Tel Aviv - "Hill of Spring"

What. A. Day. I feel like I learned more today in 6 hours than I ever did in school! Before I post more about that, let me jump back a bit to say that a) today is the sabbath, so it's very very quiet. b) Wednesday was the 70th anniversary of the Israeli independence, so there are special displays scattered around the city and Israeli flags EVERYWHERE. Our guide, Ophir, also tells us the city may have a little bit of "Independence Day Hangover".

We started off with our official group for the first time - 20 of us total. Norma and I are the youngest in the group - WOO HOO! Most of them are American, all speak English and they appear to be very nice folks. We're pretty lucky. First stop on the tour bus (which is mighty luxurious - comfy seats, air conditioning, usb ports on every seat back for easy charging, free wi-fi) was a sobering one. The site of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin back in November of 1995. The memorial of the site pictured here is meant to convey the "earth-shattering force" that his assassination had on Israel, and the world.

Tel Aviv literally means Hill of Spring. This is where the modern state of Israel was born, and modern is what this city is. However, they've done a great job of mixing the old with the new. Here's a few pics of that, with a little story about two of them below.

The last two are the same building. Originally, the small beige house seen in the last photo was on the front of the street. When they wanted to build the new skyscraper, they moved that house to the back and made sure the portion of the building that would block it from street view didn't start until the third floor. Clever!

The most impactful portion of the day for me was our trip to kibbutzim hill, or the Ayalon Institute. This site masqueraded as a typical kibbutz training ground, but actually functioned as a munitions factory run by young adults during the British Mandate period after WWII. You can read more about it here: - I won't bore you with the details of the story, but it was extremely interesting to learn about the bravery and boldness of some of the post-war Jews. What they've been through, historically, is simply unreal. Here are some pics I took with a brief description.

The Kibbutz took in laundry from all over, even the oppressive British, in order to run the machines often enough to mask the sound of the machinery in the bullet factory 6 meters below.

The kibbutz workers who were in on the secret of what was underground hurried down these stairs every morning and afternoon. The workers who were NOT in on it were called "Giraffes" by the ones who were - because they had seen the animals for the new zoo going by on the train tracks just near the kibbutz, and saw that the giraffes could only see what was above the train, not what was going on below.

This oven covered the hole opened to lower and raise the large machinery used in the bullet production. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to move it enough to get the machines in and out - thankfully, they only had to do it 3 times. 

The workers underground had to go through a thorough cleansing before going back above ground, so no one could see the metal shavings on their clothes, skin, hair and shoes.

They were underground for so long a period (a large portion of the day for several years) that they developed vitamin A & D deficiencies, and the leaders were worried that others might notice, so a special quartz light was brought in for them.

Above ground, laundry dries on the lines.

That's just a portion of what we saw & learned...I hope to do a post tomorrow on Jaffa, which was fascinating to me. It's the oldest part of the settlement and was a feast for the eyes and ears!