Ballad for the Casino | Bat Galim neighborhood in Haifa

Menachem Les, a sports journalist living in the United States, is now 87 years old and grew up in Bat Galim.
In 2007, he wrote a ballad called "Birakat Bat Galim" in memory of his friend, swimmer from Bat Galim, Uzi Bak.
The Ballad of Bat Galim's Pool

This ballad is about the famous Bat Galim pool.
Dedicated to those for whom it is just a legend
I would like to elaborate on some song lyrics.
Its glorious past and rare status

Where there once was a pool, there is now an abandoned ruin.
Like any worthy ending to a sad ballad
But the place once had a different past,
Which, in modesty, this ballad tries to recreate.

It was in the last century, in the mid-1920s.
A brilliant idea popped into the head of one of the founders
"Let us build a pool that will be unique in the entire Orient,
"An Olympic-sized pool with a diving tower!"

They turned to Jewish and Arab architects,
"An Olympic-sized pool is what we want.
"Not just any pool, but an Olympic pool"
"May it be ours alone, a pool of robes!"

"What's so special about an Olympic-sized pool?" - one architect asked
"Is this a special, exceptional pool?"
-"Are you kidding?" the founders asked,
"What kind of a rascal did you bring? Who is he anyway?"

Suddenly one of the architects responded
With farsightedness and a pair of eggs:
"I have no problem building a pool like this,
But it will cost you a few hundred!

"Don't worry about the pound," the pool investor responded,
And he is all delighted with a cool look,
"Please leave the problem of pounds to me,
Your only job is to be businesslike!"

Then the future pool owner closes his eyes.
And for a moment he feels like a diamond surrounded by gold,
"A few hundred is not a scary amount."
It's all on me, and we'll shake the entire Middle East!

Then he turns to the Jewish architect,
"Listen to me, Yanuka, and listen carefully!
There is no room for errors or mistakes here,
Because this is a pool for the present, and for generations!"

"Build me a pool with eight lanes,
The exact length is 50 meters.
A pool that will allow everyone who tries,
Breaking records in all styles!"

"I want a perfectly accurate pool."
Where every record will be a 'national record'
And on both sides I want a tribune.
"So that you can populate the entire commune!"

"For I prophesy that the great anointed
A crowd will flow in hundreds and thousands upon thousands,
The crowds will come from the south and the north.
And I plan a place for everyone!"

"On the north side, dig me a deep hole
For tower jumpers – without skipping!
And at the top of each track – a step to jump off.
Everything is legal and everything is checked!

"And what's the story of the jumping tower?"
The architect asks, with a wink in his eye,
"How tall is it and what is it made of?"
"And how do you get to the top floor?"

-"The third floor is 10 meters high,
But she doesn't stand there alone!
The first floor is for a trampoline,
And its exact height? 3 meters from the floor,

"And the second floor – 5 meters high
And at this height there is no clear goal,
Because I just looked at the Olympic calendar,
And I didn't find any jump from the "5"!"

This will be a training floor that will rise to the top.
Before jumping from the top of the mountain,
This won't be a typical "floor".
Because it wasn't built for a competitive trend!"

"Okay," the same architect responds,
"But how do we get to the end of the tower?"
"We're getting to it with a ladder," the beleaguered investor replied,
"And its cost is already included in the paid salary!"

The investor added, "I want a serious foundation,
Because the scale – this is how I understand it – will stand in 'vertical',
And I command that every step on the ladder be 'settled'
On hard wood so it won't rot!"

"And I want there to be a cafe
For tea, prunes, or whiskey to drink,
And I also want a tiny structure.
"For pepper, and corn, and a jug of drink."

The pool was small for changing rooms.
So they asked the casino to lend them theirs,
The casino replied, "Listen to us, don't worry,
What we have for the pool WILL DO!"

"And I also want a small pool like this."
"With shallow water for every clean son"
And there in this little pool –
Believe it or not – I learned to swim!

And the owner of the pool didn't finish his speech:
"I have to pump water, and it's unbelievable,
From the depths of the sea and it's not easy
"When instead of coal you have fuel oil"

But the pumping machines continued to function.
And a rattlesnake never became a "demon."
We just got used to the noise of the engines,
Until they became part of Bat Galim!

The pool was cleaned once a week.
With lime brought from Kfar Yehoshua,
And we painted all the walls with lime,
And what does it matter what the doctor says?

The water will be a little white, so what?
Everything will be cleared up in a short time,
And for those whose eyes are burning with lime,
We'll say "please" right in his ear.

"I also want a small wooden bridge
For those in the pool who want to bathe,
And a shady shed along the entire length of the sand
For all those who play "BALL!"

And build me a high and strong fence
To prevent neighborhood troublemakers,
May your fence be defeated,
Instead of paying the ticket price,

"And I want a loudspeaker system."
Which every neighborhood in Bat Galim will hear,
And in the system of well-known marching notes,
Before the competitions for the enjoyment of the spectators.

The architect built a magnificent pool,
who made Bat Galim a special neighborhood,
A neighborhood that the whole country wanted to visit,
Swim in the pool for a bit, sing in the casino!

For forty years we were the center of the world.
And one of the people's favorite places,
Residents flocked from all over the country
Tell your friends that "they were there too"!

Under the tribunes we always hid
Because we have always found the "reality" of paradise,
Because up in the high stands,
A "solid" place had rickety seats

And every time we walked around there,
We found enough "CASH" for falafel,
And the same thing on the pool floor,
When tons of water were drained from it,

Then at the stall for three and a half cents
We bought falafel, and sometimes Pepsi,
And behind the stall stood an Arab selling
"Sabres on a kippak, sabres cold!".

We, the cloaked ones, had three options:
Sneak into the pool without being seen,
Because we the authentic ones sneaked into the pool,
It was the easiest trick available!

All we had to do from the north shore,
Was to swim through the waves from the outside,
Then swim towards the bridge.
There the "contact person" was waiting for us.

That signaled when it was a good time to sneak
When the lifeguard and the guard don't pay attention,
Or just a light jump over the fence
While the guard was not awake,

But for the bigger competitions
When the guards blocked all the entrances,
We had a different method of entering,
Free of charge and without any obligation:

We would climb the casino wall behind.
The truth? It was a rough road!
Then through a window came the leap
Straight into the locker room!

Most of us kids at Maccabi used to swim,
Every other day – grueling training!
Tuesdays and Fridays at one in the afternoon
We had a two-hour swim practice!

Coach Izzie shouts in his thunderous voice:
"Menachem, Menachem, T-KICK, finish it!"
And why are you bent at the elbows?
When I scream "Honest! Honest!"?

Then he would throw a rope into the water,
"Footwork! Footwork!"
And we are full of admiration (and fear) for the coach
We immediately did what you planned.

And once a month, usually on Saturday.
There was a competition in Bigur or Gabbat
And once even the children's championship,
In the Sea of ​​Galilee between two buoys!

But the most exciting competition
It took place at our place, right in the yard!
All family, friends and relatives,
They were waiting for my swim while they were in the stands.

(The judges are all British officers!)

The marching music is soaring.
And we are standing on the jumping platform,
Then came the shot for the swim,
And we all jumped in line together.

It was a 50m breaststroke.
For the children's championship, if I'm not mistaken!
It was for ages 10 and under,
And I'm 9 years old, as small as a potato!

8 children stood at the starting positions.
And suddenly all fears disappeared.
"I'm in the Children's Breaststroke Championship!"
And I felt like a champion, and I'm not pretending!

On my right is a child from Kibbutz HaZorea.
And another one to my left, from where? I don't know!
And I see on the eighth track
My friend Uzi Beck who always beats me!

He is a childhood friend and his style is rowing.
He looks 12 years old – with a future that is 'ultra'!
He always wins, but this time he's swimming breaststroke.
And that's not the style he's known for!

Then I jumped into the water with everyone.
When I stretched the waters and above the sky,
And I said to myself, "You are 'Little Menachem,'"
This time you can defeat even the devil!"

And after a life that lasted forever
Suddenly, my forehead touches the finishing wall.
"This is not the way to end the anointing!"
"It's really a shame and it's not nice!"

But after just two minutes
I hear clearly on the speaker:
"The new champion in children's swimming,
He is 'Little Menachem', Maccabi Bat-Galim!"

And after I beat Uzi Beck
To the 50 rowing with a smile he jumped,
And when he won the wonderful children's record,
Izzy said, "Not bad! Not bad at all!"

I thought for a moment, "Okay Menachem, now you're resting."
But wait, what if I forget?
I knew I had to tell the story of the ladder.
Whose path led us to the ends of the world!

I will never forget the ascent to the 'third'
That today the jumpers do in the elevator,
We? We climbed a rickety ladder.
Which they promised to fix 'a week ago'.

The ladder stood vertically, with the top tied.
With rusty iron wires, to create a 'connection'
Most of the steps were rotten wood.
Because it was always, always wet there.

And there were such loose steps
That they strengthened with nails so that they wouldn't fall apart,
And on this dangerous ladder we are,
Because we always wanted to jump from the 'third'!

Today they would be put in prison.
Any engineer who has given approvals,
But it's a fact – and it's not a joke –
That no serious disaster happened there!