David Bashevkin

{{Infobox Jewish leader

| honorific-prefix = Rabbi

| name = David Bashevkin

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| denomination = Modern Orthodox

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| organization = NCSY

| organisationposition = Director of Education

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|2|15|mf=yes}}

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| nationality = American

| residence = Teaneck, New Jersey

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| occupation = Rabbi, adjunct professor, writer, podcast host

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| alma_mater = Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, The New School (Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy)

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David Bashevkin (or Dovid Bashevkin, born February 15, 1985) is an American Modern Orthodox rabbi, writer, adjunct professor, and podcast host. He serves as Director of Education at NCSY, an Orthodox Union youth group.

Early life and education

Bashevkin grew up in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York, to parents from traditional Jewish backgrounds.{{cite news |last1=Kahan |first1=Ariel |title=The Out-of-Town In-Towner: Rabbi David Bashevkin and Authentic Religious Experience |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2660926011 |access-date=July 14, 2023 |work=The Commentator |agency=UWIRE |date=May 9, 2022|id={{ProQuest|2660926011}} }} He described his oncologist father and writer mother as being right-wing Modern Orthodox.{{cite news |last1=Yudelson |first1=Larry |title=Sin, Failure, and the Haggadah |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/sin-failure-and-the-haggadah/ |access-date=July 16, 2023 |work=Jewish Standard |agency=Times of Israel |date=April 11, 2019}} As a child, he wrote letters to the editor of Wizard, a comic book industry magazine. After graduating from Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys,{{cite magazine |magazine=Mishpacha|url=https://mishpacha.com/rav-tzaddok-built-bridges-for-me|title=Rav Tzaddok Built Bridges for Me|date=September 10, 2019}} Bashevkin studied at Israel's Yeshivat Sha'alvim, later attending Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Maryland, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Talmudic Studies in 2006. After receiving his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University (YU), Bashevkin graduated with a master's degree in Polish Hasidut in 2010 from YU's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, having studied with Yaakov Elman.{{Cite web |title=Dovid Bashevkin |url=https://www.hartman.org.il/person/david-bashevkin/ |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=Shalom Hartman Institute |language=en-US}} From 2013 to 2022, he studied for a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management at the New School's Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, where he focused on crisis management.{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2022 |url=https://twitter.com/ncsy/status/1527661167396667392 |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=Twitter |language=en |type=NCSY|title=Mazal tov to NCSY's own Rabbi Dr. @DBashIdeas on receiving his PhD! Incredibly excited to see what comes next!}}

Career

= NCSY =

Bashevkin began his academic career as an associate director of education at NCSY, the youth division of the Orthodox Union, from 2010 to 2013 before becoming the group's director of education.{{cite news |last1=Boorstein |first1=Michelle |title=New Poll: Young U.S. Jews Becoming More Orthodox |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/maryland/frederick/frederick-news-post/2021/05-22/page-45/ |access-date=July 13, 2023 |work=Frederick News-Post |date=May 22, 2021}} As the leader of NCSY, he has directed many youth seminars and programs and has also developed curricula for staff and teens.{{Cite web|title=Dovid Bashevkin {{!}} Yeshiva University|url=https://www.yu.edu/faculty/pages/bashevkin-dovid|access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.yu.edu}}

= Academia =

Bashevkin served as an adjunct professor at Long Island University from 2010 to 2011. He currently teaches courses on public policy, religious crisis, and rabbinic thought at YU in the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies as well as the Sy Syms School of Business.{{cite web |url=https://edublog.news/2019/05/10/celebration-of-university-authors/ |title=Celebration of University Authors |last= |first= |date=2019-05-10 |publisher=Edublog |access-date=2020-04-14 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

= Podcasts =

Bashevkin developed a Tablet Daf Yomi podcast called Take One with Liel Leibovitz. In 2020, Bashevkin launched the 18Forty podcast to explore traditional Jewish topics in a contemporary context.{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://18forty.org/|access-date=2020-11-25|website=EIGHTEENFORTY|language=en}} The podcasts are organized by monthly topics, with each topic featuring 2–4 guests. Past topics havenincluded Biblical criticism, the "off the derech" phenomenon, and Jewish mysticism, and guests interviewed have included Marc B. Shapiro, Joshua Berman, Shulem Deen, Kelsey Osgood, Ammiel Hirsch, and Gil Student.{{cite news |last1=Yudelson |first1=Larry |title=Preaching the Controversy |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/preaching-the-controversy/ |access-date=July 16, 2023 |work=Jewish Standard |agency=Times of Israel |date=September 9, 2020}}

Publications

=Books=

Bashevkin believes in the study of Jewish thought as a mechanism to find spiritual fulfillment through Torah study and everyday activities.{{cite journal |last1=Brofsky |first1=Mali |title=Jewish Thought in the Contemporary World: Educational Challenges and Goals |journal=Tradition |date=Fall 2020 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=1–4 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2477759314 |access-date=July 14, 2023|id={{ProQuest|2477759314}} }} His published books in this genre include the Hebrew work {{lang|he|ברגז רחם תזכור}} - B'Rogez Rahem Tizkor, Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thoughts,{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/book-review-growing-through-sin-595233 |title=Book review: Growing Through Sin? |last=Rosenbaum |first=Alan |date=July 10, 2019 |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=2020-04-14}} and Top 5: Lists of Jewish Character and Characters.{{Cite web|title=Top 5|url=https://www.israelbookshoppublications.com/store/pc/Top-5-p2622.htm|access-date=2021-02-09|website=Israel Bookshop Publications|language=en}} He authored the NCSY Haggadah entitled Just One.{{cite news |last1=Yellin |first1=Deena |title=For Passover, Wacky Hagaddahs Feature Zombies, Mrs. Maisel, President Trump|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/554997893/?terms=%22David%20Bashevkin%22 |access-date=July 14, 2023 |work=The Journal News |date=April 16, 2019}} Many of Bashevkin's ideas draw extensively on the works of Zadok HaKohen Rabinowitz, a 19th-century Hasidic rabbi, especially the latter's thoughts on sin.

Bashevkin has written humorously about Orthodox Jewish culture, which he referred to as "airplane food and not home-baked." One humor column in Mishpacha magazine cataloged the idiosyncrasies and nuances of Jewish life. Bashevkin has written extensively on Jewish theology, publishing articles on sin, failure, and Jewish doctrine and tradition, including the application of Jewish scripture in the 21st-century digital age.

=Selected articles=

[https://www.wsj.com/articles/thoughts-and-prayers-do-help-religion-lincoln-uvalde-texas-mass-shooting-policy-11654030138 Thoughts and Prayers Do Help], Wall Street Journal (June 1, 2022).
[https://www.academia.edu/41047286/David_Bashevkin_MeToo_Should_Include_SinToo_Wall_Street_Journal_3_October_2019_ #MeToo Should Include #SinToo], Wall Street Journal (October 3, 2019).
[https://www.academia.edu/38664661/David_Bashevkin_Failure_Comes_To_Yeshivah_Jewish_Action_Spring_2019_62-64 Failure Comes To Yeshivah], Jewish Action (Spring 2019): 62–64.
[https://www.academia.edu/33792997/David_Bashevkin_Rabbi_s_Son_Syndrome_Religious_Struggle_in_a_World_of_Religious_Ideals_Jewish_Action_Summer_2017_38-44 Rabbi’s Son Syndrome: Religious Struggle in a World of Religious Ideals], Jewish Action (Summer 2017): 38–44.
[https://www.academia.edu/28247291/David_Bashevkin_Medium_Matters_The_Medium_and_Message_of_Torah_in_the_Digital_Age_Shavuot-To-Go_2016_6-9 Medium Matters: The Medium and Message of Torah in the Digital Age], Shavuot-To-Go (2016): 6–9.
[https://www.academia.edu/28247025/David_Bashevkin_A_Radical_Theology_and_a_Traditional_Community_On_the_Contemporary_Application_of_Izbica_Lublin_Hasidut_in_the_Jewish_Community_TorahMusings.com_August_2015_54-68 A Radical Theology and a Traditional Community: On the Contemporary Application of Izbica–Lublin Hasidut in the Jewish Community], TorahMusings.com (August 2015): 54–68.
[https://www.academia.edu/28247504/David_Bashevkin_The_Forgotten_Talmud_On_Teaching_Aggadah_in_High_Schools_Jewish_Action_Fall_2015_ The Forgotten Talmud: On Teaching Aggadah in High Schools], Jewish Action (Fall 2015).
[https://www.academia.edu/28247454/David_Bashevkin_Life_is_Full_of_Failure_Bio_Blurbs_Should_Be_Too_First_Things_8_May_2014_ Life is Full of Failure: Bio Blurbs Should Be Too], First Things (May 8, 2014).
[https://www.academia.edu/28247169/David_Bashevkin_The_Custom_to_Recite_the_Priestly_Blessings_After_Birkat_ha-Torah_ha-Maor_68_1_2015_86-90_Hebrew_ The Custom to Recite the Priestly Blessings After Birkat ha-Torah], ha-Maor 68:1 (2015): 86-90 (in Hebrew).
[https://www.academia.edu/28247554/David_Bashevkin_The_Pew_Report_s_Lesser-Known_Cousin_The_Phew_Report_Jewish_Action_Summer_2014_ The Pew Report’s Lesser-Known Cousin: The Phew Report], Jewish Action (Summer 2014).
[https://www.academia.edu/28247624/David_Bashevkin_The_Jewish_Community_Confronts_Its_Crisis_Crisis_Jewish_Action_Summer_2013_ The Jewish Community Confronts Its Crisis Crisis], Jewish Action (Summer 2013).
[https://www.academia.edu/28325627/David_Bashevkin_Perpetual_Prophecy_An_Intellectual_Tribute_to_Reb_Zadok_ha-Kohen_of_Lublin_on_his_110th_Yahrzeit_the_Seforim_blog_19_August_2010_ Perpetual Prophecy: An Intellectual Tribute to Reb Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin on his 110th Yahrzeit], Seforim (August 19, 2010).
[http://www.thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/2016/9/29/jonah-and-the-varieties-of-religious-motivation-a-religious-educators-perspective-on-why-people-become-religious Jonah and the Varieties of Religious Motivation], Lehrhaus (October 9, 2016). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012155807/http://www.thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/2016/9/29/jonah-and-the-varieties-of-religious-motivation-a-religious-educators-perspective-on-why-people-become-religious# |date=2016-10-12 }}

Personal life

Bashevkin is a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey.

References

External links

{{official|https://dbashideas.com/}}
[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/53838 {{lang|he|ברגז רחם תזכור}}] (in Hebrew), B'Rogez Rahem Tizkor
[https://www.yutorah.org/rabbi-dovid-bashevkin/ Articles and lectures] on YUTorah
[https://yeshiva.academia.edu/DavidBashevkin Academia.edu page]
[https://www.tabletmag.com/contributors/dovid-bashevkin Tablet article roll]
[https://mishpacha.com/contributors/rabbi-dovid-bashevkin/ Mishpacha article roll]
[https://twitter.com/DBashIdeas?s=20 @DBashIdeas / Twitter]
[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/eli-talks/why-are-you-here-truth-comfort-and-religious-motivation/ Why Are You Here? Truth, Comfort, and Religious Motivation] Talk on My Jewish Learning
[https://tikvahfund.org/library/podcast-david-bashevkin-on-sin-and-failure-in-jewish-thought/ David Bashevkin on Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought], The Tikvah Podcast with Jonathan Silver