San Diego Jewish Experience

Trips

Social Events

Education

Shabbat

About Us

SAJE, short for San Diego Jewish Experience, is an on campus organization which services the San Diego area

Our mission is to connect Jewish students with their religion, culture, and each other. Through programing such as Shabbat/Holiday meals, one on one learning, classes, and a variety of social events young adults can experience for themselves the importance of their heritage.

Trips

SAJE offers exciting, meaningful trips around the world. The most memorable are those to Poland, Israel, New York, and Washington DC. Be inspired and explore your heritage like never before!

Social Events


In order to encourage strong Jewish ties, friendships, and relationship building, SAJE hosts a number of social events. The most prominent is that of our weekly challah baking. Every Wednesday night 30-50 students leave campus and are welcomed into the Ertel home. Boys and girls alike enjoy getting down and dirty in the kitchen learning how to bake challah, hang out in the living room playing on the Nintendo Wii, or just sitting on the couches getting to know each other. Students get to catch up with friends they haven’t seen all week, and more importantly have an opportunity to meet other young Jews that they most likely wouldn’t have met otherwise; all the while enjoying a delicious home cooked buffet dinner!

Education

The glue that pulls all of the components together is our educational offerings. Every Tuesday night is the famous Maimonides Learn & Earn $300 Program. As well, we also offer the renowned NJOP Hebrew Reading Course. The pride and joy of our educational events is our One on One Sessions. Rabbi Ertel is available on campus to give the students personal time. Any student has the ability to book a half-hour slot each week to study from a text, have a challenging Q and A session, or just schmooze about what’s going on in their lives.

Shabbat

Every week 20-30 students are invited to attend our incredible Shabbat/Holiday meals. Similar to our social events, these meals provide an atmosphere for socialization; however, in addition, it is a time for greater Jewish exploration. Students are encouraged to join in on conversations fueled by topics found in the weekly Torah portion, the holidays that may fall during that particular time, current events, or questions raised by the students themselves.