This Shabbat, the Bais Medrash of Bergenfield, at 371 South Prospect Avenue, welcomes Rabbi Yedidya Atlas as a scholar-in-residence. At 7:10 on Shabbat afternoon he will speak about “The IDF Rabbinate: How to Make a Jewish Army Jewish.” Following Mincha, at seudah shlishit at 8, he will deliver words on “Leadership, Responsibility, and Mesirat Nefesh—Defining Today’s IDF.”

A graduate of Yeshivat Mercaz Harav, Rabbi Atlas made aliyah from Philadelphia when he was 17 years old. For the last 30 years he has been the chaplain of the IDF rabbinate, and is currently the head of special projects. The IDF Ground Forces Command bestowed the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to him for initiating and developing projects such as Operation Sifrei Torah, Operation Sukkot, Magen Yisrael Tehillim—Siddur for Combat Soldiers, the IDF Mobile Synagogue and the Field Beit Knesset kit.