The parking lot of Chabad Lubavitch of Camden County is often half full on Saturday mornings. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Rabbi Mendel Mangel believes the Torah teaches that Jews shouldn't drive on the Sabbath, but he doesn't chastise his congregation for it.

The congregants aren't being disrespectful, he said.

"Hopefully, one day, they will have the courage and the commitment to take a step forward," Mangel said. "They're working toward getting there, and that's all that counts."

Each week, the synagogue serves hundreds of people from the tri-county area who want to learn more about traditional or Orthodox Judaism.

Some are seeking a deeper, spiritual connection to God, a search known as mysticism. Others want to learn how to integrate their ancient faith with a modern lifestyle. And some want to reconnect with the traditions of their ancestors and pass them on to their own children.

Mangel, a 34-year-old father of five, was born into the Chabad (HA-bod) movement, which he has studied since he was 13. Ordained at 22, Mangel and his wife, Dina, moved to Cherry Hill from Brooklyn, N.Y., eight years ago to open a Chabad center of their own. The synagogue offers classes on traditional Judaism, worship services and a Hebrew school. There is no membership fee.

In June, the growing synagogue moved from its store- front location in Voorhees to a former church on Kresson Road on the east side of Cherry Hill.

Since then, Sandy Reznik, of Cherry Hill, has been attending Saturday morning services with her husband, Shaul, and two children, 10-year-old Sefy and 4-year-old Sophia.

Although Sandy drives to synagogue, Shaul chooses to walk. Before the center opened, he walked to services held in a private home on the east side of town.

The Rezniks, who own a wholesale jewelry business, have become more observant over their 13-year marriage. While they always kept a kosher home, they didn't always observe the Sabbath.

"Things have evolved," said Sandy, a 41-year-old attorney. "You can't go from one extreme to another ... That's the beauty of Chabad and being with somebody like Rabbi Mendy. They're so accepting and loving and they just have such an open mind."

On Friday evenings, the family begins the Sabbath by lighting the Shabbat candles and saying a blessing over wine, a ceremony called a kiddush.

On Saturday morning, the Rezniks attend synagogue and spend the remainder of the day at rest.

"It brings the family together," said Sandy. "It's such a hectic world. Other than Friday night and Saturday, we rarely sit down for a meal as a family.

"But Friday night, everything stops and there's no television and there's no telephone. There's nothing but family, and it's a beautiful thing to sit down with your husband and your family and talk about your week and your expectations and just to be together. If we didn't set that time aside, that wouldn't happen."

Chabad services are traditional, so men and women are separated by a partition down the middle of the room. Women do not read from the Torah, but they do take part in the discussion part of the service.

On a recent Saturday morning, about 40 men and 25 women attended the three-hour service. Many were young families, and children were free to roam. As one father read from the Torah, his small son played with the tassels on his prayer shawl.

When the Torah is taken from its ark or cabinet, it is brought around for men and women to touch, an act much appreciated by Sandy, who sits separated from her husband and son.

The division of men and women is a law Sandy has come to accept because it is part of her faith and because the wall doesn't separate her from God or the rabbi or her religion. At the same time, Chabad teaches it's OK to question the laws, she explained.

"If you go back to the reason for it, it's more of protection, to keep you concentrated and balanced," she said.

Men are required to pray daily, and there is a higher expectation for them to attend synagogue to remind them of their connection to God, said Mangel.

"Women, on the other hand, they don't need a constant reminder," he said. That's because women are believed to have a far more spiritual connection to God and religion, he said.

Neal Rosenberg, 51, checks in at the synagogue regularly. Married with two children, the Cherry Hill resident usually attends alone. He drives to the synagogue ( shul) and said he doesn't really keep kosher.

A criminal attorney, Rosenberg enjoys Chabad's nonjudgmental instruction and said he finds rabbis like Mangel have a deeper understanding of the scriptures. He, too, is searching for meaning beyond the laws and rituals that frame Judaism. Other shuls "won't talk about messianic redemption and salvation," he said. "They shy away from this mystical thing."

He believes Orthodoxy can help Jews find a connection to God. "Judaism is a beautiful religion," Rosenberg said. "It' s a way of life. What's great about traditional Judaism is everything you do is with the purpose of connecting with God."

Less than 50 percent of American Jews are affiliated with a synagogue and even fewer are observant, Mangel said. But he believes most would like to have a relationship with God.

Chabad's primary purpose is to make people aware of the depth of Judaism. They focus not just on the practice, but on the spirituality, the intellect and the "satisfying depth that a religion can give a person," said Mangel.

"I believe people search for God because it's part of their essence," he said. "The spiritual soul yearns for nourishment. It craves. We search for that craving. Some of us try to find happiness elsewhere. We try one avenue and another avenue. After a while, we exhaust the possibilities and people say, `You know, let me go back to the roots.'"

Ultimately, the search for God leads people to become better spiritually, Mangel said.

"There's a certain sense of comfort and happiness, and a relaxed relationship that one can have with God once they start making the effort to," Mangel said. "It can be very turbulent in the beginning but, after a while, it just becomes comfortable knowing that I'm one with God. I might not be perfect, but it's OK."

Sandy Reznik has witnessed a difference in her husband, Shaul.

"He's a very hyper, stressful kind of guy," she said. But when Friday evening falls, he drops everything to focus on his faith.

"Nothing will interfere with his conviction," she said. " There's just this peace in him, this tranquility, this serenity. It's a beautiful transformation."

Last summer, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart defect and had to undergo open-heart surgery. Their faith carried them through the ordeal, and Sandy made a commitment to attend synagogue each week.

Attending synagogue is comfortable and easy, she said.

"We have 613 mitzvot (commandments)," she said. "You don't have to do them all to be a good person. You can do one and the next time, do another. If you do the right thing and you feel connected, that's what's important."

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