Saved from Drowning: My Miracle at the Sea of Galilee

I love to learn. Anything connected to the root ל.מ.ד (to learn) fascinates me. After 12th grade, I chose to learn a serious profession that would require deep and consistent study.

I’m also full of energy. I love to be active, go places, and travel. My favorite part of traveling is standing in front of a breathtaking view and just absorbing it and then quickly grabbing my camera to photograph it from every possible angle. Don’t worry, I always bring a spare battery and extra memory card.

This happened just over two years ago, right at the start of the month of Elul.

I had just finished my end-of-semester exams and went on a two-day trip up north with some friends. The first day was for hiking, the second was for shiurim (Jewish lectures) to prepare for Elul and the upcoming High Holidays.

We started the day by stopping at the Alonim gas station on Highway 6 for davening (prayer) and breakfast. When I opened my sandwich, I realized I had taken my sister’s by mistake. She used a spread I really don’t like. I figured I’d buy something instead, but there wasn’t anything kosher enough for me (I only eat Mehadrin). So I skipped breakfast.

We hiked down Mount Arbel and then went to swim in the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). I got into the water, bumped into some childhood friends on the beach, and was having a good time.

I stepped on a stone that scratched the bottom of my foot. It hurt, but I didn’t think much of it. I told myself, “Don’t let a little scratch ruin a great trip!”

I kept swimming and chatting with friends. Then I suddenly got the idea to have a swimming race with one of them, out toward the deep water.

So I swam. And swam.

But soon I felt I had no energy left. Remember, I hadn’t eaten, and we’d hiked earlier. I stopped swimming to rest, but I had already gone too far, far from the shore, not yet near the floating buoys.

I yelled to my friend, “I have no strength! I can’t go on!” She immediately turned and swam toward me.

Then I started to drown.

I don’t like to talk about this next part. I’m still not proud of what happened, but when she reached me, I grabbed onto her just to breathe and she went under instead. She came up, and I went down. This happened over and over.

She shouted at me, “Let go of me!” I realized that if I was drowning, I shouldn’t take her down with me. So I let go.

I kept trying to swim or float, praying the lifeguard would come, but nothing was working. At some point, I felt I had no strength left. I gave up. I stopped fighting the water and let myself drown.

I swallowed a lot of water. I remember keeping my eyes open, seeing only blue water, and trying to breathe but all there was, was water.

Then, only Hashem knows how, I felt a push from below. As if something or someone gave me a lift, and I rose upward.

I saw my friends and the lifeguard on the shore, and I heard them shouting, “Float on your back!” That’s what I had been trying to do all along, without success.

This time, thank God, it worked. I managed to float.

I tried to calm myself. My body felt like I had just run a full marathon. I saw something white, probably the lifeguard’s shirt and fainted.

I woke up a few minutes later, then fainted again. I know I fainted because when I came to, I heard someone say, “She fainted.”

They brought me to the shore. I lay there until we left. I asked about my friend, and they said she was okay.

I didn’t do the rest of the trip. No tubing, no banana boats. I didn’t dare go back into the water that had almost taken my life. I was too drained. I just waited until we got to our guesthouse.

The next day was supposed to be for inspirational Elul shiurim. But I spent most of the day in bed, too tired to focus. I was disappointed I couldn’t take in the messages of teshuvah (repentance) and preparation.

That night, I called my mother. I didn’t want to scare her, so I just asked, “What were you doing around three-thirty or four today?” She asked why. I said, “Just wondering.” She told me, “I was on my way to the bus and suddenly remembered I hadn’t given tzedakah (charity). I almost didn’t go back, I didn’t want to miss the bus but I went back and gave. Why? Did you drown?”

It took a few days for me to feel like myself again, but baruch Hashem (thank God), I recovered.

That trip, I didn’t take as many photos.

I thank Hashem every day for what happened. And I’m sharing my story now to make a kiddush Hashem to remind all of us that Hashem is watching over us at every moment.

May we all hear and share only good news.