Joel Chasnoff

ISRAEL 201 YOUR NEXT LEVEL GUIDE TO THE MAGIC, MYSTERY, AND CHAOS OF LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND

I’ve been to Israel five times and know many Israelis. Even so, I learned a lot while Reading ISRAEL 201 YOUR NEXT LEVEL GUIDE TO THE MAGIC, MYSTERY, AND CHAOS OF LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND. It is everything authors Joel Chasnoff and Benji Lovitt promise.
Both authors moved to Israel from North America a few decades ago and are comedians. Thus, they are knowledgeable about their subject and laugh-out-loud funny, when appropriate.
ISRAEL 201 has eight chapters, each with short sections on various topics. Starting off with “The Israel Psyche,” they move on to the Hebrew language, politics, education, economy, military, “The Arts, Culture, Sports, and Leisure,” and end with aliyah. In addition, there are a helpful preface, quiz, afterward, games and glossary.
When Israelis meet people, they omit the small talk and ask what many outsiders would consider personal questions. While some people consider it chutzpah, Chasnoff and Lovitt explain the reasons behind Israeli actions and how there is much more to it. They invite strangers into their homes for meals, provide refreshments for people coming there to do repairs or deliver packages, and willingly help people in crisis.
Even though they live in a dangerous neighborhood and have one of the highest tax rates in the world, which supports their free health care and education, they are among the happiest people in the world.
Israelis feel responsible for each other. Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Memorial Day, is not celebrated by sales, picnics, fireworks, and sporting events. Everyone in Israel is related to or knows someone who either survived the Shoah or has died in a war or terrorist attack. When a siren sounds, everyone stands in respectful silence.
The first question in the “Pre-Course Quiz How Israeli are you?” reads:

1. You’re stopped at a red light. The light turns green but the car in front of you doesn’t move. You:
a. Wait patiently for the car to go.
b. Beep your horn gently.
c. Blare your horn loudly and continuously, shouting “Nu!” until the moron finally goes.
(HINT: It’s none of the above. I think there was an Israeli driver behind me in Ohio earlier this week.)

In the chapter on the Hebrew language, they explain

“the word for truth, emet, consists of three letters: alef, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; mem, the middle letter; and taf, the final letter. Sheker (lie), meanwhile, consists of three consecutive letters that are rearranged (like Q-R-S becoming S-Q-R). According to Professor Gabi Shetrit, the difference between truth and lies is not the presence or absence of facts, but how they are presented. ‘The truth encompasses all facts, from beginning to middle to end,’ he says. ‘A liar, however, selects a mere portion of the facts, rearranges them, and presents them as the entire story.’ This also explains why liars are so dangerous: their stories contain just enough of the truth to be believable, while leaving out the parts that don’t serve them.’”

Sounds like American today.

The chapter on Politics has a section titled “Politics 120 ÷ 2 + 1 = Chaos.” In Israel, people vote for one of the more than a dozen parties which ranks its candidates. Many people don’t know many of the people on the slate. It is rare for a party to win a majority of 120 seats in the Knesset which results in trying to build coalitions. The Prime Minister’s post is for five years, but can be tossed out and early elections held. In fact, there have been 4 Prime Ministers since 2020. It’s almost like the most recent election for Speaker of the House in the current Republican majority US Congress.
Almost everyone enters the IDF at age 18. There they work together
regardless of their religious beliefs, family status, or racial identity.
There are five public school systems: Jewish secular, Jewish religious, Arab Christian, Arab Muslim, and Arab Druze. They are very different from those in most Western cultures. There are no school buses, no playgrounds, no homework, and not much academic rigor. Students invent their own games (this book includes some of them). Students attend parent-teacher conferences with the parents who usually observe the interaction between the teacher and student.
There are no high-stakes, cutthroat competition for college admission. No summer internships. Students spend their summers being kids. Being inducted into the Army at 18 will quickly teach them the realities of adulthood
Employees and school children alike are very informal and outspoken. They ask questions, make suggestions, and, more importantly, are listened to. That is one reason Israel has a reputation of being innovative.
Israel has a disproportionate number of world-class scientists, writers, academics, and entrepreneurs, more Nobel laureates per capita than US, France, or Germany and is third among the countries on NASDAQ, behind China and US.
Gun control is very strict and requires requirements for receiving a license, the number and kinds of weapons a person may own, and how many bullets they may purchase.
Abortions are legal although they must be approved by a committee.
GLBTQ people are strongly present and involved.
In the medical field, 1/3 of the pharmacists are Arab. In the hospitals, the medical staff is disproportionately Arab and Observant Jews. Israel’s Covid Czar was a Druze physician.
It’s emergency services are unique. Of the 34,000 paramedics, 30,000 are volunteers including thousands of Haredi (Ultra Orthodox) teens. As a Red Cross organization, Mogen David Adom, cannot be affiliated with the government and depends on donations, even for its ambulances. First responders, contacted at their current locations, are quick to respond, often arriving at the scene before the ambulances arrive. More than 3000 teens, some as young as 15) take required 64-hour volunteer course and, once certified, serve in the ambulances.
The last chapter includes hilarious examples of how mixing up a letter or syllable in a Hebrew word changes the entire meaning.
ISRAEL 201 YOUR NEXT LEVEL GUIDE TO THE MAGIC, MYSTERY, AND CHAOS OF LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND is a treasure, well-written, informative, and entertaining.
I receive a copy of Israel 201 from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.… (altro)

This is pretty hilarious story about a young Jewish college graduate from Chicago who decides to make aliyah and join the IDF. He soon learns that he is considered Jewish for immigration purposes but not for religious purposes because he is not Orthodox. He wants to have a Jewish wedding in Israel, but he has to go to a mikveh first. He also learns that the IDF basic training is full of scared young boys (hence the title), some of them from poor circumstances. The main character has an anxiety attack when he realizes they are actually going into a war zone in Lebanon. The theme of the book is not what he expected, but maybe he grew up some anyway and realized he will never be accepted as an Israeli.… (altro)