What was going on when I was born?

Israel's Finance Minister resigned today after the Cabinet rejected a plan he proposed to replace the shekel with the United States dollar as the nation's legal tender. The official, Yoram Aridor, said he resigned when he saw that his idea had no chance of being accepted by the Cabinet, which had been called into emergency session after the proposal was made public this morning. In announcing the rejection, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said: ''I heard the idea in the last few days. I never regarded it as a plan, just food for thought, for study by specialists and experts. There was no intention of adopting it. It was not realistic. It could not be implemented. All the economic sectors agree on this.''

An obituary on Sunday misidentified a general partner in Advanced Technology Ventures. He was Dr. Tadeusz Walkowicz.

Marshal Viktor G. Kulikov, commander in chief of Warsaw Pact forces, today offered the most explicit warning yet that the Soviet Union would deploy additional nuclear weapons in Europe if the United States proceeded with plans to deploy medium-range missiles. Marshal Kulikov said that, if the American missiles were placed in Western Europe starting in December, ''after consultations with our allies we shall deploy additional nuclear weapons to offset NATO's growing nuclear might in Europe, and we shall take corresponding measures with regard to United States territory.'' Given to Western Reporters The marshal, who is also a Soviet First Deputy Defense Minister, gave the warning in an interview that was distributed to Western reporters by the Novosti press agency, a feature syndicate reflecting official Soviet views for the foreign press. Marshal Kulikov said the American missile deployment would also be countered by enhancing the combat readiness of the Warsaw Pact forces ''for the repulsion of possible aggression.''

The search for a buyer of the Midland bank is narrowing. Page D4. MIDLAND, Tex., Oct. 13 - The First National Bank here took pride in being an Oil Patch bank, an institution that loaned money to the industry on a handshake. And now that it is failing, there is an outpouring of emotional support from those it has helped over the years.

President Reagan's two top economic advisers, Martin S. Feldstein and Donald T. Regan, who have clashed publicly over the dangers posed by budget deficits, have been ordered to have their speeches reviewed by the White House from now on, ''to insure conformity,'' Mr. Reagan's chief spokesman said today. Administration officials said, however, that they expected the two advisers to continue to speak their views, although perhaps in a more muted fashion. Larry Speakes, the President's spokesman, said the new ''informal process'' of clearing speeches was established in early September after Mr. Regan, the Treasury Secretary, and Mr. Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, had a series of disputes over the Federal deficit. The disputes, which White House aides said were embarrassing, have to do with Mr. Feldstein's contention that the deficits were keeping interest rates high.

Retail sales increased 1.6 percent in September after declining by the same amount in August, with every category except building materials showing an increase, the Commerce Department said today. The value of September's sales was $99.5 billion, $1.5 billion more than in August, after seasonal adjustment, the department said. The latest report also revised a previously reported decline of two- tenths of 1 percent in July to a four- tenths of 1 percent gain.

International A special Jordanian strike force to help bolster pro-Western Governments in the Persian Gulf has been proposed by the Reagan Administration, according to Administration, Congressional and diplomatic informants. They said that the plan called for a secret $225 million fund to provide two Jordanian army brigades with C-130 transports, medical evacuation transports and advanced infantry and river-crossing equipment. (Page A1, Column 1.) Israel's Finance Minister resigned after proposing that the country's currency, the shekel, be ultimately replaced by the American dollar as legal tender. The idea by the official, Yoram Aridor, drew wide opposition and was rejected by the Cabinet, prompting his resignation. (A1:2.)

Friday 3 EXTRA-FINE JEWELS Three jewels described as the finest the public is ever likely to see will go on view today in the Morgan Hall of Gems at the American Museum of Natural History and will stay there through Jan. 13. One of the gems is a 217.80- carat emerald called the Mogul, mined in Colombia by Indian slaves during the early Spanish Colonial period and said to be remarkable three-century-old carving of a prayer on one side and of a floral design on the other. The second is an almost flawless dark emerald crystal that weighs 667.14 carats. And the third is a 15.97-carat Burma ruby whose color is ''pigeon blood'' - a very deep red with a slight fluorescence. The museum, which is on Central Park West at 79th Street, has a voluntary admission of $3 for adults and $1.50 for children.

President Reagan's decision to name William P. Clark Secretary of Interior came as a shock to the Administration's foreign policy and military experts, who said they had no inkling that the national security adviser would be replaced. ''I am quite certain that Clark himself had no idea he would be shifted,'' a senior State Department official said this afternoon. The official said that before the announcement, Secretary of State George P. Shultz had lunch at the department with Mr. Clark and the special Middle East envoy, Robert C. McFarlane. McFarlane Seen as Replacement Mr. McFarlane is regarded by some foreign policy experts as a logical choice to replace Mr. Clark, since he is conversant with the style and conduct of the Administration's foreign policy.

A draft report for Governor Cuomo's special panel on the Shoreham, L.I., nuclear power plant has concluded that electric rates on Long Island will double in five years whether or not the plant ever operates. The construction cost, now estimated to be at least $3.5 billion, is the reason for most of the increase, according to the report prepared by the staff of the panel. Rates would be an average of 6 percent higher over the next 30 years if the plant were abandoned than if the plant operated, according to the report. It has not been released, but a copy was obtained by The New York Times.

President Reagan, taking his closest advisers by surprise, today chose William P. Clark, his national security adviser and longtime associate, to serve as Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Reagan announced his decision this evening at the end of a question-and-answer session with a group of women who are leaders of Christian evangelical groups. ''He is a God-fearing Westerner, fourth-generation rancher and a person I trust,'' Mr. Reagan said of Mr. Clark, who is a former justice of the California Supreme Court. ''And I think he will be a great Secretary of the Interior.''

''He is a God-fearing Westerner, fourth-generation rancher and a person I trust.