for everything under the
sun. No blessing of life should
go unnoticed.
NUMBER 3: You should be
Jewish because Judaism can
save your life. Judaism can't
keep you from dying, no religion
can. But it can save your life
from being wasted, from being
spent on the trivial. As a rab-
bi, I have had many share with
me the fear of sickness and the
pain that comes from loss. What
they have taught me is that
people are not afraid of dying;
they are afraid of not having
lived. We want to know that af-
ter we have left this earth that
our lives will have mattered. As
a Jew, you always have a point
of reference, a fund of memories
and experiences that can sus-
tain you when darkness sur-
rounds you, nourish you when
your inner resources run dry to
confront the challenges of life
and enrich you when you need
a dimension of the sacred to in-
fuse your soul with meaning.
NUMBER 2: You should be
Jewish because your people is a
people of hope and peace. We
are the most persecuted people
in history. We have suffered
anti-Semitism, pogroms, un-
speakable acts of torture and
genocide. Yet we have not be-
come embittered. We could have
wreaked havoc on the world —
murdered and pillaged. We did
not. We sought light where
there was darkness. We
searched for kindness and com-
passion where there were hate
and mistrust. While other na-
tions rallied around their mili-
tary victories and political tri-
umphs, we rallied around the
hope of redemption and the vi-
sion that one day peace and jus-
tice would triumph over evil and
despair. It is this vision and be-
lief which have sustained our
people for centuries and have
given countless nations hope
that one day peace will come to
all.
NUMBER 1: You should be
Jewish because God needs you
to be. It was father Abraham
who declared God's oneness to
the world. God couldn't do it
alone. He needed a partner. In
time, Abraham founded a peo-
ple who devoted themselves and
their children and all future
generations to God and to His
Torah.
Every time we recite a bless-
ing, every time we put on tefill-
in, kiss a mezuzah, study Torah,
come to shul, participate in a
seder, light Chanukah candles,
give tzedakah, every time we
perform a mitzvah we become
witness to the reality of God in
the world. God needs us because
if others are going to appreciate
His role in the world, then we
need to proclaim it and share it
with them. God is our gift to the
world. He is our gift to the cele-
brant and to the joyous and
even more to the lonely and to
the bereaved. To be Jewish
means, above everything else,
to proclaim to the world, 'There
is a God!"
These are the 10 reasons why
you should be Jewish. These are
not meant to be an exhaustive
list. What I have offered is only
a beginning. But if there is go-
ing to be a Jewish future for our
children, then we need to teach
them the beauty, the richness
and the power of the Jewish tra-
dition. In this way, the love of
Torah and the love of God
will forever abide among our
people. ❑
OWS
Israel Buys U.S.
F-15 Fighter Jets
Washington (JTA) — After
what it called a lengthy
evaluation process, Israel
announced this week that it
would buy F-15I fighter
planes from the United
States.
"We anticipate that they
will order about 20 aircraft
at an estimated cost of
roughly $2 billion," Pen-
tagon spokeswoman
Kathleen deLaski told
reporters.
She said she expected the
deal to be approved by Con-
gress.
The Israeli government
said in a statement that the
decision to buy the aircraft
"strengthens Israel's quali-
tative edge of which the air
force is a central compo-
nent."
The advanced fighter
planes are made by McDon-
nell Douglas.
The sale of the F-15Is br-
ings to an end a heated com-
petition in the United States
between manufacturers
McDonnell and Lockheed to
provide Israel with the most
powerful. warplanes. ❑