This week, the Jewish Student Union celebrated Sukkot with food and activities after school. The JSU club meetings are a way for students to connect with their Jewish peers and develop a stronger sense of Jewish community within Park.
Senior and JSU president Andrew Steinberg said JSU is a vital part of the community of Park. He said the Union is a place where Jewish students can have conversations with each other, and help each other with any concerns they may have.
“It’s important so all Jewish students at Park can have a network of other Jewish students to talk to if they have issues, questions, or topics,” Steinberg said.
Junior Susannah Israel said JSU gives opportunities to form a deeper connection with her fellow Jewish classmates. She said they talk about different issues and the emotions they bring up at meetings.
“I like being able to relate to other Jewish kids my age, and being able to talk about issues that are coming up that affect the Jewish community,” Israel said.
Sophomore Skyler Fink said when she’s at the JSU meetings, she feels like she has a safe space to be herself without judgment.
“I come to JSU for the sense of community that it gives, along with it’s a place where it’s not anti-semitic, which is nice,” Fink said.
Steinberg said meeting more often would be beneficial to club members, and would bring everyone closer together.
“If I could change anything about JSU, I would probably want to make it every week, so that people can meet as much as possible,” Steinberg said. “Even if not everyone can go every week, and the topics may be repetitive, it would be nice to just have a chance for everyone to meet every single week, and catch up with each other.”
Sukkot is not the only holiday celebrated in the JSU meetings, they also celebrate other important Jewish holidays and do special community events. Israel said JSU brings Jewish families and friends together outside of school.
“I like doing the mother-daughter challah bakes because I get to have a lot of fun with my mom and connect with her,” Israel said. “We also get to connect with other mothers and daughters who are in the Jewish community, and I think that’s cool.”
According to Fink, JSU is very important to Jewish students because it gives them a space free of anti-semitism, especially with the issues in the Middle East.
“It’s important to have JSU at Park because of the current events going on in the Middle East. There’s a lot of anti semitism floating around, and it’s important to have a place where we don’t have to worry about that,” Fink said.
According to Israel, JSU helps her feel less alone as a Jewish student at SLP. She said it’s nice to have a feeling of belonging within the company.
“JSU is important because it prevents that kind of feeling of isolation that can come with being Jewish because it’s such a small group,” Israel said. “It’s important because you know that there’s people that get you.”
The next JSU meeting is Thursday, Nov. 7, In room B232 after school.
