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Publication: The Commentator, , Yeshiva University , New York, NY
“It doesn’t matter.”
This was not the response I assumed I would get when I asked Rabbi David Bashevkin where he sent his children to day school. However, nothing about my sit-down with Rabbi Bashevkin went as expected. 18Forty was not mentioned once. Twitter essentially didn’t exist. The subject of the discussion started with North Adams, Massachusetts and ended with the conclusion that bochurim in Ner Yisrael know how to be mevatel Torah in healthier ways than YU guys.
Most people who have heard of or know Rabbi Bashevkin on a superficial level would assume he is a typical person from Lawrence, NY, who grew up influenced by the regular social norms of the community. This could not be farther from the truth. “Who I am as a human being comes from the upbringing of my parents,” he said. “My religious life is a composite of the generational reaction of my parents to their parents.” Bashevkin believes his parents’ unique cultural background of budding Orthodoxy in small-town America in the ’50s and ’60s has made him the person he is. The organic and unique influence they brought to his childhood through an authentic and pure form of religious growth nurtured in a small town sticks with Bashevkin until today.
Indeed, Bashevkin’s parents grew up with a less traditional background than many of his contemporaries. His father hails from North Adams, Mass. Bashevkin’s grandparents on his father’s side were less educated and observant. His bubby (grandmother) did not read Hebrew and his Zaidy (grandfather) worked on Shabbos until his retirement. However, they were deeply committed to Jewish values in an authentic and pure form. Bubby would travel to a Price Chopper supermarket in Albany to buy kosher meat. They stressed the importance of all their kids marrying...