their lives in a way that certainly was not a part of what I had in a more homogeneous environment.” Rabbi Gewirtz claims that in his school, the only areas in Judaic studies which need supplementing are Mishnah and Gemara. He has found that girls who graduate are sufficiently prepared for yeshivah and Modern Orthodox high schools, but boys often come to yeshivah high schools somewhat behind in their Gemara skills. Often it takes them a year or two to catch up. To compensate, he studies with a few boys on the side, sometimes in an after-school club, and he says that although these boys do have a period of adjustment when attending a typical yeshivah high school, it is not a serious obstacle. “We don’t have a strong curriculum because it’s not the same hours [as a typical yeshivah]—our day ends at 3:35,” he says.
The Benefits of Diversity For some parents, a community school is even more attractive than a typical Torah day school because of the increased religious diversity, as well as the oftentimes stronger secular education. Javid Noorollah, a chiropractor in Kansas City, moved with his family from San Diego to Kansas so his wife could attend medical school there. His wife had grown up in Kansas City and attended the local community day school, Hyman Brand. While both grew up Conservative, today they identify as Modern Orthodox and thus were pleased to learn about Hyman Brand’s newly operating Matmidim Program, a special Judaic studies track for observant children. For the Noorollahs, the school is ideal because the Orthodox track offers their daughter, currently in kindergarten, a strong social network of Orthodox kids and helps avoid situations where she would feel left out. At the same time, being in a school with Conservative, Reform and even unaffiliated students means they feel more comfortable with the level of secular studies, as well as the exposure their daughter will receive to different types of Jews, which the Noorollahs believe will teach students to learn to love all Jews and not be too insular. “It really helps for building ahavas Yisrael and tolerance for other Jews,” agrees Rabbi Gewirtz. “You might not agree with everything that they’re doing and know they’re not doing everything according to halachah, but they’re Jews, and in many ways may be finer than you.” The exposure to religious kids and families can be transformative for secular students as well. For Chana Raiskin, a now-Orthodox newlywed who grew up Conservative and attended South Peninsula Hebrew Day School in Sunnyvale, California—a Modern Orthodox school where the vast majority of students in the 90s came from secular or traditional families (today the demographics are different)—going to the school gave her significant Jewish exposure and roots so that later, in high school and college, she was more easily drawn toward becoming observant. “I had a strong association with being Jewish and I’m sure that the school helped with that identification,” says
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