Common° Ms TOP TEN page 5 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 Golden Shadow from Universal Geneve. Sapphire crystal. Diamonds. 18 Karat Gold. A timepiece, impeccabl y crafted in the old Swiss tradition. Giving a new twist to classical beaut y . For those who view the world differently . UNIVERSAL GENEVE ,Atce 18,94 Exclusive Agent UNIVEQ8AL jewelry and watch repair 28411 Northwestern Hwy • Suite 250 at Beck Rd. • Southfield 358-2211 LU C/) LLJ F-- CD CC F- LU LL, F-- 8 oe Stamell's Dynamic Muffler & Brake Bring In Your Coupons And Warranties — We'll Work With You! • Mufflers • Brakes • Shocks • Alignment • Maintenance Open Monday-Saturday 32661 Northwestern Hwy. Forminc io'n Hills • 851-3883 • 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. ❑