The body of a young man who went swimming in the Kinneret lake and apparently drowned was found at the end of extensive searches conducted this morning.
The young man was extracted from the water without vital signs, and the MDA teams summoned to the scene were forced to determine his death.
The Kinneret Authority stresses that swimmers bathe only on declared beaches with rescue services, and to listen to instructions of lifeguards and inspectors to protect the safety of vacationers and swimmers.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}
BdE
The situation could have been avoided if the following would be the norm:
1-The education ministry gives all schools money to provide 5th grade students (and 6th graders who still need it the next year) FREE swimming lessons. Many schools do not do this at all, and those who do, CHARGE FOR IT. That means that parents who can’t afford it, or for some reason don’t want to, don’t send their kids. Had they taken the lessons, they’d be far more aware of safety, in addition to actually knowing how to swim, where to swim and where not to. Had the government enforced the lessons, the party (the schools using the money for other things) would have ended long ago, and most chareidim would know water safety.
2-The separate beaches are few and far between, small, crowded, ill equipped, and simply do not have the same number of hours with guards. The guards often limit swimming to a small area, either because the beach is really not as safe, or they’re understaffed, or just because they can get away with it. Is chareidi blood cheaper than chiloni? Obviously.
You tell me who’s to blame here, and in all those cases where we shake our heads at the foolish chareidim. We Americans are much more aware but that’s because we’ve been exposed to information on the importance of water, road and other safety. The average frum Israeli simply doesn’t have a clue, and neither do his parents or grandparents, just like Americans didn’t a hundred years ago. We learned over time but it bypassed them.