After years of planning, this month St. Louis Jewish Student Union (JSU) opened a first-of-its-kind, centralized location for all JSU out-of-club programming.

The new Staenberg JSU House will serve as home to a wide range of educational and social programs, including expanded Shabbat and holidays programs, and classes and seminars on everything from Israel and antisemitism to Jewish philosophy and the Holocaust.

“What this house has done is allowed us to expand both the depth and the breadth of our programming,” says St. Louis Executive Director Rabbi Mike Rovinsky.

St. Louis JSU currently serves over 500 teens in 16 high schools and middle schools across St. Louis. The new JSU House is expected to serve as a center for Jewish teen life and community. The roughly 4,000-square-foot facility features classrooms for lectures and homework help; a fully operational kitchen; an arcade and game room; a synagogue for youth services, and a social hall that seats 100.

Until now, St. Louis JSU often had to limit the size of its events due to lack of space. Now the JSU House will enable it to not only serve more teens more often, but also give them a sense of community and belonging that so many are searching for in these difficult times.

“Basically, anything that a teen needs, we’ll be able to provide,” Rabbi Rovinsky says.