In his job at Egged, uncle Maurice had the opportunity of meeting many people; the ones he saw often he befriended, the rest were mere acquaintances.  Some of his friends had clout and could be of help to his struggling relatives who had just come to Israel; others could perhaps prove to be at least a useful contact.  Uppermost on the mind of my uncle was to find me a good job.

One of his good friends had a managerial position in a bank.  He promised Maurice that he would keep his nephew in mind if there was a vacancy and, of course, if I was qualified for the post.

Sure enough, a great opportunity presented itself.  The post required a high-school education and a good command of the English language.

The interview went well.  Next, I took some tests and performed satisfactorily.  Finally, they asked me to write a short essay in English.  Oh how I wish my English was close to what it is today.  The essay itself was passable, but apparently it was rife with spelling errors.  And that did me in.

When uncle Maurice brought me the news, he advised to take it in stride, that there would be other opportunities.  A door had just closed, but another quickly opened.

Victor was not even an acquaintance; on the day Maurice met him, he told him that he had an educated nephew, and could he please find him a post in the big crown corporation that employed him.

The rest is family lore.  His company employed thousands of people and was always on the lookout for qualified individuals.

Within days, he advised Maurice that I should contact a manager in human resources, and I did.

To make a long story short, I was hired there.  The name of that company was Bedek; they were in the business of inspecting and repairing aircrafts, but mainly for the Air Force.

During my time there, they changed their name to ha-ta’asiya ha-avirit le yisra’el or Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).  That happened when they were planning and eventually did build their own aircraft.

Today, Israel Aircraft Industries, or Israel Aerospace Industries is a giant in the aircraft industry, and many related industries.   It’s light-years away from the company I worked for back in the sixties.

Even though I worked there ages ago, I will not provide details of the work itself since most of it was related to the army.  I will talk of generalities and the people I met there.  And that ultimately is what will prove of interest to my readers.  The details are now virtually forgotten anyway; and the fascinating part is the people there and how they interacted with each other.

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