By Max Marine
After growing up in Philadelphia in a conservative Jewish community, 10 years ago (at age 20), I flew to Israel for the first time on Birthright. My uncle handed me a book before I flew: "Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle." As I traveled over the Atlantic reading, I was blown away by all the innovation such a small country had produced with so few resources.
Two years later, I flew back to Israel to volunteer for 10 months on Otzma, a Masa program. I fell in love with the both outskirts of Israel, (Karmiel, Arad, Netivot) and the Tel Aviv summer.
A year later, I flew back to Israel on Alternative Spring Break, sponsored by JNF, to volunteer in the south, plant trees, and build community structures.
Two years after that, I flew back again, this time to join the start-up nation, making aliyah in the process and committing myself to a life of helping Israeli entrepreneurs.
It didn't really hit me until recently just how important Israel is for the future of humanity. The creativity, innovation, and technologies being produced in Israel have not only transformed how we produce food, water, energy, healthcare, and transportation globally, but how it will continue to transform every part of our daily lives.
Having lived in Israel for six years, experiencing countless moments of joy, love, and inspiration, it frustrates and pains me that the narrative on social media basically leaves out all of the amazing contributions Israel is making. That motivated to create my latest rap, "Start-Up Nation."
Max Marine made aliyah in 2017 with Jewish National Fund-USA partner Nefesh B'Nefesh. He invests in Israeli start-ups at lool ventures, an early-stage VC based in Tel Aviv.
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| "Failure is accepted, risk is something to embrace. Necessity is the key to invention in this place." |
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