As retold by Bruce Lowitt

Rivkah, a little old lady, gets on an El Al flight to Israel with a tote bag, a purse and a little dog carrier. She sits down and puts the carrier on the adjoining seat.

A flight attendant says, "I'm sorry, but you can't keep the dog here. I'll have to take it and put it in baggage."

What else can Rivkah do? She agrees.

During the flight, the attendant looks in on the little dog. It's dead. In a panic she tells the pilot who notifies a Tel Aviv flight controller, who tells the director, who decides to get another dog to replace this one. He figures the little old lady will never know.

When the plane lands, Rivkah goes to the baggage desk to claim the dog carrier and out comes an exact replica of her old dog.

"This is not my dog," she says.

"Yes it is," the attendant tells her. "Look, it has the same markings."

"This is not my dog."

"How can you say this isn't your dog?" the attendant says.

And Rivkah says, "My dog is dead."