Heartbreaking Loss in Netanya: Yissachar Dov Spiegel, 21, Has Died; Search for His 17-Year-Old Brother Continues

Deep mourning descended tonight (Wednesday) with the bitter news of the passing of the young man Yissachar Dov Spiegel z"l, just 21, a student of Yeshivat Tifrach.

Dovi z"l, the son of the gaon Rabbi Shlomo Spiegel, head of the kibbutz of Yeshivat Mir, was swept away on the eve of Shabbat last week at Sanz Beach in Netanya. After a battle for his life at Laniado Medical Center, his condition critically deteriorated and he returned his soul to his Maker, as family members recited the verses of the vidui at his bedside, their eyes streaming with tears.

The tragedy striking the Spiegel family is doubled and redoubled, for even as the family received the news of Dovi's passing, the search continues without pause for his younger brother, Avraham Yeshayahu ben Shoshana—17 years old. Avi (Avraham Yeshayahu) leaped into the water in an attempt to save his older brother, but was swept away and disappeared among the waves. Rescue teams and many volunteers are scanning the shoreline and the sea day and night in the hope of finding a lead that will lead to him.

After the terrible tragedy, the father published a searing public letter to his students at Yeshivat Mir. "Last Friday, in the hours before the deluge that landed on me, I was reviewing the weekly Torah portion," the father wrote in pain. "When I went over the verse 'And all the house of Israel shall weep for the conflagration that Hashem has kindled,' I thought the week had passed with nothing... I forgot that the week was not yet over. I was marked by Divine providence with a strong red mark."

"We were in the euphoria of a 'cease-fire with Iran,' but the consuming fire did not cease; it made peace with the waters of the sea and together they drowned the sons of the Torah," the father added.

In his letter, the father asked his students for complete forgiveness and urged strengthening in the mitzvot between one person and another: "I ask forgiveness from each one... Please, with eyes swollen from tears, say aloud: 'I forgive Shlomo ben Chaya Tova.'"

The rabbi concluded his letter with a call for strengthening that would stand in the merit of his sons: "Take upon yourselves to stop for a minute before the 'jab' and guard your tongue. By virtue of the difficult restraint, we will feed another healthy breath to Yissachar Dov and to Avraham Yeshayahu."

Now, as Yissachar Dov's soul has ascended to the heavens, the public is called upon to continue to pray for the finding of the brother, Avraham Yeshayahu ben Shoshana.

The funeral will depart at 12:00 in the morning from the Spiegel family home on Kahaneman Street in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem. And all the house of Israel shall weep for the conflagration that Hashem has kindled.