'I Read This Over Shabbos’: Rabbi David Bashevkin turns social media into a tome

Rabbi David Bashevkin, a clinical assistant professor at Yeshiva University and host of 18Forty, has transformed his popular social media trend into a new book, I Read This Over Shabbos: Reading Jewish History in the Parasha, released on September 1. The book originated from Bashevkin's 2020 Twitter posts where he shared what he read over Shabbat, inspiring a community to do the same. Bashevkin aimed to foster a culture of deep reading and learning on Shabbat, stating, "Shabbos is a time for us to preserve that muscle memory of deep learning." The 540-page book, organized by weekly Torah portions, connects Torah themes with Jewish historical events and figures, concluding each chapter with recommended "Shabbos Reads." Bashevkin describes it as "an ode to the community that we have formed online" and a "love letter to the communities where I gave over Torah."