The Laundry Room

The Laundry Room dramatizes a fascinating moment in the history of the founding of Israel as a self-ruling nation. Based on actual events, Lynda Lippmann-Lockhart follows the lives of several young Israelis as they found a kibbutz and run a clandestine ammunition factory, which supplied Israeli troops fighting against Arab forces following the end of British occupation in the late 1940s. Under British rule, it was illegal for Israelis to possess firearms, so it was necessary not only to create and stockpile bullets for the coming war, but to do so in secret. The ingenuity, courage, and sheer audacity displayed by the members of the code-named "Ayalon Institute", as they operated their factory right under the noses of the British military, make for an intriguing tale. Lippmann-Lockhart shows readers what it might have been like to be one of the young pioneers whose work truly impacted the outcome of Israel's fight for independence. The Ayalon Institute remains standing to this day, and the secret hidden under the kibbutz's laundry room was not revealed until the 1970s. It was made a National Historic Site in 1987 and is open to the public every day of the year except Yom Kippur.