Rabbi Killed In Ida Flooding Recalled As 'A Very Good Man'

MOUNT KISCO, NY — The Mount Kisco Rabbi who died while driving home during Post-Tropical Cyclone Ida is recalled for dedicating his life to his community.

Authorities recovered the body of 69-year-old Rabbi Shmuel Weissmandl, who had been driving from Rockland County to his home in Mount Kisco, when he approached rising floodwaters. He called his family to say he was having difficulty in the storm, but they could not get to him in time.

His vehicle ultimately became submerged on an entrance ramp to the Saw Mill River Parkway. Authorities found his body near Route 119 in Elmsford, according to the Associated Press.

Weissmandl was the son of Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandl, who was known for his efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust and as one of the founders of the Yeshiva of Nitra rabbinical college, the AP reported.

Rabbi Shmuel Weissmandl was known both for his work in the community and a dedication to the rabbinical college his father co-founded in Mount Kisco.

“He was trying to hold onto his father’s legacy,” former rabbinical classmate Herschel Reich said of Weissmandl to the Journal News' Nancy Cutler. “He was a very good man, a very special person. He was real dedicated he gave his whole life to his community.”