Was amazingly awesome. Today, in general, was amazing--PresenTense took 26 of our community members (Fellows, Steerers, Deborah Fishman the managing editor of PT Magazine, and more) on a trip to survey innovation in Israel's North. And Google was the icing on the cake.

Picture this: colorful beanbags set against free sodas of every type; cheese cakes with chocolate frosting; 30" flatscreens and Segways. There we were, hosted by Galit and given a tour of Google's special sauce by Yoelle--their head of R&D--and we were mesmerized.

Basically it was cool.

But on a deeper level, the question I am left asking is: can a nonprofit ever aspire to the same level of creative environment as Google? Sure, Family Foundations and their Program Initiatives could theoretically afford the Wiis and flatscreens. But could a young start-up organization that seeks to enable Jewish creativity within a digitally sovereign framework aspire to weeks in which one day is devoted to personal time, and one rule is that no member of the staff is more than 100 feet from food?

I wonder. Cause it seems to work for them wonderfully, and it would be a dream to build a work environment that mirrors Google's. But without the Billions, I fear these aspirations are messianic in nature.

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