Aharon Soffer, z"l?
A body was found around 5:00 this afternoon in the Jerusalem Forest near Yad Vashem. While they have not completed the identification yet, police believe it is the body of
Aharon Soffer, the yeshiva student who has been missing since last Friday.
According to Yisrael Erlich, a United Hatzalah worker who was among the first on the scene, the body, found using a GPS program, closely matched the description of the 23-year-old, red-headed yeshiva student, who has spent the last year studying in Jerusalem.
“Soon after beginning our search we came across a man’s body among the shrubbery that seemed to match the missing student’s description,” said Erlich. “We immediately notified the police via our phone app, and a large group of police and rapid-responders quickly appeared on the scene.”
“I was not expecting the incident to end in such a horrific tragedy,” he continued.
The discovery was announced at approximately 5 p.m., less than five hours before a planned press conference and prayer vigil at the Western Wall arranged by Sofer’s parents was set to take place. Moshe and Chulda Sofer had previously flown in to Israel from Lakewood, New Jersey, to aid in the search.
If this is true, May God Comfort the family among all mourners for Zion and Jerusalem, and may they know of no more sorrow.
UPDATE FRIDAY 12:31 AM
DNA tests have now confirmed Sofer's identity. The funeral is Friday morning in Beit Shemesh. Hashem Yerachem (May God Have mercy).
Labels: hiking, Jerusalem
American hiker detained in Iran has Jewish Israeli parent
Now that US hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer have been released, US and Israeli media are spilling a secret that they kept for the last two years out of fear of endangering his life: Josh Fattal is the
son of a Jewish Israeli father (Hat Tip:
Zvi S).
Josh's father, Jacob Fattal, was born in Iraq and moved to Israel before ultimately settling in the United States. Josh Fattal became a Bar Mitzvah at Rodeph Shalom's suburban campus. He traveled to Israel several times, the last time just before meeting up with his friends in Syria and going on to Iraqi Kurdistan, where they crossed the border to Iran and were arrested.
It's no accident that the Jewish side of the story has largely been kept under wraps, according to family friend Brian Gralnick and others familiar with the situation.
And it doesn't take much imagination to guess the reasons why: The Iranian government is virulently anti-Israel and has a history of charging Jews with spying for Israel.
While it stands to reason that Fattal's captors knew his religion or learned it during interrogations, his family did not want to take any chances and risk having information get out into the public sphere that could endanger their son even further.
And, since the families of the three captives worked so closely together, forming a united front, the idea was to keep the focus on three American citizens who were wrongly imprisoned, rather than single out one because of his Jewishness.
So, despite the fact that Laura Fattal appeared frequently in the media as she and the other families waged a public campaign for their children's release, she and other family members declined to be interviewed by the Jewish Exponent. The family also rejected offers of several Jewish organizations to intervene.
The Jewish Exponent chose to refrain from reporting on the story altogether, let alone detail Fattal's Jewish connection, until the hikers were freed.
"When it comes to someone's physical safety, we'll always err on the side of caution, even if it means suppressing such a dramatic and important story," said Lisa Hostein, the Exponent's executive editor.
Read the whole thing.
YNet
adds:
"It's the best gift we could have received for the (Jewish) New Year," Fattal's father told Yedioth Ahronoth.
His aunt, who lives in Israel, said: "We've prayed for his safety for the past two years. We went crazy. We talked to him and were able to notice he was very thin. He promised to come visit Israel, but now he's going to undergo a rehabilitation process."
If only we could channel some of this Jewish activism into activism on behalf of Jews and Israel.
/sigh
Labels: hiking, Iran, Israeli Jews, Jewish activism
American woman kidnapped by Arabs outside Jerusalem; UPDATE: Woman found dead
An American woman has apparently been
kidnapped by Arab terrorists in a forest between Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.
A huge police and IDF search was under way on Saturday night for a woman feared kidnapped in the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem area, in what police think could be a nationalistically motivated incident.
The search, which was joined by volunteers, was launched after another Kaye Susan Wilson, found with her hands bound and several stab wounds in her chest and back, reported being attacked by two Arab men in a forest near Mata, located outside Jerusalem, within the Green Line.
She said she escaped her attackers and managed to reach Mata, where she met two families in a park. They contacted emergency services.
Wilson, 46, a tour guide, made aliya from Britain in 1991, and lives in Givat Zeev. Her missing friend is believed to be American.
Her stab wounds were superficial and she did not lose a lot of blood, accordingto a spokesman at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem. She suffered moderate-to-light injuries, and was treated in the trauma unit.
The spokesman refused to give any more details, saying the case was in police hands, and declined to let doctors speak to the press.
Hey folks - don't ever go hiking in a forest in Israel without a melaveh neshek (armed escort) unless you're carrying a weapon yourself and know how to use it or unless the forest is very crowded (in which case someone else is likely to have a weapon).
UPDATE 1:16 AM (BOSTON TIME)Unfortunately, she's been found dead (Hat Tip:
Findalis).
The body of Christine Logan, who went missing in the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem area, was found early Sunday morning, after police and IDF searched all Saturday night, fearing she was kidnapped in a nationalistically motivated incident.
The search, which was joined by volunteers, was launched after another Kaye Susan Wilson, found with her hands bound and several stab wounds in her chest and back, reported being attacked by two Arab men in a forest near Mata, located outside Jerusalem, within the Green Line. Logan's body was found on the road between Mata and Beit Shemesh.
Condolences to the family. Although it's probably not much consolation to the family, hopefully, the terrorists will be found and punished.
UPDATE 12:56 PM BOSTON TIMEMore
here (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
Labels: armed escort, hiking, kidnapping
