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Rabbi Berish Englander: Inquest finds death was accidental | Rabbi Berish Englander: Inquest finds death was accidental |
(about 2 hours later) | |
The death of a rabbi who got into difficulties and drowned in rough seas off Aberystwyth was an accident, a coroner has ruled. | |
Jewish Orthodox Rabbi Dov Berish Englander, 47, of Stamford Hill, north London, died in hospital following the incident on 2 August. | |
The inquest in Aberystwyth heard there was a high tide and the sea was "very rough", which hampered rescue attempts. | |
Coroner Peter Brunton recorded a verdict of accidental death. | |
The hearing was told that Rabbi Englander, a father of 11, had been on holiday in Aberystwyth with his family. | |
The Ceredigion town is a popular resort for strict Orthodox families. | |
On the day of his death he had gone to the beach with his son and a group of other men to observe a daily morning cleansing ritual. | |
The inquest heard he went further out into the sea than the others in the group and got into difficulty in water that was initially waist deep. | |
The inquest heard that one of the group tried to go in and save the rabbi but the sea was too rough. | |
Evidence was read from two holidaymakers from the Republic of Ireland who witnessed the incident. | |
David Keating and Teresa Kiely were walking along the promenade at 07:55 GMT on 2 August when they saw a group of five or six people going in the sea. Ms Kiely said it looked like they were washing themselves. | |
"The male went a lot further out, about waist height in the water for about five to six minutes, before a wave went over his head," Ms Kiely said. | |
High tide | |
Christopher Tapp was on his way to work when he came across the incident. | |
He told the inquest how he tried to throw a safety ring to Rabbi Englander but it was forced back to the shore by the waves. | |
Mr Tapp described the sea as rough and said there was a high tide, with little of the beach not covered in water. | |
Giving evidence, Pc Patrick Lawler who was also at the scene, said: "It was rough. No-one should have been entering the sea on the day." | |
'Loved and respected' | |
Evidence was also read from Rabbi Englander's wife Bila Rochel Englander. | |
She said her husband was a real estate director and ran a college for young men, adding that her family had been in Aberystwyth on holiday in August. | |
Mrs Englander said the shock and grief of her husband's death had been indescribable. | |
"He was loved and respected by all," she said. | |
"He knew how to swim. It was not an activity he did, but water was definitely not strange to him." | |
Mr Brunton gave the cause of death as drowning. | |
Following his death, Rabbi Englander was described as a highly respected member of London's Orthodox Jewish community in reports in the Jewish Chronicle. |