Eschewing analysis for description, Kershner, a longtime correspondent for The New York Times in Jerusalem, conveys the growing complexity of Israeli society through exemplary figures, including a Jewish religious zealot who champions West Bank settlements, a disillusioned kibbutznik who bemoans contemporary individualism, a high-tech entrepreneur who gushes about his visit to Dubai, an ultra-Orthodox journalist who describes his reluctance to accept army assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and an Arab Israeli schoolteacher who worries about the declining language fluency of her students.