KIRYAS JOEL, N.Y. (AP) - Two New York men who drowned after getting caught in strong currents off a South Florida beach were members of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish sect with an enclave in upstate New York.
Miami-Dade police say four friends went swimming Tuesday morning at Haulover Beach, got caught in rip currents and became distressed. An off-duty police officer and lifeguards jumped into the water to rescue the men. Two of them, 67-year-old Isack Rosenberg and 66-year-old Chaim Parnes, were transported to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The two other New York men are reportedly recovering in a hospital.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports (http://bit.ly/1W1ZpNg ) Parnes was a diamond dealer who lived near Kiryas Joel (KYUR'-yuhs johl), a Hasidic enclave in Orange County. Rosenberg was a developer and leader of a Brooklyn-based Satmar Hasidic congregation.
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