US Coast Guard calls off search for rabbi who jumped in ocean to save student
Reuven Bauman ‘acted heroically’ when he plunged into choppy Virginia waters after youngster struggled to return to shore in area where swimming is prohibited
The US Coast Guard has called off the search for a rabbi who jumped into the ocean in a state park in Virginia, to save a student who was having trouble returning to shore, local media reported Wednesday
Coast Guard Lt. Steve Arguelles told the Virginian Pilot that the decision was made after a calculation of the likelihood that Rabbi Reuven Bauman survived.
“It’s always a hard decision, and it’s not one we make lightly,” Arguelles said.
Arguelles added that the 13-year-old student, who was at False Cape State Park on Tuesday afternoon with about 20 others from a local yeshiva, was safe after the rabbi “acted heroically.”
Bauman, 35, a teacher at Yeshiva Toras Chaim in Norfolk, Virginia, is listed on the school’s website as teaching 7th and 8th grade secular studies and 3rd grade Judaic studies.
A community representative said Bauman was a father of five.
Rabbi Reuven Bauman is the missing swimmer who saved a student from a rip current during a class trip yesterday near Sandbridge. A Rabbi of the B’Nai Israel Congregation confirmed thousands of people are praying for Bauman. He’s a 7th/8th grade teacher at Toras Chaim #13NewsNow pic.twitter.com/B7RYNkCcGa
— Evan Watson (@13EvanWatson) July 10, 2019
The water on Tuesday was reported to be choppy with rip currents, and lifeguards in the area had raised a red flag, which means that swimming is prohibited, local channel ABC 13 news reported. Swimming is prohibited in that area of the state park as well.
