Comedians to hold Zoom event on what Seth Rogen doesn't get
The Sunday Zoom seminar is being co-hosted by the American Friends of Kaplan Medical Center (AFKMC) which has produced four monthly Zoom webinars since the onset of Covid-19.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFIsraeli-American comedians, Benji Lovitt and Avi Liberman(photo credit: Courtesy)
Comedian Seth Rogen, who recently made news by revealing his limited knowledge and critical thoughts about Israel, will not be speaking at a US Jewish young professionals’ Zoom webinar on Sunday, August 16, at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 9 p.m. in Israel, but his name is sure to come up in the course of the discussion.Two outstanding Israeli-American comedians, Benji Lovitt and Avi Liberman, will have “Conversations on Comedy,” mining their own experiences and thoughts on the Israeli-American relationship, Jewish identity and how that is incorporated in their comedy, in an event geared at young professionals throughout the US and all over the world. They will add content and context to what Israel is about, as opposed to the supposedly progressive attitudes expounded by Seth Rogen, who questioned Israel’s right to exist in a recent podcast with Marc Maron.Lovitt is probably the most recognized Israeli-American comedian on the Jewish organizational and Jewish national conference circuit. He also headlined Young Jewish Leadership Concept’s (YJLC) Pocono summer 2009 rafting leadership weekend.Liberman, an acclaimed comedian, actor, and screenwriter, created Comedy for Koby, a bi-annual tour of Israel featuring some of America's top stand-up comedians. The tour, which was first launched in 2008, benefits The Koby Mandell Foundation, an Israeli non-profit organization that works with victims of terror attacks. In normal, non-COVID-19 times, Lovitt and Liberman would have been the Israeli resources for the 33rd annual Pocono Rafting Leadership Weekend produced by YJLC, a non-profit young professionals’ network. This year, unfortunately, there will not be rafting, but due to the phenomenon of Zoom, many more Jewish young professionals can take advantage of the experience, making new friends, learning about Israel, and being part of the YJLC efforts of connecting post-college age young adults.The Sunday Zoom seminar is being co-hosted by the American Friends of Kaplan Medical Center (AFKMC) which has produced four monthly Zoom webinars since the onset of COVID-19. YJLC is also part of the AFKMC “Heart & Sole” network of 20 national Israel support organizations that collaborate on efforts to educate and create connections to Israel, primarily for post-college age young adults.Lou Balcher, who has directed AFKMC for the last six-and-a-half years, and YJLC for the past 34 years, said that“As Seth Rogen’s fame and influence is providing more weapons for those who want to denigrate Israel, Benji and Avi will share their personal experiences in ‘stand-up’ comedy, to ‘stand-in’ as excellent role-models for young adults to learn and relate to Israel.”Registration for the free webinar is at www.afkmc.org
