Lost Penny Day

The purpose of Lost Penny Day, celebrated on February 12, is to encourage everyone to gather up spare pennies and donate them to a good cause. Lost Penny Day takes its name and intent from President Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president whose picture is on the copper penny and whose birthday is today.

Gather up all those pennies that you have been dropping in jars, candy dishes and coffee cans, and stashing in junk drawers. Give them to a worthy charity that you are passionate about helping.

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I wanted to think of something fun and uplifting to do to celebrate Lost Penny Day. I spent quite a bit of time on the Internet reading about pennies. I found the following information interesting:

-The word penny is probably derived from Penda, the name of an eighth-century English (Mercian) king who coined a piece of money called the penig or pennig.

-More pennies are produced than any other coin in the United States.

-The first penny was designed by Benjamin Franklin and was made of pure copper.

-According to the US Mint, the approximate life span of a coin is about 25 years.

-Lying side by side, it would take 84,480 pennies to reach one mile. Stacked flat one atop the other it would take 1,108,800 pennies to reach one mile.

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As I was reading about the penny I wondered how many pennies it would take to make a pound. I read on several different websites that depending on the time the penny was minted it could weigh less or more than others. It seems that there is no set formula to determine how many pennies it takes to make a pound because of this variation in weight.

I decided to find a pound of pennies so I started going through drawers, my car ash tray (I don't smoke.), pockets, purses, and other various hiding places for change and other treasures.

I got out my kitchen scale and started stacking pennies until I stacked enough to make a pound.



It took 173 of my pennies to make a pound.

I decided to start saving pounds of pennies to send to a group that I visited while in Israel a few years ago. The group is Lev U Neshama (Heart and Soul). It is based in Tzfat, one of Israel’s four holy cities. It is located high in the mountains of the Northern Galilee about 15 miles south of the Lebanese border.

I would love to live there in Tzfat someday. It really is very holy - from the air you breathe to the food you eat. It is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever been to. I did not want to leave.

A friend of mine is a volunteer with this group. One hundred percent of funds they collect goes towards their projects.

I have sent money from time to time, but today I am putting the group on my "regular" list of groups I donate to.

I realize that a pound of pennies won't save the world, but it can buy a little food for someone. I will plan to send 20 pounds of pennies every month. (Of course I will actually send a check, but will save the pennies to cover the check.)

You can read about this wonderful group of people and their projects at: http://www.levuneshama.org

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I love the following story. I don't remember where I first read it. I have no idea if it is a true story, or if someone just wrote it to make a point. But no matter, it has inspired me.

I have always picked up money if I see it on the ground. But since reading this story I always think of it when I do pick up money.

I have a little jar that I keep all the money I find. I don't know if I will ever spend it, or if my family will just find it in my closet some day while cleaning out my things and wonder why I kept it.

I hope you will enjoy the story as much as I do.

(Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She causally mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? "Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words "United Sates of America."

"No, not that; read further." "One cent?" "No, keep reading." "In G-d we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?" "And if I trust in G-d, the name of G-d is holy, even on a coin.

Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! G-d drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in G-d at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to G-d; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is G-d's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, G-d is patient and pennies are plentiful! )

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Interesting true story about pennies:

In 1987 an 18 year old college freshman of Rochelle, Illinois named Mike Hayes came up with a novel idea to obtain the funding to pay for his college tuition and expenses.

He thought that just about anyone could spare a penny to donate to him. So he wrote a letter to Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Green and asked him to publicize his request that everyone reading the column send him a penny.

I remember reading the article at the time. In fact, I cut it out and kept it because I thought it was so unusual. I enjoyed Bob Green's articles, so it was one that I followed for many years.

Here is part of the article published on September 6, 1987:

"No one likes being used, but in this case I'm willing. It sounds like fun. Mike Hayes, 18, is a freshman science major at the University of Illinois in Champaign. He is looking for a way to finance his college education, and he decided that my column is the answer. "How many people read your column?" he asked me. I told him I didn't know. "Millions, right?" he said. "All over the country, right?" I said I supposed that was true. "Well, here's my idea," he said, and proceeded to explain. I'll break it down simply: Mike Hayes wants every person who is reading this column right this minute to send him a penny. "Just one penny," Hayes said. "A penny doesn't mean anything to anyone. If everyone who is reading your column looks around the room right now, there will be a penny under the couch cushion, or on the corner of the desk, or on the floor. That's all I'm asking. A penny from each of your readers."

In less than a month he had received the equivalent of 2.3 million pennies. Some people did send only a penny. But many people sent nickels, dimes, quarters, and even more. Donations came from every state in the US as well as from Mexico, Canada, and the Bahamas.

Mike did end up with the $28,000 he had set out to get. He went on to earn his degree in food science from the University of Illinois.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

Today was Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day (February 11)

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day is in recognition that everyone spills a little milk now and then. It's a day to be optimistic, think positive, look on the bright side, and to find something good in everything that happens. As the song says: Don't Worry, be Happy!
It is a day to recognize that unplanned and unwanted things happen. And, when they do we must remember that everything G-d sends our way is GOOD.

One of the basic tenets of the Jewish faith is that G-d is the essence of good, and since everything in existence derives solely from Him, evil has no true existence. There is only “revealed good” and “hidden good.” What we experience as “evil” is, in truth, hidden good—good that we, because of the limits of our perception, are incapable of perceiving as such.

The Talmud cites a story that illustrates this point:

Rabbi Akiva taught: A person should always say: “Everything that G-d does, He does for the good.” Rabbi Akiva was once traveling, when he arrived in a certain town. He asked for lodging and was refused. Said he: “Everything that G-d does, He does for the good,” and went to spend the night in a field.

He had with him a rooster, a donkey and a lamp. A wind came and extinguished the lamp, a cat came and ate the rooster, a lion came and ate the donkey. Said he: “Everything that G-d does, He does for good.” That night, an army came and took the entire town captive. Said Rabbi Akiva to his disciples: “Did I not tell you that everything that G-d does, He does for good?”(If the lamp had been lit, the army would have seen me; if the donkey would have brayed or the rooster would have called, the army would have come and captured me.)

We have to develop the habit of realizing that the "tests" in our lives should not cause us to give in to worry and fretting. We should try to remember not to "cry over spilled milk". We should remember the lesson from Rabbi Akiva and be assured that we are only experiencing "hidden good".

Rather, with Hashem's help, we can try to take a positive attitude and fix the problem or get past it.

We all know the concept of the question: Is the glass half full or half empty? The pessimist sees it as half empty. The optimist sees it as half full. It's all in our attitude toward life.

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How I celebrated today...

I did some research about milk in the Torah. I found some interesting things and will share them now:

-The gematria (numerical value) of the Hebrew word for milk, chalav, is 40. Jews (and some Noahides) eat dairy foods on Shavuot to commemorate the 40 days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving instruction in the entire Torah.
Moses spent an additional 40 days on Sinai, praying for forgiveness following the golden calf incident.

He then spent a third set of 40 days before returning with a new set of stone tablets.
The numerical value of chalav, 40, has further significance in that there were 40 generations from Moses who recorded the Written Torah, till the generation of Ravina and Rav Ashi who wrote the final version of the Oral Torah, the Talmud.

Further, the Talmud begins with the letter mem - gematria 40 - and ends with mem as well.

-Why is Torah likened to honey and milk?

Honey comes from a bee, which is not kosher, and milk comes from a live animal whose meat is forbidden until the animal is slaughtered in a human and kosher manner.

Both honey and milk, therefore, allude to the power of Torah which can transform a sullied soul into one of holiness and purity. (from Chag HaShavuot published by Yad L'Achim)


-Man cannot live on bread alone, nor can he survive on just water. Yet, one of the miracles of childbirth is that a mother's milk provides her newborn with all the nourishment it needs. In this sense, Torah is like milk, for it encompasses within it all the sustenance that man's soul needs for spiritual vitality and growth. Thus, milk foods allude to the Torah itself.

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One of the things that I feel is very important for me to do is to teach my grandchildren the food blessings that arepart of traditional Judaism.

The Sages ordained that "one should not derive benefit from this world without first reciting a blessing. Making a blessing before eating or drinking is tantamount to "asking permission" from G-d, acknowledging that "the world, and everything in it, is G-d's" (Psalms 24:1) and G-d is the true source of all the gifts of life. It imbues the mundane act of eating and drinking with a spiritual awareness--awareness of the true Source of our sustenance, and of the purpose of eating and drinking.
There are different blessings for different food types before eating, and after-blessings when the meal or snack is complete.

This is the bracha/blessing before drinking milk and eating dairy foods:
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.

This is the translation of the prayer that Abraham taught his Gentile guests to say after they ate food to their satisfaction, in order to teach them that there is only One True G-d:
Blessed is G-d of the Universe, whose food we have eaten.

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My mitzvah for the day was to buy six cartons of milk and give them to six mothers who are financially strapped and have a hard time buying food for their children. I am so thankful that all six of my grandchildren are able to have milk to drink. I wanted to share just a tiny blessing with others in honor of Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day.

Umbrella Day Celebration

As I have already mentioned in a previous post, I suffer from depression. In the past couple of years I have been working on overcoming this. Per Rebbe Nachman's prescription, I look for silly and funny things to improve my moods.

The rabbis teach us that the continuous obligation of Noahides is yishuv olom/improving the condition of the world. I know that I cannot accomplish this mitzvah if I am depressed.

A few years ago I saw a coffee mug in a little gift shop. I loved what it had to say, so needless to say, I bought it. I have taken the words of wisdom from that mug and put it into action.

The words on the mug are: Go Forth Into the Day and Make It GOOD! That is now my personal motto. I think Rebbe Nachman would like that. I wonder if he drank coffee? If so, I think he would have enjoyed having a mug like it too.

In working towards making every day good I find something to celebrate every day. Sometimes I celebrate alone, sometimes with my grandchildren, and sometimes with others.

Yesterday was Umbrella Day. I celebrated by myself, here at home. It was lots of fun. All my children and grandchildren were out of town, and my husband was at work. So, I just had fun in a simple way.

I worked on putting my celebration photos on a blog, then forgot to hit save, so it just disappeared. It was too late and near bedtime to redo it, so I will post yesterday's celebration blog today. So, here goes. I hope you enjoy my blog about Umbrella Day.

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When : Always February 10th
Umbrella Day is in honor of one of the world's most invaluable inventions. On a rainy, day, we are sure glad that someone was smart enough to invent it. It's also increasingly popular to use umbrellas to shade ourselves from harmful UV radiation, and the heat of the sun.
Umbrellas come in all sorts of sizes, colors, shapes, and, designs. Businesses and organizations use them for advertising. The smallest umbrellas fit inside a purse or glove compartment. Golf umbrellas are popular sizes. Then, there are lawn and beach umbrellas. [from some random website]

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The weather here was not rainy. In fact it was so windy that an umbrella would have blown away to the heavens had I tried to put one up outside. I have a servicable black umbrella, but decided I wanted a new one. A pretty one. So I went to the dollar store and bought a pretty teal colored one. It folds up so small I can put it in my computer bag or book bag to carry it with me.

I then came home to bake some cupcakes. I hardly ever bake anything since we can get kosher desserts and baked goods pretty easily. I gathered everything on the counter and started my celebration.

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Here are all the ingredients I used. I felt like I was setting up for a cooking show. You will notice in the photo that I had sat out some colored sugar sprinkles. I decided not to use them since the kids would not be here to eat the cupcakes, so they are not on the finished product as you will later see.



It is very irritating to me when I try to eat a cupcake and it sticks to the little paper liner. So when I bake cupcakes I lightly spray the inside of each paper liner. It also irritates me when the baking pan stays sticky after using the spray directly on it. So, I place each paper liner on a spread out newspaper page to spray it, then put the liners in the baking pan. It works great! The cupcakes don't stick, and I don't have a messy, sticky pan to clean up later.



Because I keep a traditional kosher kitchen I check each egg for blood spots before using it. This is a photo of me holding the egg in a glass bowl up to the light to check it.


I use mostly organic foods and really think the brown eggs are pretty as well as having a very rich dark yoke.


I filled each cupcake liner with one fourth of a cup of the batter. This makes the cupcakes rise just to the top of the liner. I like the uniform size that this amount of batter makes.



I baked the cupcakes for 20 minutes. Since everyone's oven is not exactly the same, you would choose the time that works best for your own baking project.


I let the cupcakes completely cool on wire racks before frosting them.




I set up umbrellas around the table, put on a pretty white cotton table cloth, sprinkled a few brightly colored jelly beans around, added some pretty ribbons, put the cupcakes on some of my colored glass dishes, and suddenly it was a party! I made myself a cup of coffee, sat under the umbrella, did a little Torah studying, and celebrated Umbrella day. Later when Lance came home he loved having freshly baked cupcakes. It was a fun day for me.

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Go to the following link to watch a happy Umbrella Day video:

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=A717B9B6785611DD845E000423CEF5F6

Tu B'shvat

The Mishnah proclaims the 15th day of the month of Shevat as Tu B’shvat, the New Year for the Trees in Israel. New years are times for hope and new beginnings.

The following story from the Talmud inspires me to have hope for the future in spite of how bad things seem to be in the world today. The world's economy is in shambles. There are wars throughout the world. Terrorism and crime is rampant. Poverty and hunger are painfully evident on every continent in the world. Our environment is being destroyed by our human actions. Morality is at an all time low. Natural disasters seem to be happening all the time.

It can feel hopeless at times. But I cling to everything that promises hope for the future to be better. I pray for a better world for my grandchildren and their grandchildren after them.

I will have seven new trees planted in the Land of Israel in honor of Tu B'shvat this year. One for each of my six beloved grandchildren: Blake, Ethan, Azariah, Tzipporah, Sara, and Sophia. The seventh tree will be planted for my great nephew, Bryson, who was born this morning, weighing 3 lb. 14 oz.

May they live to see the trees mature and bear fruit, and walk on the Land of Israel, become G-d fearing Torah observant people who make the world a better place in which to live.

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Honi the Wise One was also known as Honi the Circle Maker. By drawing a circle and stepping inside of it he would recite special prayers for rain, sometimes even argue with G-d during a drought, and the rains would come.




He was, indeed, a miracle maker. As wise as he was Honi sometimes saw something that puzzled him. Then he would ask questions so he could unravel the mystery.



One day Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, "How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?"
The man replied, "Seventy years."

Honi then asked the man, "And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?"

The man answered, "Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees."

Honi then sat down to have a meal. After he ate he was very sleepy. He laid down and went to sleep. As he slept a small cave formed around him, which hid him from sight so people walking on the road did not see him sleeping.



He continued to sleep for seventy years. When he woke up he saw a man gathering the fruit of the carob tree and Honi asked him, "Are you the man who planted this tree?"

The man replied, "I am his grandson."



Legand from Babylonian Talmud- Ta'anit 23a

Art Work by Miriam Dimondstein

My "Statement of Faith"

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Scripture References (using the Stone Edition Chumash, available from Artscroll):

In the beginning of G-d's creating the heavens and the earth... (Bereishit/Genesis 1:1)

G-d created Man in His image, in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them. (Bereishis 1:27)

Hashem G-d formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the soul of life; and man became a living being. (Bereshit 2:7)

...on the day that G-d created Man, He made him in the likeness of G-d. He created them male and female. He blessed them and called their name Man on the day they were created... (Bereshis 5:1-2)

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I can't ever remember a time when I did not know about G-d. I grew up going to church every week, hearing the Bible stories in Sunday School, listening to sermons from many preachers, singing songs and hymns about G-d, hearing about G-d from my parents and grandparents. G-d has been part of my life as long as I have been alive on this earth.

I don't think there was ever a day in my life when I even questioned the truth of the scriptures listed above. I just always knew that there was a Being, or a Power, or Something bigger than me, and that G-d was that thing. I knew that this earth and the universe and humans and everything else in the world did not just happen in some random way. I knew that G-d had created things just like the Bible said He did.

I can remember thinking how stupid it was to believe that somehow things just "happened" into existence: The Big Bang Theory. It just never made any sense to me. I never questioned that
G-d really did create everything - including me (through the miracle of reproduction and birth all the way back to Adam and Eve). I have always been fascinated by that thought. That I am a continuation of the original human all these years later.

My parents are dedicated Christians so that is how they raised my sisters and me. As Christians. Being brought up in church and a Christian home I learned more about Jesus than I did G-d.
I find it interesting that somehow, even as a child, I thought there was something flawed about the whole idea of G-d being three parts. So, I suppose you could say that I have just about always thought there was "more to the story" than I was hearing about. I did not know what it was, and for many years did not give it much thought. I just knew that there was more to it.

For most of my life I always felt bad about myself. I knew that I was a "sinner" and that I would never measure up. I wanted to, but knew that I was a failure as a human being because I just could not get things right. I wondered for so many years: "Why was I born?" "What am I supposed to be doing with my life?" "Why did G-d even create the earth and humans in the first place if He knew that we would all be such failures?" There were many other questions like these. And I never found the answers. It was very depressing to realize that I could not "fix" myself, but had to rely on someone else to "fix" me by being murdered. Talk about a downer! And it did not seem logical to me or make any kind of sense.

I can remember thinking that there was something wrong with the "story" because in the human courts of earth if I committed horrible crimes and was sentenced to death the judge would not allow my father or my mother (or anyone else) to die in my place and allow me to walk away with a clean slate. I would have to pay for my own crimes according to the laws of the land.

So, why would things be any different in the heavenly courts? Why would I be allowed to avoid paying the price for my own choices? I always knew that "the buck stops here" as the famous quote goes.

But Christianity was the only way of life I knew. I knew there were people who loved G-d and Jesus and went to church and did nice things and would go to heaven when they died, and I knew there were people who were heathens and did not go to church and who would go to hell when they died.

I sure didn't want to go to hell so I tried to be a Christian.

When I was about 6 or 7 years old I would look at my grandmother's Bible. It was the King James version. In that Bible there was a picture (a copy of a very old painting) of Satan in hell. He had a big metal stick with an arrow on the end of it, poking at a screaming man. The picture was very dark, and there were people sitting or hanging on rocks that looked like they were inside a scary cave. There were flames and smoke, and everyone in the picture looked terrified except for Satan, who looked happy.

That picture literally "scared the hell" out of me. I knew I would do whatever the preachers, my parents, my grandparents, or anyone else told me to do to avoid that place! Even though I was somehow sure there was "more to the story" I spent many years chasing the illusion that Christianity spreads to the world. And I also taught my children to do the same thing.

But, thankfully, in 1998 I began to have the courage to investigate things on my own. I knew that my parents and sisters and Christian friends would not approve. But I started seeking Truth in places and teachings outside the church.

It did not happen overnight. But with G-d's help I was able to discover the Torah and the G-d of Israel - not the god (Jesus) of Christianity. I no longer believe any of the teachings I learned from Christianity. I now seek to learn only what Torah (G-d's instructions) teaches. And for that I must rely on the wisdom of the Jewish sages who teach me how I, as a Noahide, should strive to live my life.

And with G-d's help I will be able to influence and encourage my children and grandchildren and their children (if I live long enough) to seek the wisdom of the rabbis and to live a Torah observant life.