By Reuvain Borchardt Sunday, July 14, 2019 at 4:29 pm

The news Klal Yisrael has been both dreading yet hoping for finally arrived Sunday afternoon, as the body of Rabbi Reuven Bauman, z”l, was located around 1:30 p.m., a mile from the North Carolina border, by a boat of volunteers from Misaskim of Maryland.

Several boats from various Jewish organizations were participating in the search, along with jet skiiers, an airplane, and bicyclists and people walking the beach, in a rescue effort coordinated by Chaveirim of Rockland County.

Rabbi Bauman, a rebbi in a camp in Norfolk, Virginia, had drowned last week Tuesday off the coast of nearby Sandbridge Beach, Virginia, (just south of Virginia Beach) while rescuing a camper who had been pulled into the surf by a massive current.

A colossal search effort was undertaken by the Coast Guard, local police and other authorities, and many volunteers and organizations from Jewish communities across the Northeast.

Chaveirim of Rockland, Misaskim of Maryland, Baltimore Shomrim, Achiezer, COMMSAR, Misaskim of Greater Washington and Chaveirim of Lakewood participated in the recovery operation, along with numerous individuals from the Norfolk Jewish community and beyond.

In the five days since he was swept out to sea, fervent tefillos were recited for Reuven Tzvi ben Esther Baila – first in hopes of his being found alive, and later, as it became apparent that the search had moved into recovery mode, for the body to be found quickly, and bring a measure of closure to an almanah and yesomim.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the body was found, enabling Rabbi Bauman to be brought to kevuras Yisrael, and his family to mourn him by sitting shivah.

Rabbi Bauman, 35, who had dedicated his life to teaching Torah, was a source of monumental Kiddush Hashem in death, as locals marveled at how the Jewish community mobilized in the aftermath of the tragedy.

One woman, watching the volunteers on the beach, remarked, “I see you have a really strong community.”

When this reporter, along with several volunteers, entered a Virginia Beach gas station’s grocery store to purchase ice, the clerk refused to accept payment.

“This store is donating a bag of ice to you guys, out of respect for what you do,” she said.

When she told her colleague the purpose of our visit, the colleague said, “That’s nice. At least somebody will give the family closure.”

The unity displayed by the Jewish community has been a great source of comfort to those in Norfolk.

“The entire community is sad,” Amy Levy, president of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Virginia, told Hamodia during the search. “We are a small, close-knit community. In addition to the efforts being made by those in our community, I am especially touched to see the outpouring of support from organizations from New Jersey, New York and Baltimore. When Jews anywhere are in trouble, Jews everywhere feel the pain and run to assist, and that is heartwarming.”

“The community really appreciates the efforts of volunteers who came from near and far,” Rabbi Gavriel Rudin, Director of Community Development and Programming at B’nai Israel Congregation of Norfolk, told Hamodia during the search. “And we are very inspired by the way Jews all over the world responded with davening. We really feel like we’re part of a larger Jewish family.”

Aryeh Leib Freedman, president of Misaskim of Maryland, says that the Misaskim members on the boat that found the body had been on the search Wednesday and Thursday, arrived back in Baltimore Thursday night, then left immediately Motzoei Shabbos back for Virginia.

“It was a grueling search for them,” Freedman told Hamodia on Sunday. “At times they felt like giving up – yet there was no way they would actually give up. That’s what being brothers is about.”

Agudah of Maryland/Mid-Atlantic quickly intervened with the medical examiner to ensure prompt kavod hameis.

The feeling among the volunteers was one of both profound sadness yet relief for the family.

“This is a terrible tragedy, but even in the midst of something so awful, we saw chassadim from Hashem,” says Freedman. “And we saw how, even in its most heartbreaking moments, Klal Yisrael is mekaadesh shem Shamayim.”

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rborchardt@hamodia.com