After ten days of uncertainty following a tragic drowning incident, the body of Avraham Yeshaya Spiegel z”l, a 17-year-old yeshiva bochur, was located and positively identified on Sunday during the shivah for his brother, who perished in the same tragedy.

The heartbreaking development brings a measure of closure to a painful episode that began on Erev Shabbos Parshas Shemini, when Avraham Yeshaya and his brother, Yissachar Dov Spiegel, entered the waters off the coast of Netanya during bein hazmanim in order to immerse in honor of Shabbos. Both were caught in the water, and while Yissachar Dov was rescued in critical condition, he was niftar the following Monday night. Avraham Yeshaya remained missing, prompting days of intensive searches and tefillos.

On Sunday, in the midst of the family’s shivah for Yissachar Dov, the body of Avraham Yeshaya was discovered, bringing renewed grief. The family had been scheduled to conclude shivah on Tuesday morning but will now continue mourning following this latest tragedy.

The identification was confirmed at the Abu Kabir forensic institute. Authorities were able to establish his identity through dental records obtained from a Meuhedet clinic in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. It was learned that community askan R’ Rafael Ehrentreau facilitated access to the clinic so the necessary records could be forwarded. He also arranged transportation for the father, Rav Shlomo Spiegel, to provide a DNA sample, which ultimately confirmed the identification.

The levayah is scheduled for Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. from the family home at 8 Rechov Rav Kahaneman in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Yerushalayim. Avraham Yeshaya will be laid to rest next to his brother in the Perushim section of Har Hamenuchos.

Avraham Yeshaya, known affectionately as Avi, was born in Yerushalayim 17 and a half years ago. His father, Rav Shlomo Spiegel, leads a chaburah in the Beis Yisroel neighborhood and is the son of the late noted writer Rav Yisroel Spiegel. His mother, Mrs. Shoshana Spiegel, is a respected mechaneches who teaches at Seminar Rav Meir in Modiin Illit and at Bais Yaakov Bnos Elisheva. She is the daughter of the late Rav Moshe Yosef Miletzky, one of the senior dayanim of Yerushalayim, and the sister of Rav Chaimkel Miletzky, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rashi.

As a child, Avi learned in Talmud Torah Chavas Daas in Yerushalayim and later in yeshiva ketanah Imrei Moshe, where he formed a close bond with Rav Yisroel Gans of Mattersdorf. He later continued, like his brother, to Yeshivas Tushia in Tifrach, where he studied under Rav Mattisyahu Schweimer and Rav Avraham Landau, and developed a strong connection to the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aviezer Piltz.

Friends described him as a warm, cheerful, and deeply dedicated bochur who applied himself diligently to his learning. He was known for his simchas hachaim and for davening with care and precision. Despite his young age, he was admired by older bochurim and beloved by his rebbeim, who saw in him great promise.

Having only entered Tifrach at the beginning of Elul for shiur alef, Avi quickly made an impression. One friend recalled that “every seder with him was a real seder,” noting how he energized the beis medrash with his sharp thinking and enthusiasm for learning.

He is survived by his parents, siblings, and many friends, all devastated by the loss.

Tehei nishmaso tzerurah b’tzror hachaim.