In a few weeks, after the Tisha B'av fast, hundreds of thousands of Israel's ultra-Orthodox citizens will be on summer vacation. Every year, children are hurt or even killed in accidents that occur at unstaffed swimming pools or beaches where no lifeguards are on duty.
In an attempt to minimize such accidents this season, a number of haredi rabbis have published letters containing a rabbinical ruling about water safety, as well as other instructions about safe behavior while on vacation. The instructions in the ruling are based on the instructions issued by the Beterem organization, which advocates for children's safety in Israel.
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"As the school holidays approach, we are once again issuing warnings against the common dangers, both spiritual and physical," one of the three letters published by the rabbis states.
"Every person is commanded to pay attention, wherever he or his children or other family members visit, that their view of [the children] is not obscured," the rabbis wrote.
The rabbis also urged the haredi public not to set out on hikes unless they were properly prepared, to avoid swimming pools and reservoirs that were not fenced off, and to avoid beaches where lifeguards were not on duty, "and of course, beaches that have not been approved by rabbis."
Another letter signed by none other than Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef provides more detailed safety instructions, warning haredi families staying at vacation lodgings to "make sure that the pool is properly fenced off to a height of at least 1.10 meters, without a gate that can be opened by infants or young children."
Other signatories to the letters include Rabbi Shimon Baadani, Rabbi Chaim Yitzchak Isaac Landau and Rabbi Shevach Tzvi Rosenblatt.
Orly Silvinger, director-general of Beterem, said her organization welcomed the rabbinical initiative.
"We are happy the rabbis have enlisted to prevent drownings. Unfortunately, in recent years we are seeing an increase in the number of children who drown, especially at private pools. This affects every sector of Israeli society. We urge parents: Don't say, 'It won't happen to me' – take steps to prevent it. When at the beach, don't take your eyes off your children," Silvinger said.
Meanwhile, haredi society is also concerned about the moral dangers of beachgoing. Recently, large notices known as "pashkavalim" have been posted around the mostly-haredi Bnei Brak, urging women and girls to avoid visiting the beach entirely, even the "separate" beaches that have different, designated days for men and women.
The notices warn the women of the community that even the separate beaches are staffed by men who "come to enjoy themselves," a reference to lifeguards, members of the beach patrol, and cleaning staff.
The notices also express concern that "although the woman covers herself with a robe [over her bathing suit], it does not solve the problem and … the wet swimsuit sticks to the body and no god-fearing woman would go out in public like that."
