Texas native Benji Lovitt immigrated to Israel in 2006. He has performed stand-up comedy (including opening for Jim Gaffigan) and delivered cultural presentations about Israel for audiences in North America, Israel, Europe, South Africa, and Australia and has been featured in Time Magazine and The Atlantic. In Israel 201, he and his co-author Joel Chasnoff pull back the curtain to unveil a more complete and comprehensive portrait of Israel that extends beyond the headlines and typical Israel narrative, diving into topics like shomer Shabos car insurance policies, ancient marriage laws, Arab Israeli stand-up comedy, Druze high schools, and LGBTQ activism in the IDF, and answering questions like “How did Jerusalem’s cat problem spur religious debate?” and “Why are Israelis so blunt, even when the truth hurts?”

This is a Jewish Book Council program.