Starting a club at Hellgate is easy. You fill out a form, get a teacher advisor, and find other students who are interested in being a part of the club. For the Jewish Student Alliance, finding participants wasn’t quite as easy, as the Jewish community only accounts for about 0.14% of Montana’s population.
Nevertheless, 10 students expressed an interest and the club was formed. Their mission statement is “bringing the Jewish community together 1 connection at a time!” and their goal is to form better connections within the Jewish community.
“I wanted to help strengthen the bonds in the Jewish community, especially because in the past couple years antisemitism seems like it has been on the rise in Montana,” said Vice President, Hannah Lunde. Lunde also wants to help educate others on Jewish culture and customs.
Similarly to Lunde, President Laine Banziger also cares deeply about ending the spread of antisemitism and believes that education and exposure is the key to normalizing differences. “I wanted to help stop the spread of antisemitism, I wanted to learn more about my ancestral culture and I wanted to help others do the same,” Banziger said.
The JSA is not only made up of people with Jewish roots; many of the members are students interested in learning about Judaism. “A lot of my friends are Jewish and I wanted to learn more about their culture and religion. I wanted to be supportive,” club member Kendall Adler said.
The club is about learning and community; all of the members care about expanding their own and other’s knowledge. “We all want to learn more about Jewish culture!” Secretary Lucy Johnstone said.
The club meets on Wednesday’s during lunch in Ms. Nordstrom’s room (363), and new members are always welcome!
