What we see, how it appears, the way things seem to be is not always, or often, the truth. The physical is an illusion. The senses are deceiving. That which is visible is fleeting. That which is invisible is real.

As I pack my bags readying to leave, after three amazing years living in Israel, I’m reflecting on all the insights, lessons and inspiration I’ll take with me. Nothing has been more profound than this. Israel isn’t simply the modern, Start-up Nation, but equally the ancient Entrepreneur Nation, creating and nurturing entrepreneurs for four thousand years and counting. Thanks to this entrepreneurial spirit  I am a better person and this world is truly a better place.

So, the next time you visit the Wall or turn to face it in prayer or reflect upon it, remember that those stones are there to remind us of the indomitable, creative, resilient and entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well within the Jewish homeland, the Jewish people, and in each and every one of us.

Throughout my professional journey in the past decade, moving from non-profits to Government, to private sector, from working with start-ups and entrepreneurs to large corporations, then back to “start-up land”, and above all – building my own business — I have noticed and gathered various insights on today’s world of work and on-demand economy. So, I decided to share some of them with the community.

What if we have the very thing to address each of these issues, connect across each of these communities, and bring to each and everyone of us some much needed insights and inspiration?

To question the darkness. To confront the darkness. To wrestle the darkness. And to transform the darkness into light, illuminating the world one scientific breakthrough, technological innovation and world changing inspiration at a time.

These entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators, the great-grandchildren, family and descendants of Holocaust victims, are redeeming their ancestors through Tech-un Olam - providing humankind with world transforming, earth replenishing, life sustaining innovations and technologies.

“Forgetfulness leads to exile. Memory is the source of redemption.” -The Ba’al Shem Tov

Religion may be on the decline, but the religious spirit is alive and well within secular Israels. The entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists I meet may not be religious but they are deeply spiritual. They are driven by a religious fervor to do Tikun Olam - repair the world through their work…..

Israel is the culmination of decades, centuries, millennia of Jews who have dreamed of this reality and most of all who have, and continue to, sacrifice and work to make it a reality. If Twain could see Israel now, he would see Israel for what it has become, not a mournful, but a magnificent expanse and a dream come true.