Jewish high school seniors looking to spend a year in Israel for a gap-year program usually have to decide between a program with serious Torah study or a program that emphasizes professional work experience. Like a delicious Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Torah Tech is a program that combines two amazing experiences into one.

Torah Tech (TT) is a unique gap-year program in Israel that integrates intensive Torah study with professional development through business and tech internships. They offer a multifaceted program that challenges students to strive for excellence both religiously and professionally, by immersing them in the world of Torah and spirituality, as well as in the world of high-powered Israeli businesses and tech companies. TT is offering professional internships in collaboration with cyber intelligence, security and coding companies, so that the students can become employed after their gap year program. Some of the course work is acceptable as college credit, as well.

“I think that Torah Tech is special in that we are a real-life simulation,” explained Rabbi Shlomo Chayen, head of the beit midrash and founder. “We want you to have a job, and to be learning—and make a commitment to both. Our program gives you that life-work spiritual balance. We want you to be a professional ben Torah.” (Ben Torah refers to someone who learns and lives Torah, while “professional” refers to someone with a profession. Torah Tech wants you to be both.)

Rabbi Chayen was born in Belle Harbor, Queens, and came on aliyah with his parents when he was 3 years old. After high school, he went to the Hesder Yeshiva in Ma’alot, where they learn Torah and serve in the IDF, becoming a commander in the paratroopers. He also furthered his studies in the yeshiva, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and education, got married, and was offered to do shlichut overseas. “I wanted to do shlichut, but within Israel, and have a direct influence on Israelis who want to connect with their community, to understand Torah along with workforce professionalism,” said Chayen. And so they moved to Tel Aviv and set up programs there, leading to creating the Am Yisrael Foundation, the birth mother of Torah Tech.

Enter Yehuda Goldberg, program director and co-founder of Torah Tech. Goldberg, as a full-time working professional, asked Chayen “for something for his neshama, his soul.” At an oneg Shabbat Friday night program, they deliberated: “Let’s disrupt the current, very old educational system, and let’s start with a gap-year, 10-month program, which has a clear beginning, middle and end.”

This rare combination can only be found in Israel, the birthplace of unparalleled innovation and advancement in business and technology. Students will also connect to the land of Israel through exciting trips and tours, give back to the community through volunteer chesed projects, hear from distinguished religious personalities from both the Torah and corporate worlds, while enjoying exclusive access to nearby gyms, separate beaches, self-defense training courses, and much more.

Noah Lerman, from Englewood, is currently in an IDF preparatory “mechina” program, described how “the idea of a gap year wasn’t even on my radar. I initially planned to go the normal route, and go straight to college. But enrolling in Torah Tech has so far been the best decision of my life. The best part of Torah Tech was undeniably the mentors I had.”

Benny Attar grew up in Teaneck and currently lives in Tel Aviv. He is a TT graduate, and strongly identifies with the Chayens’ wanting to reach out to Israelis and be part of the Israeli experience. “One thing I’m still doing now that I likely would not have been doing if I hadn’t attended Torah Tech is keeping up my relationships with my peers in Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv has a stereotype as a secular city, I learned at Torah Tech it is very much the opposite.

“There is an inner beauty within Tel Aviv seeing all of Am Yisrael together,” Attar continued, “and TorahTech taught me how to find it and belong within it. Now as a student at Tel Aviv University, I feel comfortable in my Judaism to teach classes, study Torah with friends, and have educated discussions with my peers regardless of observance. This was put to the test during my internship at Torah Tech, where I was the only observant Jew in the office. Representing religious Jews was a challenge and taught me how to best merge the two worlds together. I’m extremely grateful for the valuable lessons Torah Tech taught me in living Torah.”

The aim is to help transform students into passionate, independent and empowered young adults with the necessary tools to succeed as Torah learners in the modern world. “We are a Torah-life-profession simulator,” Rabbi Chayen emphasized. “Just as a pilot has to spend hundreds of hours in simulators before they can go out into the world of pilots, so too, we give our students a full year of being in this simulator, so that they are prepared with the tools for life. They will be a professional in Torah and a professional in their career.”

Jude Shankman, from Teaneck, is working as a mechanical engineering intern at the Tel Aviv branch of the Tokyo-based aerospace company Astroscale. “On top of our high-level internships, we’re pushed to pursue any other passions we may have. I haven’t just been encouraged to learn Torah, I’ve been encouraged to even finish a cookbook with my friends, which will hopefully be published by the end of this year.”

The Israel Gaza War 2023 has had a profound impact on the students. Some of the graduates are currently serving in the IDF, and others were called up to emergency reserve duty. Torah Tech has been helping raise funds for personal and other items, for soldiers and for displaced families, and they have helped provide thousands of meals for people in need.

Torah Tech is now recruiting for its seventh cohort. This group is male only, from any background, but must have the motivation to grow to higher heights. And TT is working now on a girls’ school program as well for the following year.

“We want our graduates to have one foot in the business world, one foot in the Torah world, and two feet rooted deep in Eretz Yisrael,” declared Rabbi Chayen.

For more information and registration, visit: https://www.torahtech.co/

Arnie Draiman is a philanthropic consultant helping people and foundations give their tzedaka money away wisely, efficiently and effectively. He is also an experienced social media and website guru, and reviews restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions. He can be reached at [email protected] or www.draimanconsulting.com.