UPDATED: Body Of Missing Yeshiva Student Found

Earlier today, Israel Police found the body of Aaron Sofer, the missing haredi yeshiva student.

 

Israel Police found a body today they believe is Aaron Sofer, the missing haredi yeshiva student, the Jerusalem Post reported.

No further details are yet available.

Sofer went missing in the Jerusalem Forest Friday and has been the suject of a massive search since then.

Update 9:39 am CDT: There is one more definate report that this is Sofer's body. But it is relying on an unnamed spokesman for a haredi EMT organization and, while it may be correct, there is no official confirmation yet that it is.

Update 9:44 am CDT – Ha'aretz reports:

A body believed to be that of a U.S. Jewish seminary student who went missing near Jerusalem last week was found on Thursday.

The area where the body was found was closed off , and a forensics team was at the scene, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Aaron sofer, 23, from New Jersey, vanished on Friday while taking a hike in a forest not far from Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, Rosenfeld said earlier.  

"He was hiking with a friend, making their way up a hill, and they lost contact," he said, adding that police were still trying to establish if Soffer had a hiking accident or if a crime had occurred, including whether he "might have been kidnapped."…

Update 10:46 am CDT – Multiple haredi media sources, now including Yeshiva World, say it is Sofer.

The body was found near Ein Kerem in the Jerusalem Forest in a previously unsearched area.

There is no word yet on the exact time of death or the cause of death.

According to some sources, the hasidic news site VIN and the site run by haredi PR flack Yossi Gestetner posted reports announcing Sofer's death before Sofer's family had all been notified by police.

The source of those reports appears to have been a haredi activist speaking for the haredi Hatzalah EMT group, which had participated in the search for Sofer.

Update 11:14 am CDT – CNN is reporting that the body is Sofer's.

Related Posts:

All Aaron Sofer Posts.

Comments

[Mikal W. Grass]

The hiking partner's statements become even more important now. Who waits 6 hrs to report a hiking partner missing, especially when Gaza is superheated? This is crazy!!!

Maybe, just maybe, the two had a fight?

I feel for the family - I hope they get answers quickly.

[Gabbai Sheini]

Honestly, I think anyone who leaves a friend in that type of situation, is somewhat responsible for his death. Also, whoever said they combed the forest, and didn't, is somewhat responsible for his death. Someone obviously lied about that as well.

[Maskil]

It's Thursday, and it's not 8pm yet. Your update should read "The body will be found at about..."

[barry]

It seems he died of dehydration as last Friday the temperature in Jerusalem hit 90 degrees and the video of him catching the tram shows him wearing his jacket, big black hat and no doubt, woolen talis kotan.

Hareidi EMT state that the body (and clothing) showed no sign of violence.

I do not think the friend can be blamed for leaving him. The Jerusalem Forest is a third of the size of New York Central Park and is not in an area that is particularly dangerous. The hiking trails within it are described as easy. It should be perfectly safe for a 23 year old to hike through alone. I cannot recall any healthy young man ever dying of dehydration in such a park. It is inexcusable that this area was not searched until now however it is unlikely to have made a difference to the final outcome.

[JK2]

Perhaps his friend and hiking partner had no reason to think there was a problem and that's why the initial call was delayed: "He went off on his own. He'll be back in time to get ready for Shabbat."

And when he wasn't, the other young man alerted others.

May we find out that this was "only" a hiking accident or a medical issue.

[RWisler]

Barry... Do you have any source whatsoever for the claims that you've made in your posting? Is any news media reporting that he died of heat?

[Martin Samuels]

IT is apparent that most of you who respond to this blog think nothing of having opinions about what other people have or have not done without bothering to learn the facts. Maybe if you did you would find more productive ways to spend your time.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Maskil –

Yup. Either I or my source confused the time conversion. What are you hearing on the news there? Any details I’ve missed?

[Joe Field]

Barry;

I do not believe that dehydration was the cause of death, watch the show Naked and Afraid; you will see that dehydration will take about three days and that is in temperatures in excess of 100 Fahrenheit.

[A-NJ]

If only the haredim served in the army. This must be God's punishment to them for not serving. - - Now I dont believe that at all but I'm saying it as example of the nonsense the Haredim put out when someone nonobservant gets killed in an accident or other circumstances. Their culture needs fixing.

[barry]

https://twitter.com/KolHaolam reports Zaka as suggesting dehydration although the proper diagnosis would be heat stroke. Heat Stroke is a medical emergency which can be fatal in no time and requires immediate treatment and evacuation.

It is easily preventable by frequent drinking, rest and wearing loose light clothing. It is a danger to military personal during hard training rather than people hiking on a short easy trial.

[Bas Melech]

I am very sorry for his death.

I believe that he is a victim of charedism.
First, neither he nor his companion had a cell phone. Second, he didn't dress properly for a hike in the heat. Did he have water? They never should have separated. The Jerusalem Forest is not safe to walk in alone, especially during a war. (The niftar fell off a cliff? Safety is not only from bad people.)

Other charedim have unfortunately died because of not taking basic safety precautions. Then charedim expect others to feel sorry for them and spend time and money helping them in their self created unfortunate situation.

[RWisler]

Bas Melech is correct. Babies with herpes infections, young men dying because they insist on wearing the ridiculous hareidi uniform, women chained to failed marriages. All part of the sham, invented religion called Orthodox Judaism.

[Jekyll Jacobson]

... And guys like RWisler die from a self induced heart attack.

[Ron]

There are serious failures with the rescue process, too. Why did they find him only today?

[barry]

The Jerusalem 'Forest' is a third of the size of New York Central Park or London's Hampstead Heath. Plenty of people hike alone through those parks in summer and winter at 73 years of age let alone at 23 without coming to harm. You just need to take very basic seasonal precautions and wear appropriate footwear.

[Chana]

There are many questions here, which others have raised, hopefully this tragedy will lead to greater awareness within the hareidi community of how to take common sense precautions when hiking in the woods. Even though the forest is right near the city, it's still "wilderness".

[MM]

I have no idea what conditions are like in the Jerusalem Forest, nor do I know why this young man sadly lost his life. But I live in the Phoenix AZ area where it is common for people who don't take proper precautions to have heat stroke and have to be rescued. Tourists in particular go hiking in the summer and do not understand how dangerous any exertion in the heat of the day can be. Even being inside an unair-conditioned building for any period of time can be life-threatening for the very young, the elderly, and those with chronic health problems. I would urge people, even in Brooklyn during a heat wave, to take excessive heat seriously, just as one would severe cold.

[singlemalt]

A lot of sick and dim witted people commenting here.

[Joe Field]

Jekyll Jacobson;

“And guys like RWisler die from a self induced (sic)heart attack.”
Come-on, how do you know that, are you guessing or just trying anything to dissipate his valid criticizing of the charedim.

[wirbelwind]

Ginger haired people, especially Jewish gingers, are known as "the surgeon's nightmare" because although they may be physically powerful, their tissues are more delicate and take longer to heal. Their immune system, enzyme temperature range and body cooling limits are more marginal than eg a strapping pigmented fellow.

[Allan]

MM- “Even being inside an unair-conditioned building for any period of time can be life-threatening for the very young, the elderly, and those with chronic health problems.”

Well MM, if air conditioners are such a vital life-saving necessities, then why didn’t the Torah teach us how to build them?

Didn’t God care about all those overheated babies and seniors and sick people? Obviously not, since he let us live 99.99% of our history without air conditioning. Imagine the suffering of critically ill patients having to endure stifling summer heat in hospitals in the centuries before air conditioning. As usual, alleviating suffering and saving lives is the accomplishment of modern technology -the gift of great inventors – not great rabbis. The Torah was content to let us stifle in the heat for centuries while reading at night by the light of oil lamps.

[Maskil]

"Didn’t God care about all those overheated babies and seniors and sick people? "

Posted by: Allan | August 28, 2014 at 04:30 PM

Because God, like his epic creation: the Darwin, believed in natural selection and survival of the fittest.

[Wigmore]

MM,

Agreed. I would guess though that even the foolhardy folks who hike Pinnacle Peak without adequate water nevertheless still carry cell phones to call for help.

Hope you guys have recovered from the recent freak flooding.

[MM]

Wigmore, the flooding was north of where I live. However, since my house was submerged under ten feet of water exactly nine years ago today, I have a post-traumatic stress issue every time we have heavy rain and high winds here--which we do have during monsoon season even though it's the Sonoran Desert.

Allan, I do catch your tone, but to respond a bit seriously nonetheless, in the pre AC world, heat danger was mitigated by common sense. The old houses in southern Louisiana are surprisingly cool because they were designed to provide good ventilation, insulation, and shade. In the hottest areas of the world people dress to protect themselves from the heat--loose flowing garments, light in weight and color, absorbent, designed to provide protection from both heat and damaging sunlight. People with sense do not schlep around in high temperatures dressed for the Russian winter. And, of course, in the pre AC days, there were no acres and acres of paved streets and parking lots which are efficient ways of raising the ambient temperature.

And, of course, the various authors of the Torah did not have engineering degrees from MIT.

I suggest that in hot climates we return to our true mesorah, and dress like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel in flowing caftans and sandals--not black woolen suits, bullet-proof stockings, eastern European-style clodhoppers and ridiculous fur hats.