JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The news clips are laconic, but they reveal a story of consistent negligence, ignorance and shocking indifference to human life.
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Today’s news started with a search for a father and his six children who had gone missing in a Negev Wadi. For the uninformed, it should be mentioned that Israel is currently experiencing a heat wave not unlike those in Europe. In many areas, temperatures have crossed 40°C (105°F), and in the northern Negev they are even more extreme. It is more than ill advised to take a hike in such conditions, it borders on lunacy. Within two hours or so the body loses liquids and starts dehydrating, and heat stroke is another possible danger in the blazing desert sun. Nobody can carry the amount of water required to stave off these hazards, and even the IDF prohibits training in such conditions.
Fortunately, after the family failed to show up at the end of their route, the worried mother called rescue teams in and they managed to locate the group, exhausted and dehydrated but alive.
The next news item, broadcast the same afternoon, revealed a less fortunate outcome, but a similar lack of respect for safety precautions. A 2-year-old toddler at a villa in central Israel had drowned in a pool. This has happened before, but repeats itself far too often. There should be no situation in which a pool is not locked with a high lock if children are around. Parents must know that if the child is anywhere near the pool, and even if they have other young children, they cannot let go of them for even a second. If they cannot control the children, they mustn’t let them into the pool.
The child was taken to hospital in critical condition, but doctors were forced to declare him dead. A 16-year-old boy is also in serious condition after drowning last week, but at least he was in a public pool with a lifesaver, who managed to extricate him before his condition deteriorated further.
The day’s tragedies were not yet over. In the evening it was reported that two young men had overturned in an ATV southeast of Jerusalem. One of them was lightly injured but the other bore the brunt of the accident and was declared dead at the scene.
The two young men, like the others from the previous items, were charedi, and they join the litany of accidents and mishaps which always seem to befall the community during the Bein Hazmanim period. Even more tragic, the victim in this case, a student at the prestigious Ponovezh yeshiva, was due to get married in the coming weeks.
The real issue here is hubris. People who have never ridden an ATV or only done so on rare occasions have no business riding it out on rugged, steep desert ridges. People who rarely take trips and hikes think that they can consult a map, plan a route and go out in all weathers. People who have only a bathtup to worry about at home rent villas with pools and sometimes rely on an irresponsible older child to take care of his younger sibling.
It is high time that the Torah community, so aware of the value of life and of what can be done with every minute of precious time granted to us by Hashem, makes a concerted campaign to educate people on “V’Nishmartem L’Nafshoseichem”, including all the numerous examples from bitter past experience, and may we set an example for safe vacation activities and not wild, dangerous or extreme pastimes.
It’s every year during this time. Drownings, car crashes, activity accidents, fires etc. Definitely heightened safety awareness would help
You are cowards for not posting my comment yesterday. SHame on you!
Here it is again…it is the truth
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I share the author’s anguish over these terrible tragedies, and I fully agree that far greater care must be taken during Bein Hazmanim. Every Jewish life is precious, and וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם must be taken seriously.
But I found the article painful for another reason. It asks how many people we will cry for during Bein Hazmanim, yet says nothing about the many families crying for soldiers who have been killed or wounded while defending all of us. Many of those soldiers are themselves serious bnei Torah, who have had no Bein Hazmanim—not because they do not value Torah, but because they believe Torah requires them to protect Jewish lives and they are going over and beyond in their efforts to protect lives when many of them could easily find excuses not to serve.
While some yeshiva bochurim and avreichim are swimming, hiking, or riding ATVs, other young men are deliberately handling dangerous weapons and equipment every day—not for recreation, but to protect their brothers and sisters.
My point is not that yeshivah students should not rest or enjoy appropriate recreation. It is that this article is yet another indication, painfully, how much of the Chareidi community appears to be living in a different universe from the rest of the nation. Much of Israel lives constantly with the war—with fathers and husbands on reserve duty are absent for months, wives and children without husbands and fathers, and families coping with death, injury, and trauma. Yet even when discussing tragedy, the concern often seems limited almost entirely to tragedies within the Chareidi community itself, oblivious to what is going on all around them
Surely we must cry for those lost during Bein Hazmanim. But we must cry at least as much for those who have fallen while protecting us—and recognize the extraordinary sacrifice of those who are still doing so.
I don’t know what it is but lately over the past few months there have been a lot of stuff like this happening, it’s something more then negligence.
Gedolim have consistently stated that Bein Hazemanim is a time when decreased Torah study leaves Klal Yisroel with less protection from tragedy. At the same time the finger pointing and condescending tone of this article will do nothing for anybody.
There seems to be a tremendous lack of responsibility and common sense in the younger generations today. I am surrounded by frum people, I can not say if this is also true in non frum communities. The summer in general is less structured so there is more opportunity for things to go wrong.
BH. Yahadus is growing and percentage wise these things will unfortunately happen and because of instantaneous news it will get worse
Article is spot on. We need to do our basic hishtadlus
Lack of self responsibility and learn from others bad experiences rather than han our own
it seems in the past few decades the time between 9av and rosh hashana is a time of heightened judgement. reducing this to human error in judgement, pun intended, is trivializing it.
STOP JUDGING!!!
Condescending. People die and you give your sage advice.
It is incredible to me that the author of this “piece” accuses others of hubris when this article is the very definition of it. People are sitting shiva or nervous that they may have to. Is this appropriate when מתן מןטל לפניו?!
עפרא לפומיה!
Thsi is what happens when you cant join the army to protect hashem’s land, but find all the time to run around and have loads of fun. Isn’t Hashem trying to send us a message? How long do we ignore him?