The Religious Council in Ashdod issued an urgent warning this morning to the public who customarily immerse in the sea before Yom Kippur, not to do so today after 15:00, the time when the lifeguards finish their work and there is no supervision on the beaches.
A statement published by the Religious Council declared, "We hereby inform and warn the public about the unacceptable custom in recent years by those who immerse in the sea on the eve of Yom Kippur after the lifeguards' working hours, which end at 15:00."
The statement emphasized that "This is forbidden according to Jewish law and even borders on a real danger to life. We have been informed for years by the director of the Beaches Department that there is no year without several disasters in our city, Ashdod, and therefore one who bathes to purify himself without a lifeguard on duty would have been better off not to have bathed at all."
The letter is signed by the city's Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Chaim Shimon Pinto, and Rabbi Ovadia Dahan, chairman of the Religious Council.
The Religious Council called on the public to follow safety directives and to immerse only during the hours when lifeguards are on duty, noting that there was mortal danger in swimming without a lifeguard.