Photo of Virginia Beach Image by iStock

(JTA) — A body believed to be that of a rabbi who jumped into the ocean to save a student was found off the coast of North Carolina.

Volunteers looking for Reuven Bauman, 35, found the body Sunday, five days after the teacher at Yeshiva Toras Chaim in Norfolk, Virginia jumped into choppy water at False Cape State Park after a student, said to be 13 years old.

The student made it safely to shore but the rabbi never returned and was believed to have been swept away by rip currents. According to Yeshiva World News, the body was identified as Bauman’s.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

His brother, Rabbi Mordechai Bauman of University Heights, is a teacher at Yeshiva Derech Hatorah in Cleveland Heights. The Baumans grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Reuven Bauman, who is listed on the school’s website as teaching seventh- and eighth-grade secular studies teacher and third-grade Judaic studies, is the father of five children.
A local rabbi from Virginia, Gavriel Rudin, told the CBS affiliate News 3 WTKR that volunteers would continue to search for Bauman.

“We know the chances are slim, but we have not given up and Jews throughout the world are hoping and praying for his safe return,” he told the news channel before the body was found.

He said that in Judaism, finding the body and providing a proper burial are of “incredible importance.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount