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Two children wearing life vests "were having difficulty getting into" a pontoon boat, so David Z. Traub jumped in just north of the Sportsmen's Marina at Lakeside Avenue in Hewitt on the New Jersey side, Greenwood Lake Police Chief John Hansen said.
Traub, a 38-year-old Chestnut Ridge resident who led the school and synagogue at Bais Medrosh Elyon in Monsey, " got them into the boat safely with the assistance of another person...then went into the water and never came back up," Hansen said during a news conference.
Village police were notified around 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, Hansen said.
Severe lightning and thunder in the area forced a temporary suspension of the search a little over an hour later, the chief said. It was resumed around 9 a.m., he said.
Traub's body was found in a portion of the lake about 25 feet around 11 a.m. after being detected by sonar, responders said.
"We had a lot of assistance from a lot of agencies," Hansen said.
The West Milford Police Dive Team and township firefighters were summoned, along with New Jersey and New York State Police and police and firefighters from the village of Greenwood Lake, he said.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Rav Dovid served as rosh kollel of Kollel Ruach Chaim, located at Bais Medrash Elyon in Monsey, Matzav.com reported.
Services for Traub were scheduled at 5 p.m. Monday at Bais Medrosh Elyon on Main Street in Monsey, with burial in Israel.
OBITUARY: David Zalman Traub
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