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peting Jewish day schools
Raucous rivalry
A deep dive into competing Jewish day schools
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Senior and girls varsity cocaptain Avital Friedman drives down the court on a fastbreak. Photo by Rebecca Safra, Dimensions Yearbook
Sasha Karasik Reporter
Booming cheers echo across the Upper School gymnasium as both CESJDS varsity basketball teams secure wins in their first matchups of the season against Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy on Dec. 16, 2021. For as long as anyone can remember, JDS has been embroiled in a rivalry with the only other Jewish school in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC), Berman. The rivalry spreads across practically all athletics that both schools offer, but it is most prominent and intense during the basketball season. “It definitely goes across all sports,” Director of Athletics and girls varsity basketball coach Becky Silberman said. “Basketball is probably the biggest one because I think consistently both teams have been strong. Whereas I think in other sports, there’s always one team that’s clearly better, so it’s not as exciting.” Silberman also believes that the rivalry is fueled by the friendships between Berman and JDS students. Since the schools are the only two Jewish teams in the league and some students in both schools come from the same communities, she feels that this is one of the main factors to the rivalry. Senior and girls varsity basketball co-captain Avital Friedman describes the rivalry between the two schools as really “fun” and “intense.” She considers the games against Berman more crucial than other ones.
“I see them as more important because more people come to watch the games and it’s a better environment to play in,” Friedman said. “So not only is it important because we want to win for everybody who came and watched, but it’s also a big moment. Not many people come to our other games, but this is a game where everybody shows up.” Senior and former Berman student Noah Hoch said that the atmosphere at Berman is more “crazy” and that they take the game way more seriously. “If you look at the livestream, their side is packed to the absolute brim,” Hoch said, “They always go all out. … They even have a pep rally before, and it’s insane.”
However, the pandemic has had a big effect on the rivalry. Dean of Students Roslyn Landy believes the high-energy atmosphere surrounding the games is an important part of the rivalry and that COVID-19 harms school spirit. “In the past, we had spirit week the week before the Berman game and everyone was really psyched and excited. In those years, the gym was packed with our fans and the spirit was really high.” Landy said. “...But it has been different in the last two years because of COVID. … Since students cannot go to the games, there is not the same energy and excitement as in the past.” “This year, just because it’s been so long and people were really missing the energy and a game in person, there was a huge turnout and people were really passionate.”
Friedman agrees with Landy and feels that COVID-19 has caused a lot of uncertainty in the games, as athletes can get sick at any moment and no longer be able to play or entire games can be canceled. Despite all the negatives though, Friedman was able to see a positive side to the effects of COVID-19. “I think for the girls especially, there was less of a crowd until the end of the game when it got closer to the boys game and people would start to show up,” Friedman said. “But then this year, just because it’s been so long and people were really missing the energy and a game in person, there was a huge turnout and people were really passionate. It really makes you take it less for granted, which is really nice.”
The JDS and Berman teams will meet again on Jan. 29 for another matchup. “We think we’re the superior school; they think they’re the superior school,” Friedman said. “So clearly, it’s just something that’ll never die...”
Lace up, mask up
Increasing COVID-19 cases are impacting the winter sports season
Adin Halbfinger Incoming News Editor
With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, many CESJDS students have become concerned about a potential cancellation of the winter sports season. To minimize the chances of this, many member schools of the PVAC are updating their restrictions and will require masks during games again. According to Athletic Director and girls varsity basketball coach Becky Silberman, in addition to mandating masks during indoor games, JDS will also limit attendance if needed. The only JDS home games this year that required restrictions on attendance were the varsity boys and girls basketball games against Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy on Dec. 16 and against Beth Tfiloh on Jan. 8. While the PVAC has no plans to cancel the basketball season, they will be altering the schedule to limit the effect of potential cancellations of individual games. To do this, PVAC will switch from their traditional two-division format, with schools playing teams in their division twice, and others once, to a one division format, with schools playing all other teams once.
This is designed to give more leeway to schools if they need to cancel games for COVID-19, as not all games will count towards the league standings. The games that will be dropped from the PVAC schedule will not be canceled, but will just not count towards the league standings. The second set of highly anticipated Berman vs. JDS basketball games scheduled for Jan. 29 still took place, although the audience was limited to 130 spectators from JDS, with family members and seniors getting priority. Sophomore girls varsity basketball player Darya Dayanim hoped to play in front of a full crowd at the second Berman vs. JDS game as she was disappointed that the attendance was limited at the first one. However, Dayanim does accept that certain precautions are necessary to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
“I hope they do what’s right until COVID is actually over,” Dayanim said. “I would like it for them to keep no masks during games, just because it’s most practical, … but, other than that, I don’t mind anything that the PVAC is doing in regards to restrictions.” While Dayanim is content with JDS’s COVID-19 mitigations, students like sophomore JV boys basketball player Ron Nuriely-Kimel are looking forward to the day that they will not have to wear a mask while playing. “At some point, [the mask] gets so bad when there’s no stoppage of play for a while,” Kimel said. “I
thoughts on protocols
Sophomore Abby Greenberg
Varsity dance team “The biggest impact has definitely been that dancing with masks on is extremely difficult. When we are going full out, doing a three minute long dance with heavy masks on, it can be really taxing, and it makes you extra tired and makes your mouth dry.” “It’s been hard. We have to do a lot of sprints, and running and wearing a mask while doing something as physically challenging as basketball can be very difficult. And it makes it much harder to breathe and much harder to play.”
BY THE NUMBERS 4
varsity basketball games were postponed
1
JV basketball game was postponed
2
schools in the PVAC league do not require masks while playing
100%
of athletes in the PVAC league are required to be vaccinated
Information from Director of Athletics Becky Silberman almost fainted a few times just because I couldn’t take my mask off.” Kimel does believe that it is important to have restrictions and precautions to prevent the spread of the virus, but his struggles to play with a mask have led him to ponder other options. “I think we should do rapid tests before the games of both teams to see if they have COVID,” Kimel said. “Assuming everyone is negative, maybe we can take [masks] off during games.” Silberman said that, because of the price and scarcity of accurate rapid COVID-19 tests, this option would not be feasible, and JDS will have to continue with its current precautions. The dance and swim teams also have restrictions to protect against COVID-19. The dance team is required to wear masks during performances and practices, and the swim team must wear them while they are not actively swimming. Additionally, spectators are not allowed at swim meets. The winter track team, on the other hand, which meets outside, does not have any COVID-19 constraints. “When I’m in track, I’m able to just not think about COVID, so I hope they don’t implement too many restrictions,” sophomore and winter track runner Ethan Safra said.
Freshman Josie Silverberg
Girls varsity basketball team
