The Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, referred to locally as Berman or The Hebrew Academy, is a coed Modern Orthodox

Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

serving the greater

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

area. It is in

Aspen Hill, Maryland Aspen Hill is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located 6 miles north of Washington D.C. Its population as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, with a Rockville postal address. The school has grades from Pre-K to 12. It was founded in 1944. The school moved to its current location in Aspen Hill in 1999, site of the former Robert E. Peary High School. It changed its name from the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington to its current name after its benefactor Melvin J. Berman in the process. The student body consists of roughly 700 students, including about 190 in the Upper School. There were about 200 students in the 2014-2015 school year. The school has a dual curriculum including secular subjects and judaics, with the school day generally split in order to cover both curricula. The NETA program serves as the Hebrew language curriculum for the school. As of 2020, the high school is ranked as one of the top 50 Jewish high schools in the nation.

History

The Hebrew Academy was founded in 1944 at 1202 Decatur Street, NW Washington, D.C by a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders and was one of the first Jewish Day Schools founded outside of the greater New York area. As the school has expanded in size, it has moved several times before arriving at its current location in Rockville.

Administration

The Berman Hebrew Academy is split into four main sections. The Pre-school is directed by Rebecca Gautieri. The Lower School, grades one to five, is run jointly by Rachel Handloff and Suzy Israel. The Middle School, from grades six to eight, is run by Dr. Shira Loewenstein, replacing Rabbi Shields. Finally, the High School recently hired a new principal, Mrs. Malka Popper, to replace the former interim-principal Rabbi Shimmy Trencher. Rabbi Dr. Yossi Kastan, beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, currently serves as Head of School, replacing Dr. Joshua Levisohn.

Subjects

Grades 1, 2, and 3 consist of two classes: General (English) Studies and Jewish (Hebrew) Studies. Beginning with grade 4, there are four classes: English,

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

, Hebrew and Navi. In grade five, there are five classes: English, Hebrew,

, Navi and

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

. Middle and Upper school students take nine classes. Most students take English, History, Math, Science, Chumash, Navi, Talmud, Hebrew language, and an elective.

Extra-curricular programs

There are many extracurricular programs and clubs available at the Berman Hebrew Academy including mock trial,

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

, ''Hamodiya'' newspaper, HADAS Plays drama group, debate team, student council, Math Counts,

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, Girl Up, Israel action committee, medical ethics club, engineering club, rock climbing, coding club, finance club, and politics club.

Athletics

The MJBHA fields cross-country, soccer, basketball, track and field, ultimate frisbee, baseball, and volleyball teams. The teams compete in the

Potomac Valley Athletic Conference Formed in 1979, the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference is a group of independent schools in the Washington metropolitan area who compete against each other in interscholastic athletics. The conference comprises small independent schools from Maryl ...

, the ISBVL for boys volleyball, and the WAFC for ultimate Frisbee.

Mission to Israel

Starting in 2004, every four years the entire Berman Upper School is brought to Israel for a ten-day long trip. The trip is meant to both connect the students to the land of Israel, some of whom may never have been before, and encourage students to "go to Israel for the year after high school and beyond." The most recent mission occurred in 2018.

Logo

The Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy changed its logo and school colors from

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

and

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

to blue and orange. This new logo which emphasizes a big "Berman" is meant to reflect, according to the Berman Hebrew Academy website, their "enthusiasm at being the Modern Orthodox Day School of the Nation's Capital."

Notable alumni

Ari Shaffir Ari David Shaffir (born February 12, 1974) is an American comedian, actor, podcaster, writer, and producer. He produces and hosts the ''Skeptic Tank'' podcast. He also co-hosts the podcast ''Punch Drunk Sports'' with Jayson Thibault and Sam Tri ...

Shlomo Gaisin Shlomo Ari Gaisin is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer for the Jewish rock band JudaBlue and the Hasidic folk group Zusha. Early life Gaisin grew up in Kemp Mill, Maryland, the youngest of seven children. ...

Yehuda Kurtzer Yehuda Kurtzer is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He has written and lectured widely on Jewish history, Jewish memory, leadership in American Jewish life, and the relationship between American Jews, Israel and Zionism ...

References

External links

Official Hebrew Academy Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Melvin J. Hebrew Jewish day schools in Maryland Jews and Judaism in Rockville, Maryland Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States Modern Orthodox Judaism in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1944 Orthodox Judaism in Maryland Private K-12 schools in Montgomery County, Maryland 1944 establishments in Maryland