Who doesn’t tremble on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when the chazan chants the somber and fearsome Unesanu Tokef? This year, as we recall the unprecedented number of water tragedies that have occurred this summer, we will surely shudder even more when he comes to the part, “Mi vamayim – Who shall perish by water.”
The swimming season had barely gotten underway, in June, when three children drowned in Israel, leaving them in serious and critical condition; later that month, a man in his 50s fatally drowned in a pool in Tzefas. Closer to home, we are still traumatized by the drowning of Rabbi Reuven Bauman, z”l, who heroically jumped into the ocean to save a student and whose body was found off the coast of North Carolina by a boat of Misaskim of Maryland volunteers from Baltimore. Later in July, 9-year-old Tzvi (Hersh) Elimelech Yechiel Michel Grossman, a”h, was on a camp trip to Sahara Sam’s Water Park in New Jersey, where he tragically drowned. In Israel, also in July, a man and woman, both in their 30s, fatally drowned on Habetula beach in Kiryat Yam, and an 18-month old boy drowned in a pool after wandering outside his family’s home in Netivot.
Even after the perilous Nine Days, more fatal drownings occurred. Yosef Levi, a”h, a 21-year-old yeshiva bachur from Be’er Sheva drowned on a beach on Cozumel, in the Caribbean Sea; Harav Dovid Hakohen Traube, z”l, 38, a rosh kollel from Monsey, drowned while heroically saving his child during a family boating trip on a lake; and Rav Yehoshua HaCohen Ben Paz, z”l, a 24-year-old father of two, from Yerushalayim, drowned at a Tel Aviv beach. Also in August, a 40-year-old woman was in critical condition after drowning at the Bow Beach in Ashdod; a young boy was found unconscious at a swimming pool in Kiryas Yoel; a teenager was in critical condition after a drowning incident at Tel Dor Beach on Israel's Mediterranean coast; and a 9-year-old was in critical condition after being pulled from a pool in Beit Shemesh. Perhaps, the most unusual drowning was that of Yisroel Meir Chasparski, a”h, a 24-year-old bachur and resident of Modiin Illit, while using a deep well as a mikvah.
Drowning Stats
Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, about 10 people die every day from unintentional drowning; of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.
In Israel, over 200 children in Israel have drowned since 2008, according to the Beterem Safe Kids Israel nonprofit; half of the drownings occurred in the home environment. The prevalence of drowning in Israel and around the world prompted Haifa-based Coral Drowning Detection Systems to develop its first-of-its kind drowning detection solution to prevent such tragedies. This system, implemented in 2014, constantly “watches” and detects movement in private pools using a built-in underwater video camera, computer vision, and artificial intelligence technology. It sounds a shrill alarm and immediately sends a smartphone alert to all household members when it identifies a potential drowning situation.
Shedding Torah Light on the Subject
We know that the Torah is compared to water. We can only wonder, what is the significance of water, especially death by water? I asked Rav Moshe Heinemann to shed light on the subject.
“In various places, the Torah is compared to water, because water always goes to the lowest place, and Torah is always found among modest people,” states the Rav. “Water is important. We make a tefilah (prayer) for water, Tefilas Geshem, at Succos time. Nothing grows without water, and we need water to drink. Water sustains life. In some cases of these drownings, people died trying to save another person’s life, which is a great mitzva. That makes it more complicated to understand.”
“According to Kabbalah (the mystical understanding of the Torah), a person sometimes gets a punishment in this world not because he did a certain aveira (sin) that corresponds to the particular punishment he would have received had he lived in the days when the Beis Din was able to decree a death penalty but, rather, because he may be a gilgul. He may have done the aveira in a former life, for which he might be getting his punishment now.”
Rav Heinemann adds, “Even though it is more traditional for a person to be buried in the ground, if they die at sea and their body is never found, they also have a cheilek (portion) in Olam Habah, the World to Come, like everyone else.”
The Rav concluded with this insight: “About 20 years ago, when the jihads started, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (the rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements), instituted that tehilim should be said after every davening – Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv – for the Yiddin in Eretz Yisrael. After the tehilim, we’d say, “Acheinu kol beis Yisrael,” whose translation is: “Our brothers are the whole family of Israel: those in distress and those in captivity, whether on the sea or dry land. May Hashem have mercy on them and bring them from distress to relief, from darkness to light, from bondage to redemption, now, speedily and soon. And let us say, Amen.” We were praying for people who were on the water, and about a month ago, based on the recommendation of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, we stopped saying these tehilim. As soon as we stopped, all the drownings happened.”
Sidebar 1
Advice from the Water Safety Experts
- Be realistic about your swimming level. It can help prevent you from entering into water situations in which you could potentially drown.
- Enroll children, ages 1 to 4, in swimming lessons.
- Install pool fencing to prevent young children from entering a pool unsupervised.
- Pay special attention to children and poor swimmers around any type of water, since drowning can happen quickly, quietly, and unnoticed, even when lifeguards and adults are around.
- Be aware of your surroundings: Most children ages 1 to 4 drown in home swimming pools, and more than half of fatal and nonfatal drownings among people 15 years and older occur in natural water settings, including lakes, rivers, and oceans.
- Alcohol use and water recreation don’t mix: Alcohol use is involved in 70 percent of deaths associated with water recreation and about 20 percent of boating deaths among adolescents and adults.
- Know that drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death for those with seizure disorders; the risk is highest in the bathtub.
- All swimmers should wear life jackets, especially during water sports (boating, jet skiing, etc.). The U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety Resource Center advises: Certain life jackets are designed to keep your head above water to help you breathe; adult-sized life jackets will not work for children; to work correctly, a life jacket must be worn, fit snugly and not allow children’s chin or ears to slip through; life jackets should be tested for wear and buoyancy at least once a year. A life jacket, especially a snug-fitting floatation coat, can also help you survive in cold water.
Sidebar 2
The Danger of Rip Currents
by Margie Pensak
Peter Wernicki, MD, Chair of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council Subcouncil on Aquatics, notes that it is easy to forget that, beneath ocean breakers, there may be a danger that doesn’t advertise: deadly rip currents that can pull surfers and swimmers too far out to sea. Unfortunately, every year, he notes, even strong swimmers drown due to rip currents they either didn’t expect or didn’t respect. Dr. Wernicki provides these safety tips from the American Red Cross:
- Keep clear: Swim at least 100 feet away from piers and jetties, which often have permanent rip currents. A break or gap in waves, churned up sand, and clusters of seaweed being pulled out to sea can also signal a rip current.
- Stay calm: If you are caught in a rip current, keep calm – you’ll think more clearly.
- Don’t fight it: Don’t try to swim against the current. Swim parallel to the shoreline until you are out of the current. Then swim at an angle away from the current toward the shore.
- Ride it: Rip currents don’t pull you under. If you can’t swim out of the current, float or calmly tread water. When you float out of the current, swim toward the shore.
- Make waves: If you are still unable to reach the shore, draw attention to yourself by waving an arm and yelling for help.
- Help, don’t hinder: If you see someone in trouble, get help from a lifeguard. If a lifeguard is not available, have someone call 911. Throw the victim something that floats – a lifejacket, cooler, or inflatable ball. Yell instructions on how to escape the current. Don’t try to swim out to help them; many people drown while trying to save someone else from a rip current.
- Swim smart: Remember to avoid stormy seas, always swim sober, never swim alone, and swim only at lifeguard-protected beaches. Even confident swimmers should be sure they have enough energy to swim back to shore.
