Praying in the Waves: A Sea Rescue Story

Exactly two weeks ago, Eden Oz and his cousin Oron Hadad took a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. They had no idea that what started as a fun outing would become a terrifying experience that nearly ended in tragedy. For eight hours, they fought the waves and currents, praying with all their strength. Today, filled with gratitude to Hashem, Eden shares the story of the miracles they experienced.

“My cousin Oron and I often swim together,” Eden begins. “A couple of weeks ago, on Sunday, we bought a new motorboat and took it out for a test ride at Kinar Beach. On Tuesday, we went out again, heading toward Tiberias.”

At 11:30 AM, they set out on the calm water. “We thought we’d enjoy a few hours sailing,” Eden says. But after three hours, a strong wave suddenly hit the boat. Oron lost his balance and fell into the water. Eden quickly realized the boat was drifting away, pulled by the wind. Although the engine was in neutral, the canopy acted like a sail.

“I threw a life jacket to Oron, but the wind blew it right back to me,” Eden recalls. “I tried to steady the boat while reaching for the jacket, and my sunglasses fell off. As I caught them mid-air, another wave hit and suddenly I was in the water too. The boat was far away.”

The two young men found themselves alone in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, kilometers from shore.

“At first, we were in shock. I thought we could swim with the current toward Dugit Beach, but then I realized how far that would be. So we decided to swim against the waves, toward Tiberias. It looked close, but we later learned it was five kilometers away.”

They began paddling. “We swam and swam, praying nonstop. We screamed, ‘Father, please Hashem, save us!’ My cousin is religious, and I’ve been on a journey of becoming more observant for about a year and a half.”

The waves were over a meter high, and the wind was strong. “Even though we’re both in good shape, in the water it doesn’t matter. You realize it’s not about strength. We prayed and swallowed water, looking toward the mountains, calling out Hashem’s name.”

By 4:00 PM, their muscles began cramping. “Oron had heatstroke. I pulled him for a while, then he pulled me. The current was crazy. By 8:30 PM, it was pitch dark. I told Oron to let me go, that I couldn’t keep going and I’d only drag him down.”

But Oron wouldn’t give up. “He said, ‘No way. I’m right behind you.’ Just then, he handed me an inner tube that had somehow floated toward him. I was stunned. ‘Where did this come from?’ I asked. He didn’t know. It just appeared. I looked up and whispered, ‘Thank You, Father.’ It gave me strength.”

They kept paddling, but soon after, the tube began to deflate. “I tried to block the hole with my cheek while we swam. At some point, I blacked out or fell asleep. I started seeing things in my mind, imagining my funeral. I felt the angel of death reaching out. Then I heard the last bit of air leave the tube.”

Again, Eden told Oron to continue without him. But Oron stayed with him. Then, just as Eden was about to let go, he lifted his head and saw a police boat in the distance.

“They hadn’t seen us, but we saw them,” Eden recalls. “They had been searching on the other side of the sea. If they didn’t see us now, we knew we wouldn’t make it. We screamed with everything we had. The driver radioed that he heard something, raised a flare, and came toward us.”

At that moment, Eden looked up and said again, “Thank You, Father.”

After they were rescued, Eden learned how dangerous the situation had been. “We could have gotten caught in fishing nets. Or worse, we were near powerful pumps in the sea if we had been pulled into those, there would have been nothing left of us.”

A marine police officer later called Eden’s father and cried. “He said this was the first time he had ever been able to call a father with good news in a case like this. Usually, after two hours of drifting, they only find bodies.”