Room 303 is chock-full of food, people and conversations as the Jewish Student Union meeting begins.

The National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), a non-profit Jewish youth organization, is connecting teens who are and who are not Jewish around the country with the Jewish Student Unions that exist nationwide.

According to the clubs’ co-presidents, junior Camila Krugman and junior Yehuda Buff, the JSU is a club that helps people learn about Judaism and explore the religion as well as the ways it affects modern-day life.

“We talk about things that we can apply to our own lives and then how Judaism sees that, or how we can apply Judaism to that aspect of our life,” Krugman said.

According to Buff, there are JSU’s nationwide all stemming from NCSY.

Buff said that NCSY helps students get involved with Judaism. Events include retreats and summer programs, where students can travel to Israel and learn more about Israeli culture.

“[NCSY] is to get Jewish teens more involved with Judaism, or for secular teens to understand more what Jewish life is like,” Buff said.

Krugman said that these programs are for students and that she strongly encourages participating in them. Students can get involved with these trips through the JSU.

“We definitely encourage people who come to JSU to participate in these retreats and trips to Israel and stuff like that,” Krugman said.

Rabbi Yudi Reisell works for NCSY and helps the JSU by empowering the leaders, facilitating the club and providing resources. According to Reisell, he ensures that they have all the resources they need to make it a successful club.

Reisell comes to the club every week and said that the JSU has helped students to learn more about Judaism and find clarity.

“There’s probably over 15,000-18,000 Jewish teens all over the country involved in hundreds of JSU’s,” Reisell said. “I think that the JSU has been a place around the country where Jewish and non-Jewish teens can come out and learn about Judaism in a fun way, learn about life and find ways to get more clarity in a dark world.”

Buff said that people can get involved simply by showing up. The club meets X-block in room 303.

“Just show up, maybe even once to just say hi, if you want to get involved, or if you don’t,” Buff said.

Reisell said that the club is welcome for anyone and everyone. The JSU is there to help students learn and grow.

“Everyone is welcome, period. The point is JSU is a club for personal growth, having a great time, learning about the world and having conversations,” Reisell said. “Everybody can gain a tremendous amount from it.”