As families across Israel enjoy the annual Bein Hazmanim vacation period, Rabbi Shlomo Spiegel—who lost his two sons, Yissachar Dov and Avraham Yeshayah Spiegel, in a drowning accident off the coast of Netanya last year—is issuing an emotional appeal for vigilance, faith, and responsibility.

Speaking publicly nearly a year after the tragedy, Rabbi Spiegel stressed that belief in Divine providence never absolves a person from taking every possible precaution to protect life.

“In Novardok they used to say that two things are considered heresy,” Rabbi Spiegel explained. “One is, ‘What can I do?’ and the other is, ‘What could I have done?’ Before something happens, there is always something a person can do. But after it happens, a person must not say, ‘What could I have done?’ Everything comes from Heaven.”

Rabbi Spiegel said that safety had always been a central value in his home, long before the tragedy occurred.

“As parents, we almost never allowed our children to go to the beach without supervision,” he recalled.

He shared that on the night before the fatal accident, one of his sons had gone to the beach with friends but refused to enter the water because his parents were not present.

“As their friends later told us, they went into the water, but he did not. He said, ‘I’m not going in without parental supervision.’”

Rabbi Spiegel emphasized that the Torah’s command of venishmartem me’od lenafshoseichem obligates every person to do everything possible to avoid danger, even though the ultimate outcome remains in Hashem’s hands.

He also described what happened on the day of the drowning, explaining that the family initially hesitated to enter the beach because they had heard it was closed.

“We didn’t want to go down because they said the beach was closed,” he said. “But we saw that the beach was full of people and that people were coming and going. So we asked what had happened. They told us, ‘No, only a few steps are broken, but there’s no problem at the beach.’”

Only much later, he said, did the family discover that there had been no lifeguard stationed at that section of the beach.

“The lifeguards told us that if there had been a lifeguard at that beach, he might have noticed what was happening one minute earlier. And that minute is critical.”

He therefore urged the public to take safety seriously.

“Every person truly needs to be as watchful and as careful as possible.”

Alongside the obligation to exercise caution, Rabbi Spiegel spoke about the family’s continuing effort to accept the tragedy with faith.

He said that accepting Hashem’s judgment does not begin only after a devastating loss but is something that must be cultivated throughout daily life.

“A person has to justify Hashem’s judgment in everything that happens to him,” he said. “Whenever someone upsets him, whenever someone hurts him, he has to justify Hashem’s judgment. Then, when something truly difficult happens, he can genuinely accept Hashem’s judgment.”

Rabbi Spiegel added that every Jew is taught that everything comes from Heaven, but during times of personal trial that belief must become a lived reality.

“A person has to live everything that he learned throughout his life.”

As the remainder of Bein Hazmanim continues, Rabbi Spiegel encouraged families to combine physical safety with spiritual growth.

“My request is that whoever can, before going on a trip, should learn two Mishnayos in memory of our precious children,” he said. “The learning will be a merit for them, and it will also remind the person to be careful.”

He asked that people remember his sons, Yissachar Dov and Avraham Yeshayah ben Shlomo, and dedicate Torah study and spiritual strengthening in their memory, as well as in memory of all those who have lost their lives in other recent tragedies.

Rabbi Spiegel concluded with a heartfelt message for vacationers, urging them not to leave their Jewish identity behind when they travel.

“Be a Jew even when you go out,” he said, recalling that his sons always wore their tzitzis proudly even while on outings.

“Vacation is a time to relax, but it is not a time to let go,” he said. “It is a time to rest, but not a time to abandon who we are.”

He expressed confidence that those who travel with that sense of responsibility will be more careful both spiritually and physically.

“If a person goes with that attitude,” he said, “I believe he will be careful, both in ruchniyus and in gashmiyus.”

{Matzav.com}