Every year, when a new wave of students join the CESJDS community, often from public schools or Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School, there is a group that comes from Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy. JDS and Berman, notoriously sports rivals, are also the two main kindergarten through twelfth grade Jewish schools in the area. This means many parents have to make the decision of whether a modern orthodox or a pluralistic school is right for their child.
Becky Simkovich, mother of sophomore Emunah Simkovich and junior Tani Simkovich, made the decision to switch her kids from Berman to JDS when Tani was in sixth grade and Emunah was in fifth. Becky feels that at JDS, her children receive stronger academic support and there is a clearer relationship between the school and the parents.
“We’re grateful for the dedication of both schools and the support they provide to their students,” Becky said. “Ultimately, we found that JDS was able to offer the specific resources and learning support that best fit our child’s needs, allowing them to thrive. It was a decision based on what would be the best match for their learning profile.”
The transition from Berman to JDS was challenging for Tani and Emunah since it coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to virtual school for most of their first year at JDS, while their friends at Berman were able to return to in-person learning sooner.
Though the Simkovich family remains involved in the Berman community, mainly through their synagogue, they have a great appreciation for the pluralistic environment at JDS. At Berman, there are more Judaic studies such as Talmud, where boys and girls are separated. According to Becky, JDS gave her children the opportunity to interact with diverse perspectives and strengthen their Orthodox identity within that context.
“We have a lot of gratitude towards Berman for the education our kids got there, and we do take that into consideration that there’s a lot of information and knowledge about being Orthodox Jews that we feel like our kids have a certain confidence about,” Becky said. “When they walk into a pluralistic environment we know that allows them to be orthodox in a pluralistic environment, and then also benefit from being in a pluralistic environment as an orthodox person.”
Freshman Tani Kastan attended Berman from third to seventh grade after moving to Maryland from Florida, and then switched to JDS in eighth grade. For Kastan, JDS offers a much different experience compared to Berman both educationally and socially.
Kastan does not feel many issues with being an Orthodox Jew in a pluralistic environment, and really enjoys having friends from diverse backgrounds and with different religious viewpoints and practices.
“I think the teachers care a lot more [at JDS] and people are a lot more friendly and less toxic,” Kastan said.
Sophomore Tara Hain was only at Berman for two years, as she previously attended Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School, and she came to JDS in ninth grade. The shift from a modern Orthodox school to a pluralistic school was significant for Hain, especially during the transitional period of going from middle to high school.
Hain feels that at Berman, students’ lives and experiences are more similar than at JDS since everyone lives near each other and has similar religious practices. At JDS, however, students’ lives are much more diverse, with varying religious practices and experiences. Hain feels that this pluralistic environment allows her to explore her Jewish identity much more.
“I found that JDS would be a better place where I could be more experimental with my Jewish identity in ways that I couldn’t be at Berman, even though it was great to be at Berman, because it was much easier to be and to function as an observant student,” Hain said. “I think at JDS you definitely get the opportunity to both be observant, but also ask bigger questions and learn more things that you wouldn’t be able to learn at a school that is traditionally [modern] orthodox.”
