Participants on the OU’s Israel Give & Tech niche trip organized by Israel Free Spirit Taglit-Birthright Israel, recently visited Google Headquarters in Tel Aviv. There, they were treated to a presentation on “start-up nation concepts” and cutting-edge Israeli developments, followed by a question and answers session with Google staff.

Israel Free Spirit (IFS) is the name of the Orthodox Union’s 10-day Taglit Birthright-Israel experience, which emphasizes the spiritual connection between the land of Israel, the people of Israel, contemporary Israel and vibrant Jewish tradition.

Among the 18-26 year-olds of various Jewish backgrounds were students and graduates of Cornell, UCLA, Concordia, MIT, University of Chicago, University of Washington, University of Pittsburgh and more; and professionals at companies such as Amazon.com and S&P.

The technology-themed trip, led by NCSY Director of Information Systems Dan Hazony, was developed to celebrate, in addition to the standard popular IFS Taglit-Birthright programming, the achievements in high-tech that are a trademark of Israel.

On the trip, the group visited the Technion and Iscar (Warren Buffett’s investment) and heard from leaders of social entrepreneurship project PresenTense.

“IFS participants from across the Jewish spectrum were brought together by their common interests in science and technology to explore Israel and strengthen their Jewish identity,” said Dan Hazony.”The emphasis placed on the idea of a Jewish nation enabled them to be proud of all Israeli innovation, as well as to strengthen their connection to all Jews. Of the 40 participants, 27 have chosen to extend their trips to spend more time in Israel.”