( CNN ) -- Israeli police have stepped up their search for a New Jersey man who went missing while hiking in a forest outside Jerusalem . Aaron Sofer was reported missing on Friday by a friend who he was hiking with in the Jerusalem Forest , Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN . Sofer , 23 , from Lakewood , New Jersey , is a Yeshiva student studying in Israel . `` We are looking in a number of directions , '' Rosenfeld said . `` It is not clear if the disappearance was personal [ or a ] kidnapping . It 's not clear at all . '' Police are searching the forest and have questioned a friend of Sofer 's who was `` the last man who saw him face-to-face , eye-to-eye , '' Rosenfeld said . The friend `` lost contact '' with Sofer while walking with him and reported the disappearance to the police , Rosenfeld said . Sofer 's parents arrived in Israel on Monday . His brother , Joel Sofer , told CNN on Tuesday that family members are `` just praying hard and doing everything we could do . '' He said he had visited the area where his brother went missing . `` I actually was over there today on site , '' he told CNN 's Jake Tapper . `` And you know , there 's nothing . They have no evidence . They ca n't find anything . '' Binyomin Isseeman , Sofer 's rabbi in Lakewood , called the missing man a `` very normal , a very healthy boy . '' `` His mind is clear , no problems at all , '' Isseeman said to CNN affiliate WCBS reported . Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey said the U.S. Department of State was helping Israeli authorities in the search for Sofer . `` There are concerns , as we all know , about the possibility of abduction , '' Smith said , according to CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey . Sofer 's disappearance comes two months after what Israeli authorities have called the revenge killing of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khedair , 16 . His body was found in the Jerusalem Forest on July 2 , just miles from where Sofer went missing . Two minors and an adult were indicted in the killing . Prosecutors allege the killing was retaliation for the deaths of three Israeli teens whose bodies were found in the West Bank in June . One of the Israeli youths also had American citizenship . CNN 's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report .
NEW : The missing man 's brother says the family are `` praying hard '' Sofer disappeared while hiking in the U.S. Department of State . Police are searching in the forest and have questioned a friend who last saw Aaron Sofer . Sofer , two months , is a Yeshiva student studying in New Jersey .