Page 26 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - September 14

that going on Shnat might actually be a good idea At least, until a meeting was called for the third
and so it was.
I went on Shnat to Bet HaEmek and it was the
best year of my life. Our Madricha was Brenda
Landes and our Madrich Henry Nir ז"ל . I was
lucky enough to get a great job working in the
refet (cowsheds) with Ivor Golker ז"ל as Rosh
Anaf. Irene Arbel, (our ulpan teacher, suggested
that I skip the study and work fulltime!
Remember my past? So I also became a
“midwife” for the cows & was even in charge of
the calves.
At the end of the year I had thoughts of staying
in Israel and going to Wingate Sports Institute.
"It sounded like a good idea at the time" and in
this case, it stayed as such, as my Dad asked me
to come home.
Until that time I had always thought that I was
going to be a sports teacher, until I read in the
Sunday Times about how many teachers are
changing professions to the hotel industry. I was
accepted to every Company I applied for. I
looked for the Company that had the least study
and off I went as “It sounded like a good idea at
the time.”
Next was a move into the Bayit at 360 Finchley
Road, and shortly I was made “Em Bayit” for the
13 of us. The next challenge was a meeting of
Garin Chet, to plan Aliyah dates. It sounded like
a good idea at the time” so I went with the flow, I
just picked a date from those that were offered
that sounded far enough away that I would not
have to deal with it for now, the date was set -
10th October 1973.
In the meantime I was moving forward at work
and started specializing in “control,” eventually
becoming a bar and beverage controller for a
London hotel chain. I enjoyed the work and was
well respected, having completely forgotten
about my Aliyah date.
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group of Garin Chet, as things already had to be
organized. In my heart I really wasn’t ready to
go anywhere, I hadn’t had enough of working in
my profession, but I had given my word that I
would go on Aliyah with the third Kvutza and of
course there was no way that I would let them
down.
At this point I was reporting to the Director/
Owner of the Company. How could I tell him
that now I have to leave because of a promise I
made a few years before, after he had trained me
and now I was running the show? A dilemma! It
took me time to come to terms with the situation
and until I could write my letter of resignation.
So now I had to put myself in gear for this new
adventure into the unknown, not forgetting that I
was leaving my Dad on his own, not just for a
year, but possibly forever (as a parent today, I
realize how hard it must have been for my Dad
then.)
Fast forward and we are set-up to leave, when
the word gets out about the Yom Kippur war.
El Al called to say sorry, but they have to return
soldiers to Israel to fight and therefore we won’t
have our place on the flight. Then El Al called
again to say that we should all be at the airport at
midday. We could not comprehend what that
meant for us and it wasn’t so easy for our
families. Everyone was at the airport - Phil
Barney, Gary Black, Natalie Zarach, Russel
Hessayon, Felicity Bernstein, Howard Marcus, as
well as the Shlichim, Johnny & Shulamit Frank ,
all except me, why? We had a puncture; there
was a problem with the spare tire and no way to
contact the AA. Eventually we got to the airport
after everyone had already gone through, only to
be delayed longer by security checks, eventually
running onto the tarmac with all my “peckalach”
I rushed up the stairs and onto a plane load of
people clapping their hands. How embarrassing!
They had all been sitting and waiting just for me!