Credit: Nadya Chase

From left to right, Jewish Student Union leaders and juniors Rebecca Grossman, Bella Schreiber and Rachel Goldstone stand together while holding an “antisemitism has no place in Wayland” sign.

In the eighth edition of WSPN goes clubbing, WSPN’s Annika Martins and Jenny Shine interview JSU leader Rachel Goldstone.

What is JSU and what does it stand for?

“JSU [stands for] Jewish Student Union and we just started the club this year,” Goldstone said. “It’s a club for Jews and for anyone [else] to come together, learn about Judaism and connect with the community.”

How did this club begin?

“We originally were looking at the list of clubs and saw there was no JSU, so we were like, ‘that’s kind of funky,’” Goldstone said. “We thought we should have [a Jewish student union at WHS] because other religions did. We knew that there are other other schools that do it, so we took some inspiration from them as well.”

Why should someone join the club?

“I think [JSU] connects more people together and you’re able to learn as well as just talk about life as a Jew or in this community,” Goldstone said. “Even if you’re not Jewish, [you can] learn from peers and teachers.”

What are meetings like and how often do they occur?

“Right now, our meetings before school are once a month on Tuesdays, but I think we’re going to change that to every other week because I think meeting more often is better,” Goldstone said. “I think it would be more beneficial for us, especially now [that] we have meetings for 30 minutes.”

What is one goal that you have for the club this year?
“I think one of our goals is to really connect the Jewish community here and also to educate people who aren’t Jewish on Jewish issues or stuff like that,” Goldstone said. “It also brings attention to [issues] at school that may not already [be talked about].”