Despite their 12 and a half year age gap, High School Math Department Chair Reuben Silberman and Director of Athletics Becky Silberman have the opportunity to be together every day, through both their personal and professional lives. Reuben and Becky both work at CESJDS and have worked with family for over 14 years.
Reuben started working as a math teacher at JDS in 2003, and nine years later, Becky joined the coaching staff. Since then, they enjoy visiting each other during lunch, rely on each other for rides and occasionally get lunch for each other. Reuben said that one of his favorite parts of their relationship at school is getting to spend time with each other during breaks and lunch periods. While sometimes it is just the two of them eating lunch together, Becky’s office will often have other people that Reuben also likes to interact with.
“She always has people in her office in a fun way,” Reuben said. “[It] just feels like a very welcoming place, so I will join in with that.”
Another way that the siblings bond at school and outside of school is through basketball. The Silberman siblings have always enjoyed playing basketball together, and due to Becky’s position at the school, that is something that they have been able to continue enjoying in their professional and adult lives. According to Becky, Reuben was out of the house for most of her childhood, so their relationship was able to “reset” as both colleagues and friends when Becky started working at JDS.
In fact, the reason Becky started working at JDS was because of Reuben’s recommendation to apply for a coaching position after graduating from college.
“I love basketball, so it’s exciting for me to have someone doing that here at the school,” Reuben said. “I say that my favorite part of working in a school is being able to shoot around when I’m feeling tired or lazy, and the fact that I have a family member who gives me access to using a basketball court, a huge perk. It’s the biggest, number one professional perk I could think of.”
Becky and Reuben also live near each other, getting to visit and frequently spending time with each other. Reuben said that Becky is a committed aunt to his two children and that the two siblings are able to spend time together, not just as family but also as friends.
“It’s a real luxury to live close to your family as an adult,” Reuben said. “…it’s important to my kids to have their aunt [nearby]. Becky is the best aunt in the world, as I’m sure you can imagine, so that’s really nice. I have friends who teach here or taught here, and she is part of that group, so it’s fun to have someone who’s a sister and a friend.”
Reuben and Becky are not the only two Silbermans who have worked at JDS. Their father, George Silberman, worked as a math teacher for one semester in 2019, and their sister, Davida Yitzhaky, worked as an English teacher from 2011-2020.
With so many Silbermans having worked at JDS, the family understands Becky and Reuben’s professional lives more than most families. For example, Becky and Reuben will see each other often in the hallways, and sometimes Becky will poke fun at her brother’s at-school habits.
“[Reuben] has this little cart that he takes everywhere often and just leaves it in places,” Becky said. “So I’ll take a picture of it without him and send it to my family. Like where’s Waldo, but where’s Reuben.”
Sophomore Brielle Bassin has had the unique experience of having Reuben as her math teacher freshman year, and Becky as her basketball coach sophomore year. Bassin said that she finds the Silbermans’ commitment to each other inspiring, even through smaller acts like Reuben watching Becky coach a girls varsity basketball game.
“I see so much love and family between them, like when Mr. Silberman came to watch our basketball games,” Bassin said. “Even though it was outside of school hours, he still made such an effort. It really made me miss my siblings, and it just made me feel like they were there for each other with everything.”
