Rabbi father of 11 drowns carrying out seabathing ritual during high tide at Welsh resort

Friends and passers-by were unable to save him

Witnesses saw Berish Englander out in the sea, but no one could get to him

Drowned: Rabbi Berish Englander died while performing his daily cleansing ritual in the sea near Aberystwyth

A Rabbi drowned in rough seas while performing a Jewish bathing ritual on the first day of his holiday.

Company director Dov Berish Englander, 47, who was married with 11 children, was on a two-week break with his family and other members of the Orthodox Jewish community when the accident happened.
He had gone waist-deep into the sea off Aberystwyth, West Wales, with one of his sons and other Jewish men to perform the ‘mikveh’ ritual, which involves immersing themselves in water for purification.

But while his friends returned to shore, Mr Englander, who was the director of a property business in Stamford Hill, North London, as well as running a rabbinical college, was dragged under by a large wave.

Aberystwyth Coroner’s Court was told that witnesses saw Mr Englander begin shouting and frantically waving his arms for help as he struggled against the waves.

Holidaymaker David Keating said that he and his girlfriend were walking along the seafront at 7.55am on August 2 when they noticed the men in the sea.

‘We watched them undress a little and dip in and out of the water,’ Mr Keating said. ‘I saw one of them go in further. He was in for a bit before realising he was in trouble. He tried waving and shouting out to the others for help.’

The couple struggled to pull a life-ring from its box on the seafront, while a friend of Mr Englander went back into the water to help.

Another witness, Christopher Tapp, said: ‘I went down with the ring to try to save the gentleman. I think the rope got tangled in the panic to get it out of the box, but the man was too far out and I couldn’t throw it far enough to reach him.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2229282/Dov-Berish-Englander-Rabbi-father-11-drowns-carrying-seabathing-ritual-high-tide.html#ixzz2BfJIPBs9