LAKEWOOD The family of a township man missing

in Israel since Friday has a simple message for anyone

who may know where he is.
Please bring back our brother, said Yaakov Sofer,
brother of the 23-year-old man, Aaron Sofer.
Sofer was last seen on Friday afternoon, when he be-
came separated from a friend who went on a hike with
him in a wooded area outside of Jerusalem.
Concerned that he may have either injured himself
and lost consciousness or been abducted, hundreds of
people reportedly have searched for the Orthodox stu-
dent ever since.
There have been no claims of abduction by any
group or individual, said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., on
the steps of the Lakewood municipal building, where
more than 100 people gathered on Tuesday.
Were looking at a pretty small piece of real estate,
said Smith, who spoke on Monday with Secretary of
State John Kerrys chief of staff about the search. Af-
ter the first day, you become concerned. This is the
fourth day.
Rep. Dov Hikind, a New York state assemblyman
who represents a Brooklyn district with a large Ortho-
dox population like Lakewood, said the Israeli govern-
ment is not doing enough to search for Sofer.
Treat Aaron as though he is an Israeli soldier, Hi-
kind said. Time is of the essence.
While Smith said he understands that most of the
wooded area has been thoroughly searched by now, he
FAMILY PLEA:
BRING BACK
OUR BROTHER
Community fears Lakewood man, 23, missing in Israel
since Friday, may have been kidnapped or injured
JODY SOMERS/CORRESPONDENT
Rabbi Yisroel Serebrowski of Cherry Hill speaks at a news conference Tuesday about the search for Aaron Sofer, 23, a Lakewood
resident who went missing while hiking with a friend in a wooded area outside of Jerusalem.
JODY SOMERS/CORRESPONDENT
Yaakov Sofer speaks to reporters Tuesday at a news
conference in Lakewood about his missing brother, Aaron
Sofer.
By Kevin Pentn @kevinpentonAPP
See MISSING, Page A6
Israel and Hamas settle on a cease-fire in Gaza.
Story, Page 1B.
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WEDNESDAY 08.27.14
VOLUME 135
NUMBER 205
SINCE 1879
ADVICE D7
CLASSIFIED E1
COMICS D6
LOCAL A3
OBITUARIES A9
OPINION A14
SPORTS C1
TABLE D1
WEATHER C8
YOUR MONEY A8
PRESS ON YOUR SIDE
WATCH OUT FOR TICKET TRICKS!
Find out how to avoid getting scammed when
buying tickets for the big game or your favorite
pop star concert. Your Money, A8
ASBURY PARK Tillie has been saved, at least for
now.
The good news is that the Tillie mural and the
bumper car murals are in fairly stable condition, said
Bob Crane, president of Save Tillie, the organization
that fought to save the smiling Tillie face that was locat-
ed on the side of the Palace Amusements building at
Cookman Avenue and Kingsley Street. There is some
evidence of paint loss, and the rate of deterioration
needs to be checked annually.
The Tillie face, along with the bumper car mural,
were removed from the exterior of the Palace building
before it was torn down in June 2004. Since then, they
have been stored in sheds outside the citys wastewater
treatment plant on Kingsley Street at Eighth Avenue.
Tillie has become an international symbol of Asbury
Park, and its smiling likeness can be found on every-
Asbury Parks
Tillie passes
inspection
Iconic smiling face on mural
still hidden from public view
By Jean Mikle @jeanmikle
INSIDE
Criminal investigators are asked to probe Lakewood
schools. Story, Page A5.
See TILLIE, Page A5
While touting Atlantic Citys efforts to diversify its
tourism offerings Tuesday, Mayor Don Guardian ad-
mitted that the next few weeks will be tough for a city
facing the loss of another 6,000 jobs.
People will lose jobs and that is certainly never
good news, Guardian said in a teleconference. Within
the next two months, the mayor said, he plans to open a
job placement center in City Hall to serve all Atlantic
City residents, not just casino workers.
The loss of casino jobs has a strong impact on com-
munities in southern Ocean County, where many casino
workers live. Estimates of the number of casino em-
ployees in communities such as Barnegat, Stafford and
Little Egg Harbor range from 1,000 to more than 2,000.
The county has the second-largest concentration of
A.C. struggles to alter
image, reinvent itself
By Jean Mikle @jeanmikle
See A.C., Page A7
COLORFUL PALATE
Eat a full spectrum of fruits and vegetables
for maximum health benefts Table, B1
PAUL JAMES IS STILL LOOKING TO PROVE HIMSELF FOR RUTGERS SPORTS, C1