Walking into Ms. Schultz’s classroom, the faint aroma of crispy poppy seeds is the first sign you’ve arrived at the right place. The warmth of the room feels welcoming. On the central table, a brown paper bag reveals an assortment of hot bagels accompanied by generous containers of cream cheese. But it’s not just the bagels or the cozy atmosphere that make the space so inviting — it’s the genuine warmth of the members and sponsors that truly make the Jewish Student Union (JSU) a special place for Jewish students and those interested in Judaism alike.
As important Jewish holidays approach, JSU Presidents Hannah Gorrelick and Johnathan Curl are working hard to make sure these holidays receive recognition and celebration here at Carnegie. For example, for National Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom Hashoah on January 27, JSU prepared an informative lesson on the deep history and cultural significance of the event.
“[We provide] an overview of, like, the detriment of the Holocaust and kind of its effects on the Jewish people, it’s mostly just kind of talking about and saying the hard facts that people don’t necessarily want to hear and have not necessarily been told,” Curl comments.
With this in mind, lesson planning is an integral part of JSU meetings. Even without a Jewish holiday or event approaching, the outside-of-school club sponsor (Rabbi Nati) and club presidents keep meetings busy by presenting lessons structured around Jewish culture as a whole.
“We had a lesson where we touched on antisemitism in general, and especially with everything happening in the world, there’s a lot of anti semitism that’s being done in big and small ways, so we got to talk about how it affected us individually,” Gorrelick stated.
However, the creative boundaries of these planned lessons are continually pushed. Walk into one of their bimonthly Monday meetings, and you might be lucky enough to catch members making their own candy apples, participating in Kahoot competitions, or even building their own “Sukkahs” (temporary huts or booths that Jews build and dwell in).
“There’s one lesson that we do every year for a holiday called Sukkot [and] one of the traditions of Sukkot, is to build something called the sukkah and [we] make mini sukkahs out of candy. Everyone always loves it. It’s a lot of fun,” Curl says.
Like this activity, food is often incorporated into club meetings. Along with informative discussions, people also come to JSU because of the bagels at every meeting. If you are Jewish, a board member, or just someone looking to learn more about Judaism, co-presidents Curl, and Gorrelick are eager to welcome you in and offer you a fresh bagel on the way out.
“I mean, eating is such a Jewish thing. Every holiday we have revolves around either not eating or eating. So it’s really like an integral part of being Jewish is eating these foods [that are] really built into our culture. It’s super important to us to continue eating these things, even if it seems insignificant,” Gorrelick says.
Along with the fun events, it’s also important to the presidents that students are well-informed about the complex history and significance of the Holocaust. Ultimately, JSU is a place to share unique hardships and create a community of individuals who are open and sympathetic with one another.
“Stick together, find the Jewish people, even if you’re not super close friends with them, or you only see them every other Monday for an hour at lunch for JSU meetings, it’s really important that you have these few moments with this community that you relate to, and you get to sit with them, eat with them, talk with them and learn with them,” Gorrelick says.
