MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida community is in mourning after two rabbis from New York got caught in a rip current off the Haulover Inlet and drowned.
According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Rabbis Chaim Parnes and Yitzchak Rosenberg died after going for a swim off Haulover Inlet, late Tuesday morning. Officials said both men and a third victim, identified as Aaron Wercberger, were pulled into the rip current.
As the men began to struggle, off-duty Bal Harbour Police Officer George Waisman spotted them and jumped into the water to render aid.
Officials said Parnes and Rosenberg became unconscious before rescuers were able to bring them ashore. Lifeguards performed CPR on the victims before paramedics transported them to Aventura Hospital.
Wercberger was able to swim to shore and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he continues to recover.
Doctors at Aventura Hospital attempted to resuscitate Parnes and Rosenberg but were unable to save them. Parnes was 66, and Rosenberg was 67.
7News cameras captured mourners outside of the hospital, Tuesday afternoon.
Parnes was part of Beth Yeshaya Kerestir, which is within the Jewish Educational Leadership Institute and Rosenberg was part of a different synagogue.
Tuesday night, mourners gathered at Beth Yeshaya Kerestir to remember the two men. Rabbi Israel Frankforter referred to Parnes as a pillar of the community. “[He] really became dear to me and dear to the community, and it’s a tragic loss,” he said.
David Golowinski, who knew Rosenberg well, said he is devastated by the loss of his friend. “I was shocked. I mean, I had to sit down,” he said. “I was just taken aback.”
Parnes appeared in a November 2015 story on 7News where he was the victim of a robbery. He was beaten during the incident, but he maintained a positive outlook. “I feel lucky. I’m alive,” he said. “I’m healthy. I have my wife, my kids.”
Thirty firefighters and seven ocean rescue personnel were involved in the rescue effort.
According to police, the victims were swimming in an unguarded area.
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