Matti Friedman, 47-48, is a Canadian who was born in Toronto. He grew up in the city, and he and his family attended an Orthodox synagogue there. In 1995 at age 17, Friedman left his family and moved to a religious kibbutz in Israel. This came after two prior visits to Israel as well as one on a Bronfman Youth Fellowship. A couple years after arriving, Friedman joined the Israeli military and served in the Nahal Brigade at an outpost in southern Lebanon in the late 1990s.

After finishing his service, Friedman became a journalist. His website states, “Matti’s work as a reporter has taken him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus, and Washington, DC. A former Associated Press correspondent and essayist for the New York Times opinion section, he currently writes a monthly feature for Tablet Magazine. His writing has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, the Atlantic, and elsewhere.” Friedman has also written several books, including one about his time in Lebanon, Pumpkinflowers, which won several awards, including being named by The Globe and Mail as one of 2016’s best books.