While much of the world was watching events unfolding in Chile over the last two months — and especially last week — Boris (Moshe) Chazin was particularly riveted. As a former miner, he had nearly been trapped in collapsing mines on more than one occasion, so he knows what it means to face almost certain death. Now a supervisor of mine safety in Israel, he shares the story of his journey from the coal mines of Vorkuta, Russia, to life as a frum Jew — along with stories of his narrow escapes.
Standing atop a large drilling mechanism at the Even Vesid quarry near Shoham Boris (Moshe) Chazin seems to be a case study for the term “oxymoron.” His long beard and tzitzis fluttering in the breeze seem to belie his job as safety supervisor of mines for Israel’s Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor.
And while everyone in the world held their breath as they watched the Chile mine rescue operation last week Boris Chazin was particularly riveted. The unfolding events brought back memories of two brushes with death he experienced during his own years training as a mining engineer.
“I was apprenticing in several underground mines in order to build up my on-site experience” he relates. “One of the coal mines I worked in was in Vorkuta in northern Russia where there are many coal mines. The mine was 800 meters [about half a mile] deep around 100 meters deeper than the Chilean mine. We descended into the mine by elevator. It was a huge mine with a rail network that dropped miners off at their workstations. As we were walking along the route we suddenly heard strange noises that indicated that the rock above us was beginning to crack. Little stones began to fall around us.
“We immediately recognized these signs because they are the basis for every miner’s worst nightmares. We were certain that the entire mine would cave in.
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