More than a thousand people lined the streets of Stamford Hill to mourn one of its leading rabbis who drowned off the Kent coast on Monday.
Rabbi Chaim Breisch, aged 59 according to police, was rescued with another man after struggling in a rough sea off Broadstairs but was pronounced dead on arrival after being taken by helicopter to hospital.
A Satmar Chasid, Rabbi Breisch was the former head of Mesivta, one of the most established yeshivot in the North London district.
Marton Braun, a friend, said he was "an outstanding scholar from one of the most eminent scholarly families, a perfect gentleman".
