July 4 • 2019 5
jn

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ecent events are leading me 
to believe there are no coinci-
dences. I’
m experiencing more 
moments where things I’
m thinking 
about intersect with things going on 
around me. You’
ve 
had that feeling, 
right?
You think about 
a friend you haven’
t 
spoken to in a while 
and, almost instanta-
neously, you receive 
an incoming call 
from him. Or perhaps 
something more dramatic like what 
I witnessed at a funeral of a friend 
some years back.
I, along with many others in atten-
dance who talk about it to this day, 
remember the precise moment the 
rabbi mentioned our beloved friend’
s 
love for trains — a train, with the 
rabbi having no forewarning of its 
approach, appeared out of the dis-
tance and rambled by the cemetery. 
Eerie? Actually, I found it comfort-
ing. 
This past June 5, just one day prior 
to the June 6 75th anniversary of 
D-Day, I was having breakfast with 
my 92-year-old WWII Jewish War 
Veteran (JWV) buddy Art Fishman. 
We were joined by Debi Hollis, the 
president of the Michigan WWII 
Legacy Memorial, who was updat-
ing us on the tribute she is working 
tirelessly to bring to the grounds of 
Memorial Park on Woodward in 
Royal Oak. It will pay homage to 
the unique contributions the state of 
Michigan made during WWII, both 
on the war and home fronts. 
As we finished our coffee and dis-
cussion, I looked down and noticed 
a penny on the floor just beside our 
booth. I’
m a penny-picker-upper 
from way back. Are you familiar with 
the old tradition of making a wish 
on a found penny? I do it often and 
have a collection of “wishes” in a cup 
at home.
Upon closer inspection, the date 
on this penny was … 1944. Yes, with 
a WWII veteran as my witness, I had 
just found a 75-year-old penny on 
the eve of the 75th anniversary of 
D-Day. I’
d like to think this was more 
than a coincidence — it was a “c-o-i-n”-
cidence.

On Friday evening the day after 
the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Art 
Fishman left me a voicemail: “Al, give 
me a call. I have a story you’
re not 
going to believe.” 
It turns out while washing his 
car Art looked down and saw … a 
penny. A 1945 penny. 1945, the year 
WWII ended in Europe. Another 
“c-o-i-n”-cidence? 
On Sunday, June 9, three days 
after the 75th anniversary of D-Day, 
I attended a Shavuot Yizkor service 
at Temple Israel. Honored guests 
that morning were members of the 
Jewish War Veterans Department of 
Michigan, who were invited to par-
ticipate in the morning prayers. 
Just days after Memorial and 
D-Day commemorations, Rabbi 
Marla Hornsten spoke passionately to 
the congregation about our beloved 
JWV and their contributions to our 
nation. It was the perfect setting to 
share with her my and Art’
s recent 
historical “penny” currency encoun-
ters.
After I gave the rabbi my “2-cents 
worth,” she said: “Wait here.” She left 
for a moment and retuned with the 
Temple Israel prayer book, Shema 
Yisrael, in hand; opening it to a page 
with a published work of hers about 
… a penny. 
She was inspired to write the pas-
sage after witnessing a ritual a family 
performed about 15 years ago while 
presiding over an unveiling. 

“When we reached the end of the 
service,” Hornsten said, “they told 
me that instead of leaving a stone at 
the grave, their family tradition was 
to leave a penny. The idea was that 
we constantly find pennies around 
us and every time we find one it’
s 
a message or a sign of our loved 
ones. And so, they leave a penny as a 
marker that they were there.”

I put a penny on your grave instead of 
a stone,
Because whenever I see a lost penny 
on the street, I think of you.
I remember how you used to put a 
penny in that little dish next to the 
cash register that’
s says, “Give a penny, 
take a penny.
”
How you used to throw your loose 
change into the case of the street musi-
cian even when he was out of tune,
And how you dug deep into your 
pockets for more than just pennies to 
help the person on the street.
“Find a penny, pick it up …
”
I look for lost pennies because every-
where I look, I see you.

 
— Rabbi Marla Hornsten

So is everything I just shared mere 
“c-o-i-n”-cidences? Perhaps. Though 
I’
d prefer to think of it as “change” 
you can believe in. ■

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting 
talent, speaker, and emcee. Visit his website 
at laughwithbigal.com,“Like” Al on Facebook 

and reach him at amuskovitz@renmedia.us.

for openers
Pennies from Heaven?

Alan Muskovitz

Art Fishman and Alan Muskovitz

For information, 
contact Tracey Proghovnick 

(248) 661-1836 
jslmi.org

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INDEPENDENCE DA
Y

Living Your Best ...
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Jewish Senior Life is far more than 
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Our Jewish community has long been 
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country and has understood that when the 
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communal needs will intensify. What the 
community may not have understood is 
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JSL has already experienced this trend – 
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we’ll have thousands in our community 
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While JSL has HUD-subsidized apartments 
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JSL has been working with international 
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