Jerusalem – In the aftermath of Aaron Sofer’s death, United Hatzalah founder and president Eli Beer urged Israeli yeshivos to make sure that all Students carry cell phones with them whenever they leave the yeshiva in an interview that aired Thursday night on Zev Brenner’s Talkline radio program.
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“Today carrying a phone could be a lifesaving situation,” said Beer. “A phone today is not just a tool of business or pleasure.”
Sofer did not have a phone with him when he left Rav Tzvi Kaplan’s yeshiva on Friday to go for a hike in the Jerusalem Forest. Beer hopes that future tragedies could be averted by insisting that all students carry cell phones with them whenever they leave school grounds.
“You dont go to a places like a desert of forest or wherever it is without a phone,” said Beer. “I’m not here to advertise phones, but I’m saying that it could save lives.”
United Hatzalah offers an SOS app that sends out a distress call to United Hatzalah and tracks the user’s location via GPS technology. While the app , which was released after the kidnap and murder of the three Israeli teens in June, is currently available on United Hatzalah’s website for all major smartphones, plans are underway to have it loaded onto kosher phones as well.
“We are looking into new technology and are working with all the major phone companies so that we can pack it into all phones so that every Israeli student can have it,” Beer told VIN News. “I’m not saying that yeshiva students should use their phones every day. But a phone isn’t a luxury. It is a lifesaver.”
Beer noted that with the possible exception of some desert areas, phones with the SOS app should be able to send out distress signals anywhere in the country.
“The majority of the country has cell phone service, but even in a place where there is no service, police could still search where the phone last had reception further narrowing the search area,” explained Beer.
Beer also noted that it is crucial to follow safety rules when hiking, which include dressing properly for the Israeli heat and sun.
“Proper shoes are a must,” said Beer. “Dress shoes that you wear in yeshiva have slippery soles and you can’t wear shoes like that to go hiking. You wouldn’t go ice skating in dress shoes and you shouldn’t wear them to go hiking either.”
Beer suggested that anyone going hiking carry a minimum of four liters of water with them to prevent dehydration, something that can be further exacerbated by the typical garb worn by yeshiva students.
“You need clothing that is lighter than the regular clothing you would wear in the beis medrash,” said Beer. “You don’t realize how heat eats you up from the inside when you are wearing black, which collects the heat.
People don’t realize just how hot it gets here and you get dehydrated very, very fast. You need to fight that by wearing white clothing and light clothing. You need a hat, even a baseball cap, but it has to be light colored.”
Finally, Beer added that cell phones are a must-have on any hike.
“If you don’t feel well, chas v’shalom, or if you get lost or for anything that happens, having a phone can save your life,” said Beer.
The SOS app, which is available for free, has been downloaded by 60,000 people since its release, according to The Jerusalem Post. It is for use in Israel only and can be downloaded at http://sos.nowforce.com/?locale=en-us.
Finally someone saying the truth! I have been saying this all the time. He had no cell phone with him which could have saved his life. Lets hope that this will be a wakeup call…
good advice
Eli Beer is preaching to the choir, but the Yeshivas will not listen.
There was a decision made by the Yeshiva world a generation ago to become Chasidish. This means turning their backs on the world and depending on raw Emunah to survive. No education, no job training, no healthy exercise or diet, and a complete separation by dressing, behaving and living apart from the rest of the world. So a Yeshiva boy would not know not to hike in Shabbos shoes, a heavy jacket and hat and without communication. This is not based on Halacha, it is based on community Mishagas. Usually, the toll is less obvious and less immediate.
Here it is just tragic.
kol hakovod eli, hashem should bentch you for the kidush hashem you always make where ever you go. and all the selfless chesed you do. Eli is a true man of achdus i was very impressed to see how he reaches out and respects all.
Why didn’t he have a cell phone? Is that the yeshivah’s policy?
His statement contradicts with the Rabbonim who decreed to throw out from Yeshivah anyone with a cell phone.
Because everyone knows that Moshe Rabeinu and Yehoshua walked all those years in the desert wearing black hats, heavy clothes and leather soled shoes.
Most rabbonim forbid cell phone use in the US.
Don’t a number of the yeshivos assur cell phones – or is it only the smart phones?
there has been no official reason given for his death so where is everyone coming up with all these theories and conclusions??? It doesn’t make sense all these discussions. Are we a dumb people or a smart people?
But the Torah requires them to wear black hats and jackets!
Let’s hope that some lives will be saved in the wake of this tragedy. We don’t know if this tragedy could have been avoided or not. But hopefully, even teenagers will be more prepared because of this horrible incident.
May Hashem grant a nechama for the wonderful family of the bochur.
Any type of cell phone is assur in New Square and in many yeshivas in Brooklyn. Kids are expelled if they have a phone, computer or tv.
Nokia 130 $20 no internet, no sd card. Maybe the Rabbis should try to save lives.
Make sure it’s not a smart phone. G-d forbid that people should have a compass or SOS app that could save their lives.
My personal guarantee or dollars to doughnuts:
Rashi and the Rambam never wore a Borsalino
as they were banned in Worms and Cordoba.
Something about heat stroke and wearing a breital on shabbos.
And they weren’t advertising for shidduchim.
I strongly request answers.
1). Why now, is a cellphone a must, when all the years prior to the cell phone explosion (in popularity), this was never considered essential?
2). Also, as many ask, how does this co-exist with the ban on cellphones for bnei torah?
3). And, is it not a health hazard to have a cell phone switched on all day, in close proximity to a human body, due to radiation?
All of the Monday morning quarterbacking only serves to make the distraught mother that we see feel even worse. Yeshivas need to take their heads out of the sand and to realize that their students do sometimes want to engage in healthy and wholesome outlets during which cell phones would be helpful. If they don’t understand this, then they should ban everything.
I’m not here to say if he should have a phone or not. But if someone wants to hike then take a cellphone with you!!! If your rosh yeshiva forbids to have one then stay in his yeshiva, stay away from the woods!!!
To #13 -Expatriateowl- Are you being flippant or what? There is nothing in the Torah which commands anyone to wear black hats, black coats, streimmels, or payyot.
Maybe the yeshivos could have a few kosher cell phones that boys could sign out before taking a trip. This way the boys would have the GPS feature and the ability to use the phone and the yeshivos would have the ability to monitor the phone usage and who’s using it.
Suicide has not been ruled out and if so, cell phones does not help for that.
While steering clear of the hat and jacket conversation, there is something more important that is being ignored. Recapping the story; a forest – 1.2 square km – less than a square mile in middle of Jerusalem, walking distance to a few neighborhoods with paths that are ATV accessible was the last location where this poor Neshama was seen. To conduct a search of the FULL forest (woods) would take about 500 volunteers no more than one day. While sporadic partial searches were done, a full thorough search was not even attempted until 6 days after he went missing. While hundreds of AMERICAN bachurim showed up to search, lacking any direction or organization, their efforts were futile. Hundreds of volunteers were told day in and day out to wait and wait… Sunset came and they went home. These Israeli organizations and Jerusalemites should bury their face in shame and keep their statements for another time.
Funny how when they get engaged they call everyone on their cellphones.
I think there is no secret here at all. Any Israeli knows that the daytime heat in summer is deadly – the body loses water yet doesn’t sweat or feel thirsty, until dehydration strikes, and its fast. That is the simple story here.
He got lost, went without water and simply dehydrated. Its deadly. What Eli Beer was saying is that he ought to have worn smarter, less dehydrating clothes, he ought to have had a cellphone, and he ought to have brought water with him. Thats all!
In fact I would say NO HIKING whatsoever between 12 noon and 5PM in the extremely hot months of August and September. I was hiking last week – foolishly in these exact hours – and in no time my water supply ran out. I had lost my way and a sort of passiveness came over me: I was almost past caring and wanted just to sit down under a tree. But then a Bedouin boy with his flock passed and showed me a way to the highway. I made it.