Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
As some of you may recall from the posts surrounding Lester Bowman's vertical firetube boiler, my wife and I took off for a trip to Israel.
We were in Israel for a little over two weeks. It was out first trip to Israel, and to be honest, I was not really fired up about going- doing it for my wife. The trip was something that surpassed my wildest expectations and had a great effect upon me. I had not planned the trip with machinery oriented sites in mind, with one exception, which I will write about in a paragraph or two-or more.
The experience of the trip began at Newark Airport as we waited at the gate for the El Al flight to take us to Israel. A crowd of passengers of every and any description were waiting for the flight. Large number of Hasidic Jews in their broad brimmed hats and black coats with wives and children, younger orthodox Jewish boys, Christian groups, and a group of young US Military combat veterans- this group going to meet with young combat vets from the Israel Defense Forces to address Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. As I looked at the crowd at the gate, I realized this was the happiest group of people I ever saw waiting for a plane. People were getting to know each other, and everyone around us was happy and encouraging when they heard it was our first trip to Israel. We went on our own, no organized tour, so these were strangers who struck up conversations.
Ordinarily, I do not get choked up over airliners, with my main concern being airworthiness and a good seat assignment. When I saw the lettering on the El Al plane and the Star of David, I was affected like I had not in my wildest imagined. The thought was: "here's a plane flown by our people to take us home". I did get a bit choked up seeing that aircraft and turned away from my wife as I did not want to admit the effect.
On the flight over, groups of orthodox Jewish men would get up from their seats and form a group of at least 10 ( minimum number required for prayers), and start praying per daily requirements. As I kidded my wife, we had "plenty of insurance from both sides of the aisle"- having Christian groups, some with pastors, and the orthodox Jews aboard.
We started in Tel Aviv. On our second day in Tel Aviv, we took a public transit bus to the railroad station, and then took a train to Rehovoth. We went to the Ayalon Institute. This is a museum in which a clandestine small arms ammunition factory is preserved. The factory was built during the British mandate rule, and was built under their noses. The factory was set up prior to the 1948 War of Independence, knowing arms and ammunition would be needed and Israel was embargoed. The factory is located under a bakery and laundry on what had been a Kibbutz (communal farm/settlement). The factory was in full production making 9 mm parabellum rounds for the 1948 war, and the British never caught on. The masonry bakery oven is on rails and moves with a rack and pinion to open an access hatch for moving machinery into the underground shop. In the laundry, a commercial washing machine swings out of the way to open up the personnel access via spiral stair. In the shop, there is a row of small deep-drawing presses which banged out cartridge case, lineshaft driven. There is also a small toolroom, with a 10" Southbend heavy 10" lathe (single tumbler quick change box) and a Delta drill press. I was yelling with delight at seeing those machine tools and my wife had to shssh me. There was even a test range with a mechanical chronograph down under the laundry. The Israelis got brass for the cartridges by ordering it from the British- claiming Israeli women needed lots of lipstick. A small percentage of the sheet brass went for lipstick tubes, with plenty given as gifts to British soldiers and officers for their girlfriends. The bulk of the brass went down into the ammunition plant. The Kibbutz took in laundry from the British garrisons so the Brits did not suspect the huge amounts of bottled gas used by the Kibbutz were really going for melting lead and casting bullets. Workers in the underground plant had to spend time under sunlamps so they would be as tanned as the other members of the Kibbutz who were doing field work on the farm. To get a warning of when the British were coming, the British made it too easy. Contrary to normal British tastes, the British soldiers who came to inspect the Kibbutz said they likes cold beer. The Kibbutzim (residents of the Kibbutz) told the Brits they would have cold beer waiting for them- if the Brits brought the ice. The result was the British soldiers and officers called ahead, so very few surprise inspections resulted. The factory made millions of 9mm rounds for the War of Independence.
We did visit our nephew who is studying Jewelry Design. He proudly showed us the machine shop, with a Schaublin geared head lathe, Aciera universal mill, and other smaller machine tools. He told me he'd had to cut external and internal screw threads on the lathe and routinely did jobs on the Aciera mill. He is doing what amounts a to an oldtime apprenticeship, with bench work, filing, and basic manual skills being stressed, along with state of the art stuff like 3D printing. He is also in charge of the investment casting foundry in the school.
In a twist of Jewish humor, the museum guide pointed out two machines for trimming cartridge cases to length. He said those case length trimmers were referred to as the "Mohels". Anyone who was Jewish burst out laughing, since a "Mohel" is a rabbi who performs circumcisions. We had to explain this to the non-Jews on our tour, and everyone was laughing. The staff of the museum was interested to learn about my relatives who smuggled guns out of NY and aboard ships bound for Israel for the 1948 War, and also was interested in my own shooting and reloading.
Above ground, we saw a nicely restored 'Cat diesel tractor with pony engine that had been used on the Kibbutz. As our tour ended, we met the group of US combat vets whom we'd first met a Newark A/P. They were spending 10 days on a trip designed to help them deal with PTSD, and the program reportedly has a very high success rate.
We visited many of the ancient sites, and spent nearly a week in Jerusalem. Without going into detail, the ancient engineering work is amazing. We visited the ancient port of Caeseria, and went on to Haifa. There, we visited the Museum of the Clandestine Immigration- the story of the "Exodus" ships. The one surviving Exodus ship is preserved there and has quite a good exhibit of films by people who made the voyage and tried to break the British blockade. My wife had never really known about this part of Israeli history, so I explained a lot to her. We then visited the Israeli Naval Museum which is part of that same complex. My wife had never been aboard a submarine or a fast patrol vessel- both of which are on dry land and opened for visitors. I discovered the Israelis seemed to like using Maybach diesel engines.
In Haifa, we stayed in a really nice boutique hotel. A German couple was staying there as well. One evening, they were sitting outside speaking German and talking about the hotel's cat. I wished them a good evening in German and kidded about the cat. They asked how it came to be that I spoke what they called "very good German". I told them the story of knowing Yiddish as a kid and working in machine shops and the brewery amongst German immigrants. The couple were professors of German literature, and were visiting Israel, including Yad Veshem- the museum of the Holocaust. They asked me a lot about Yiddish and Hebrew, and the asked me in English why we'd come to Israel. My mind was flipping up and back from English to German, and without thinking or any hesitation, I blurted out" Wir sind Juden- hier besteht unserem Heimatland"- we are Jews and here is our homeland. The German couple was affected by this remark and there was a long pause. I could see they were caught off balance, so again, without thinking, I said: "Willkommen von unserem Volk von meine Herz" (Welcome from our people from my heart). With that, the woman looked like she was fighting not to cry. It was nice to be able to put that couple at ease and my wife said it was a wonderful thing to see and hear what happened.
We toured most of Israel, including Masada. There, the engineering work to plan the fortress and water supply really impressed me. What amounted to a major hydrological survey and topographic survey of a large region of mountainous terrain had been done in ancient times. I knew what it took in the late 1800's-1900's to build the NYC Water Supply System, and even with good transits, theodolites and existing maps, the surveying and design required huge amounts of survey parties and engineering work. How they did it back in the times of Masada continues to amaze me, let alone the scope of the building work.
In Jerusalem, we took the "wet tunnel tour". This is a tour in the tunnels built about 2000 years ago to get water into Jerusalem, under the walls during times of siege. We rolled up our pant legs and tied our shoes around our necks and walked through about 0.6 KM of tunnel. The water depth varied and in some places was thigh deep. The tunnels are about 18-24" wide, and some low heights in places. We had an Israeli guide and his English was OK, but he mangled some words and could not give technical explanations. We had a German mother and her adult son behind us, and a professor of electrical engineering from UMASS, Amherst in our group. I translated what the Germans could not understand, and had to explain what a "spring" (as in spring of water) is. The guide pointed out where the tunnel headings had met, and whether persons using hammers and chisels were right or left handed. I kept thinking about the fact the people doing the tunnelling had no forced ventilation, used burning wood brands for illumination, and had not good steel for chisels or hammers, no eye protection, and at most wore sandals. My wife asked afterwards about what would have happened if someone in a tour group was injured or taken ill. I told her it would be a difficult extraction and might well wind up as body recovery. I told my wife that it was "welcome to my world", having worked many years on hydroelectric plants and been in wet, dark and tight places routinely. I also told my wife that in the USA, the tunnel tour would have qualified as a "confined space, permit required".
All over Israel, we saw young people in the military. Many were armed, on leave, and just being young people. We saw soldiers on leave with assault rifles or submachine guns in stores, restaurants, on busses, and just going about mainstream life. No one freaked at the sight of the weapons. Some of the Israeli soldiers were young ladies, and if we had them in our military, I think there would be a line outside every recruiting office to join up. In one sweet moment, we were sitting at a square in the Old City of Jerusalem, drinking coffee. A group of young Israeli soldiers on leave were there as well as a group of Asian tourists, Hasidic Jews and young orthodox Jewish kids playing soccer. The Asians were constantly asking the Israeli women soldiers to pose with them. The soccer ball went out of bounds and towards the soldiers. One soldier stopped the ball and did some trick soccer moves with it. Next thing was the little boys and the soldiers were all playing soccer.
No one freaking about soldiers or weapons.
We had a secure and safe feeling anywhere we went in Israel, any hour of the night or day. My wife remarked there are very few obese Israelis. She also remarked that the children are happy and running around and playing like kids are supposed to play. No whiners, no kids zoned out on electronic gaming. I had noted heavy steel bulkhead doors to the baggage room of our first hotel and asked the concierge about it. He told me that every public building and many newer apartment buildings have to have bunkers to take shelter in case of rocket attack. Despite this, the people in Israel for the most part, seem upbeat, happy, and getting on with their lives. I did talk to some of the young Israeli soldiers, including a lady who had just gotten her degree as an engineer and was back in uniform for Officer's Candidate School. It was refreshing to find young people who were sharp, spoke well, up on world events, and had a solid sense of responsibility. My wife and I both remarked about the difference between young people of that generation in the USA vs Israel. We reconnected with a lot more than our nephew on this trip, and will be making future trips to Israel.
We were in Israel for a little over two weeks. It was out first trip to Israel, and to be honest, I was not really fired up about going- doing it for my wife. The trip was something that surpassed my wildest expectations and had a great effect upon me. I had not planned the trip with machinery oriented sites in mind, with one exception, which I will write about in a paragraph or two-or more.
The experience of the trip began at Newark Airport as we waited at the gate for the El Al flight to take us to Israel. A crowd of passengers of every and any description were waiting for the flight. Large number of Hasidic Jews in their broad brimmed hats and black coats with wives and children, younger orthodox Jewish boys, Christian groups, and a group of young US Military combat veterans- this group going to meet with young combat vets from the Israel Defense Forces to address Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. As I looked at the crowd at the gate, I realized this was the happiest group of people I ever saw waiting for a plane. People were getting to know each other, and everyone around us was happy and encouraging when they heard it was our first trip to Israel. We went on our own, no organized tour, so these were strangers who struck up conversations.
Ordinarily, I do not get choked up over airliners, with my main concern being airworthiness and a good seat assignment. When I saw the lettering on the El Al plane and the Star of David, I was affected like I had not in my wildest imagined. The thought was: "here's a plane flown by our people to take us home". I did get a bit choked up seeing that aircraft and turned away from my wife as I did not want to admit the effect.
On the flight over, groups of orthodox Jewish men would get up from their seats and form a group of at least 10 ( minimum number required for prayers), and start praying per daily requirements. As I kidded my wife, we had "plenty of insurance from both sides of the aisle"- having Christian groups, some with pastors, and the orthodox Jews aboard.
We started in Tel Aviv. On our second day in Tel Aviv, we took a public transit bus to the railroad station, and then took a train to Rehovoth. We went to the Ayalon Institute. This is a museum in which a clandestine small arms ammunition factory is preserved. The factory was built during the British mandate rule, and was built under their noses. The factory was set up prior to the 1948 War of Independence, knowing arms and ammunition would be needed and Israel was embargoed. The factory is located under a bakery and laundry on what had been a Kibbutz (communal farm/settlement). The factory was in full production making 9 mm parabellum rounds for the 1948 war, and the British never caught on. The masonry bakery oven is on rails and moves with a rack and pinion to open an access hatch for moving machinery into the underground shop. In the laundry, a commercial washing machine swings out of the way to open up the personnel access via spiral stair. In the shop, there is a row of small deep-drawing presses which banged out cartridge case, lineshaft driven. There is also a small toolroom, with a 10" Southbend heavy 10" lathe (single tumbler quick change box) and a Delta drill press. I was yelling with delight at seeing those machine tools and my wife had to shssh me. There was even a test range with a mechanical chronograph down under the laundry. The Israelis got brass for the cartridges by ordering it from the British- claiming Israeli women needed lots of lipstick. A small percentage of the sheet brass went for lipstick tubes, with plenty given as gifts to British soldiers and officers for their girlfriends. The bulk of the brass went down into the ammunition plant. The Kibbutz took in laundry from the British garrisons so the Brits did not suspect the huge amounts of bottled gas used by the Kibbutz were really going for melting lead and casting bullets. Workers in the underground plant had to spend time under sunlamps so they would be as tanned as the other members of the Kibbutz who were doing field work on the farm. To get a warning of when the British were coming, the British made it too easy. Contrary to normal British tastes, the British soldiers who came to inspect the Kibbutz said they likes cold beer. The Kibbutzim (residents of the Kibbutz) told the Brits they would have cold beer waiting for them- if the Brits brought the ice. The result was the British soldiers and officers called ahead, so very few surprise inspections resulted. The factory made millions of 9mm rounds for the War of Independence.
We did visit our nephew who is studying Jewelry Design. He proudly showed us the machine shop, with a Schaublin geared head lathe, Aciera universal mill, and other smaller machine tools. He told me he'd had to cut external and internal screw threads on the lathe and routinely did jobs on the Aciera mill. He is doing what amounts a to an oldtime apprenticeship, with bench work, filing, and basic manual skills being stressed, along with state of the art stuff like 3D printing. He is also in charge of the investment casting foundry in the school.
In a twist of Jewish humor, the museum guide pointed out two machines for trimming cartridge cases to length. He said those case length trimmers were referred to as the "Mohels". Anyone who was Jewish burst out laughing, since a "Mohel" is a rabbi who performs circumcisions. We had to explain this to the non-Jews on our tour, and everyone was laughing. The staff of the museum was interested to learn about my relatives who smuggled guns out of NY and aboard ships bound for Israel for the 1948 War, and also was interested in my own shooting and reloading.
Above ground, we saw a nicely restored 'Cat diesel tractor with pony engine that had been used on the Kibbutz. As our tour ended, we met the group of US combat vets whom we'd first met a Newark A/P. They were spending 10 days on a trip designed to help them deal with PTSD, and the program reportedly has a very high success rate.
We visited many of the ancient sites, and spent nearly a week in Jerusalem. Without going into detail, the ancient engineering work is amazing. We visited the ancient port of Caeseria, and went on to Haifa. There, we visited the Museum of the Clandestine Immigration- the story of the "Exodus" ships. The one surviving Exodus ship is preserved there and has quite a good exhibit of films by people who made the voyage and tried to break the British blockade. My wife had never really known about this part of Israeli history, so I explained a lot to her. We then visited the Israeli Naval Museum which is part of that same complex. My wife had never been aboard a submarine or a fast patrol vessel- both of which are on dry land and opened for visitors. I discovered the Israelis seemed to like using Maybach diesel engines.
In Haifa, we stayed in a really nice boutique hotel. A German couple was staying there as well. One evening, they were sitting outside speaking German and talking about the hotel's cat. I wished them a good evening in German and kidded about the cat. They asked how it came to be that I spoke what they called "very good German". I told them the story of knowing Yiddish as a kid and working in machine shops and the brewery amongst German immigrants. The couple were professors of German literature, and were visiting Israel, including Yad Veshem- the museum of the Holocaust. They asked me a lot about Yiddish and Hebrew, and the asked me in English why we'd come to Israel. My mind was flipping up and back from English to German, and without thinking or any hesitation, I blurted out" Wir sind Juden- hier besteht unserem Heimatland"- we are Jews and here is our homeland. The German couple was affected by this remark and there was a long pause. I could see they were caught off balance, so again, without thinking, I said: "Willkommen von unserem Volk von meine Herz" (Welcome from our people from my heart). With that, the woman looked like she was fighting not to cry. It was nice to be able to put that couple at ease and my wife said it was a wonderful thing to see and hear what happened.
We toured most of Israel, including Masada. There, the engineering work to plan the fortress and water supply really impressed me. What amounted to a major hydrological survey and topographic survey of a large region of mountainous terrain had been done in ancient times. I knew what it took in the late 1800's-1900's to build the NYC Water Supply System, and even with good transits, theodolites and existing maps, the surveying and design required huge amounts of survey parties and engineering work. How they did it back in the times of Masada continues to amaze me, let alone the scope of the building work.
In Jerusalem, we took the "wet tunnel tour". This is a tour in the tunnels built about 2000 years ago to get water into Jerusalem, under the walls during times of siege. We rolled up our pant legs and tied our shoes around our necks and walked through about 0.6 KM of tunnel. The water depth varied and in some places was thigh deep. The tunnels are about 18-24" wide, and some low heights in places. We had an Israeli guide and his English was OK, but he mangled some words and could not give technical explanations. We had a German mother and her adult son behind us, and a professor of electrical engineering from UMASS, Amherst in our group. I translated what the Germans could not understand, and had to explain what a "spring" (as in spring of water) is. The guide pointed out where the tunnel headings had met, and whether persons using hammers and chisels were right or left handed. I kept thinking about the fact the people doing the tunnelling had no forced ventilation, used burning wood brands for illumination, and had not good steel for chisels or hammers, no eye protection, and at most wore sandals. My wife asked afterwards about what would have happened if someone in a tour group was injured or taken ill. I told her it would be a difficult extraction and might well wind up as body recovery. I told my wife that it was "welcome to my world", having worked many years on hydroelectric plants and been in wet, dark and tight places routinely. I also told my wife that in the USA, the tunnel tour would have qualified as a "confined space, permit required".
All over Israel, we saw young people in the military. Many were armed, on leave, and just being young people. We saw soldiers on leave with assault rifles or submachine guns in stores, restaurants, on busses, and just going about mainstream life. No one freaked at the sight of the weapons. Some of the Israeli soldiers were young ladies, and if we had them in our military, I think there would be a line outside every recruiting office to join up. In one sweet moment, we were sitting at a square in the Old City of Jerusalem, drinking coffee. A group of young Israeli soldiers on leave were there as well as a group of Asian tourists, Hasidic Jews and young orthodox Jewish kids playing soccer. The Asians were constantly asking the Israeli women soldiers to pose with them. The soccer ball went out of bounds and towards the soldiers. One soldier stopped the ball and did some trick soccer moves with it. Next thing was the little boys and the soldiers were all playing soccer.
No one freaking about soldiers or weapons.
We had a secure and safe feeling anywhere we went in Israel, any hour of the night or day. My wife remarked there are very few obese Israelis. She also remarked that the children are happy and running around and playing like kids are supposed to play. No whiners, no kids zoned out on electronic gaming. I had noted heavy steel bulkhead doors to the baggage room of our first hotel and asked the concierge about it. He told me that every public building and many newer apartment buildings have to have bunkers to take shelter in case of rocket attack. Despite this, the people in Israel for the most part, seem upbeat, happy, and getting on with their lives. I did talk to some of the young Israeli soldiers, including a lady who had just gotten her degree as an engineer and was back in uniform for Officer's Candidate School. It was refreshing to find young people who were sharp, spoke well, up on world events, and had a solid sense of responsibility. My wife and I both remarked about the difference between young people of that generation in the USA vs Israel. We reconnected with a lot more than our nephew on this trip, and will be making future trips to Israel.