A new club is aiming to explore, but not necessarily endorse, a minority religion at Blue Valley Southwest. The Jewish Student Union (JSU) was initially created for the Jewish community at school.

“I wanted to create JSU so that Jewish students at Southwest would have a way to interact and help to improve the Southwest, Jewish and Israeli community,” JSU president Liran Ziegelman said.

However, Ziegelman found it difficult to make JSU as influential as she had planned. The club needed a wider attendance than just the small number of Jewish students at Southwest.

“Due to the rather limited diversity at our school, it has been rather hard to recruit many Jewish students for our organization, so membership is open to anyone interested,” Ziegelman said.

JSU is not exclusive to only Jewish students. The goal of the club centers around spreading acceptance of diversity, rather than promoting and celebrating only one faith.

“Members do not have to be Jewish to join – in fact it is awesome if they aren’t,” sophomore Grant Laster said. “This ensures that our club is a group of individuals dedicated to learning about the culture and not the religious beliefs.”

JSU leaders have laid out plans to help the club stay devoted to learning and service. Ziegelman’s goals for the club are:

– To experience and attain Jewish culture
– Better the Jewish community through civil service and volunteering
– Learn about and attempt to better Israel
-Produce charismatic leaders that will positively affect the Southwest community and help to further diversify the school.  

“This year, we, as an entire group, will try to fulfil our objectives not only as individuals, but as an organization,” Ziegelman said.

The club meets every other week during late arrival in the 700 hallway flex space. Though attending JSU events is not a requirement for staying in the club, each meeting is an opportunity to explore a different part of Judaism and Israel.

“Members of JSU eat Jewish food, talk about culture and important aspects of the religion,” Laster said.

The club also plans to get together for movie nights, dinners and community service projects.

“I would say that anyone who is interested in expanding their horizons or connecting to students with similar – or different – religious backgrounds should join JSU because the atmosphere after even one meeting is already friendly and close,” Ziegelman said.