His parents, Ofra and Matania Ben-Artzi, live in Jerusalem and teach at Hebrew University.
Not only that, the Ben-Amis live close enough to the action to hear the tank shell bursts and the machine-gun fire that have reverberated across the Jerusalem development of Gilo and the next-door West Bank town of Beit Jala.
"We didn't get it - why did they want to sign a band they hadn't seen playing live?" Ben asks.
He led 400 actors, acrobats and dancers, 46 horses, two donkeys, five falcons, two eagles, a pair of vultures, 120 doves and five chariots to London for the premier of Ben-Hur Live (See "Ben-Hur Show To Rock Europe").
Robert and Martina got married on 30 May this year and now live, with Ben-Luis, in the small village of Gargrave in North Yorkshire.
"One of my students lived on the Upper West Side, and she basically let me live with her," Bening recalled.
Ben-Hur Live, he insists, will be a "money making machine".
They met on the Negev kibbutz, Sde Boker, where Ben-Gurion was living in retirement.
For Ms. Ben-Dor who lives in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., with her husband and two children, a post on Long Island would allow her to live and work in the same area.
But many universities attempt to redress the balance by providing special events for students who live at home.Ben Lewis, director of student support and wellbeing at Cardiff University says: "We offer a range of events for new students through our students union, including non-alcoholic events pitched at people who have to travel home at the end of the day.
BEN GREENMAN: As a child living in England, were you aware that British food was bad? Do you remember your first trip abroad?
