Although Amanda Ross has some religious relatives, meeting observant families who were "down to earth, open, and young" revealed a side of Judaism she never knew existed.

The encounter came through Jewish Xperience, a group founded by a Lakewood-educated Orthodox rabbi who is trying to reach students at Rutgers University in New Brunswick whose Jewish education might have ended with their bar or bat mitzva.

Like many of the students who have participated in the group's programs, Ross saw an ad on a campus Web site last year.

"Then I walked outside and ran into Rabbi [Meir] Goldberg," said the senior English major who is minoring in Jewish studies.

After taking Xperience classes, Ross, 21, said she returned home to Cherry Hill this summer "a changed person." She now observes Shabbat and incorporates Jewish learning into her weekly schedule. She also attends functions at Rutgers Hillel and was a chair of its Israeli Cultural Festival.

"They knew how to hit the right chords," said Ross, who sits on the Xperience board. "For instance, I found out women are held on a pedestal in observant Judaism and learning about the laws governing medical ethics really sparked my interest. Going through the program got me on my feet and pushed me to go the rabbis and say, ‘This is something I would love to learn about every week.'"

Goldberg and codirector Rabbi Yehoshua Lewis, working out of a rented house at 52 Mine St., say Xperience attracts 100 regulars; they took 40 on a trip to Israel last summer.

The group operates on a low budget with assistance from private donors, according to Lewis, who offered no specifics.

Its Web site guides students to various programs, including AishCafe, an on-line service of Aish HaTorah, a nonprofit network of Jewish educational initiatives. "Aish," associated with an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, is best known for introducing non-Orthodox students to Orthodox lifestyles.

Xperience leaders said the programs complement, rather than compete, with those at Rutgers Hillel and the campus Chabad House.

"Chabad does an excellent job with Jewish identity, and Hillel is very good with Israel activism and general Jewish involvement," said Goldberg. "Where we fit in is Jewish education. While other organizations do a fantastic job, it is important for students to understand Judaism."

Jewish Xperience does not hold any religious services, leaving that function to Chabad and Hillel.

Lewis said the organization, in fact, works with Hillel. Rutgers Hillel director Andrew Getraer said his organization has offered the group a table at its annual activities fair.

"They're an independent group, but we partner closely with them," Getraer said. "They are very respectful of everyone else in the community." Jewish Xperience works closely with Rabbi Yisroel Porath, the Hillel's Orthodox rabbi, and its associate director, Rabbi Esther Reed, Getraer said. "It's been a happy partnership for both sides. Our mission is to involve young Jewish students in the community. There are lots of ways to do that, and we see them as a partner."

Hillel has also allowed its facilities to be used for the Maimonides Leadership Fellowship Program, which pays students $400 for completion of a three-month program of study, Shabbatons, and a trip to an observant Jewish community. Goldberg said private donors subsidize the costs of the program, which was developed by a rabbi at the University of Michigan in 1999.
"We've worked to integrate the Maimonides class because we found many became involved with the Jewish community through that class," said Getraer.

Goldberg's group also sponsors Sinai Xperience, an advanced track of Torah learning, through which students are given a voucher worth up to $400 for a "Jewish trip" anywhere in the world.

"For most students, Jewish education has not been a remarkably inspiring experience," said Lewis. "For most of them, their parents made them do it and it left a bad or blah taste. Yet the Torah is so beautiful. It's such a shame to let that education stop. The goal of our program is to give students an inspirational Jewish experience."

Goldberg said he estimates that of the close to 5,000 Jewish students at Rutgers, as few as 1,000 are actively involved with Jewish life.

"A lot of students are not coming on their own," said Goldberg, 30, a father of four boys. "We're meeting them on their own terms because these are students that need a little push to be motivated."

Like Goldberg, Lewis, 32, was educated at Beth Medrash Govoha, also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva. A native of Great Neck, NY, Lewis worked as an actuary. His wife¸ Esther, a management consultant in Princeton, leads the Monday night Sushi Schmooze, a discussion series on contemporary Jewish issues. They have three daughters under the age of five. The couple is in the process of moving from Lakewood to Highland Park.

Preston Saks, a 20-year-old political science major, is in his third year of involvement with Jewish Xperience.

"It's really increased my awareness of Jewish culture and history," he said. "After the Maimonides course, I definitely became more observant."

Saks, a Margate resident, said he doesn't necessarily follow all Jewish practices.

"It has crossed my mind," he acknowledged. "I think about kosher. I think about Shabbos. I lived a very secular life before and I still have that secular life, but I'm more conscious of these things. It's in the front of my mind."