From the Depths

Nine hours is a long time to be hanging in limbo at the gates of Death. But that’s how long we kept our heads above water in the Kinneret

 

Nine hours. Nine hours is a long time to be hanging in limbo at the gates of Death. But that’s how long we kept our heads above water in the Kinneret, holding on to a capsized boat — literally for dear life. As our arms grew weaker and the night grew darker, we began to make our peace with our yawning fate. There’s only so long you can hold on when your muscles are so stiff, the water so cold, and the blackness around you so utterly complete.

I’m a rosh yeshivah and father of a family; I’m not the type to do anything irresponsible or even adventurous. But in mid-May of this year, one of the main donors to my yeshivah — Yeshivat Neve Yaakov of Jerusalem — told me he was planning a quick trip to Israel, and his itinerary included a brief vacation in Teveria. I thought it would be nice to show him a personal gesture of appreciation, so I contacted a friend of mine who owns a yacht and asked if he could take my donor for a quick spin on the Kinneret.

We arranged to meet the donor at 4:30. I arrived an hour early, along with some students of mine from the yeshivah. I thought it would be nice to go out on the water a bit, and some of the other members of our little group offered to stay behind and greet the donor. The owner of the boat let us on, and his father and brother, who were there too, decided to come along for the ride.

It was the perfect scene — a clear afternoon in late May, a beautiful boat, a rare couple of hours of leisure against the endless blue of the water and sky. Then it call came crashing down.  I will never understand exactly what went wrong — the experts don’t seem to know either — but I remember a tremendous wave came crashing over the boat, and within moments, I was submerged in the water.