Underground Bullet Factory

Tel Aviv! We arrived in the evening and were sent out on our own in search for dinner. The kids decided it would be a good time to do a little geocaching so off we went, searching in alleys, up and down fire poles, electric poles and the like. We conceded to Sophie's request of plain pasta for dinner and $100 later, left semi-full of pizza and pasta. Apparently in 2021Tel Aviv topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living index, becoming the world’s most expensive city. 

The next morning, we met up with the group and Shabat, our guide, took us to the Nahalat Binyamin Market. It's essentially an open air art show of vendors selling their home made crafts. I bought an Israeli robot made of steampunk parts and the kids went in search of more geocaches. We eventually made our way into the Carmel Market, the Shuk, where we browsed for everything from food to housewares to clothing to I dont know what else.

 

After shopping, we had some extra time so Shabat took us to visit Hostages Square. The entire country is still in mourning waiting for our hostages to be returned and that is evident throughout the country. There are empty yellow chairs in every city, burnt cars painted yellow from the Nova Music Festival, memorial stickers of soldiers who died fighting and hostage signs everywhere. Hostages Square is a public plaza in Tel Aviv, located in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, the square became a gathering place for families of hostages and supporters alike, largely due to its proximity to the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters. There are numerous art installations, a mock tunnel with shooting sounds to signify what the hostages living conditions are like, and lots and lots of yellow ribbons and photos. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see the faces of the hostages who were killed, tortured or are still in Gaza.

 

From there, we headed to the Ayalon Institute, an underground ammunition factory hidden beneath a kibbutz in Rehovot. Disguised as a kibbutz that operated a laundry service, the factory was built in less than a month in 1945 and secretly produced ammunition until 1948. It was incredible to hear how they managed to bring in the machinery, set up operations, and manufacture bullets right under the noses of the British. Each day, workers would descend through a hidden opening beneath the laundry room floor to produce ammunition, while the noise from the laundry machines and bakery ovens masked their activity. The bullets produced here played a vital role in Israel’s War of Independence.

 

On the way back to the hotel, we made a stop at the Jaffa Flea market to look for some treasures and do a little more shopping. Shabat picked us up and we headed back to the hotel for a final wrap up and to reflect on on our trip.

That evening, my dad's side of the family picked us up for a Shabbat dinner and the kids were shocked to meet yet even more cousins. The kids played, we ate a lot and then celebrated Elad's birthday with firecrackers.

While at dinner with the family, a missile was shot from Yemen, requiring us all to enter the shelter room. Theo was excited for another missile and to experience the "real Israel." Ten minutes later, the missile was shot out of the sky by the Iron Dome and we continued on with our evening. It's truly amazing to see how Israelis live these days.

Side note: While at dinner, the family told us more about the amazing work that my cousin Elad has been doing with the children of Kibbutz Be’eri. He was interviewed last year as the early childhood director at one of the Dead Sea preschools in Israel. Here's a snippit of that:

"Imagine moving an entire city — a kibbutz that endured indescribable trauma — into a hotel overnight with scarcely any belongings. In creating an early childhood educational system for the children of Kibbutz Be’eri, which lost more than 100 people on Oct. 7th, we had to reinvent everything. All these months later, I’m proud that we’re still here — that the kindergartens are working and full of kids.

We run a full school day for our children — operating from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and providing two meals. Things like this make it possible for parents to return to work or to take the time to complete other necessary tasks. The way I see it, our efforts are an important part of their toolkit of resilience — and the hotel where I work is just one among many supported by my organization, Dror Israel, and receiving critical assistance from JDC.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Purim, and when you think about it rationally, there’s an impulse to focus purely on mourning and sadness. But as I sat with two young girls and had a tea party with them in their costumes, life felt almost normal.

With the change of the season and with Passover approaching, my teachers and I are finding more and more room to talk gently about how we’ve grown during this time of crisis — and how our kids have continued to develop, too. When you walk into our school, you see them playing and laughing and baking and, yes, crying — but from normal childhood things.

This is my first time working with such young children, and I’ve learned so much from them about healing and resilience. They are able to bounce back so fast. We’re older, and we move slower. People here feel they’ve lost their trust in humanity, but every action that counters that — each visitor to Israel, each message of support, each helping hand from organizations like JDC — helps us find our faith again.

We need that now. Without it, I don’t think we’d have the strength to pull through."