On Shabbat, May 20, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, director of education for NCSY, will be the scholar-in-residence at Congregation Beth Aaron. On Shabbat morning, following the Main Minyan, he will speak on “The Hassidic Revolution Against the Grand Hassidic Rebbe: The Story and Relevance of Polish Hassidut.” On Shabbat afternoon at 6:45, his topic will be “Right vs. Left: A Jewish Approach to Our Economic and Political Cycles,” and, following the 7:45 p.m. Mincha, he will address “Rabbi’s Son Syndrome: Why Religion Makes Some Leave Religion.” Congregation Beth Aaron is located at 950 Queen Anne Road in Teaneck.

Rabbi Bashevkin studied at Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, and completed his rabbinic ordination at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). While in Yeshiva University, he completed a master’s degree in Polish Hassidut, focused on the thought of Rav Zadok of Lublin, under the guidance of Dr. Yaakov Elman. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy and management at The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, focusing on crisis management. Recently, he published a rabbinic work entitled “B’Rogez Rachem Tizkor” (“In Anger, Remember Mercy”), which is a discussion of sin and failure in Jewish thought and law.