Fifteen Jewish tech professionals plan to spend an upcoming three-day weekend trying to show that hacking can heal the world.
Holed up in a rented beachside house in Bodega Bay, they’ll devote Martin Luther King Day weekend to a Jewish social justice hackathon called “Hacking Tikun Olam.” Their aim is to create a product that will advance a social issue.
“The goal is to produce viable business model and product by the end of the weekend,” said Eli Gregory, one of the organizers, who works in the tech industry as a coder. “I’ve witnessed it. It’s totally possible.”
Gregory and his co-organizer, Samantha Stein, are residents of Moishe Houses in Portland and San Francisco, respectively. Moishe House operates a network of shared homes for young Jewish adults that host events and programs for the larger Jewish community.
They received a grant for the Jan. 15-18 hackathon, which means participants will pay just $50 each for three nights of lodging and meals; they also will be shuttled from the Bay Area to Bodega Bay.
Once there, the group will choose an idea to work on, then hunker down and start coding. One potential idea is an online platform that will connect people in religious learning groups. In addition, guest speaker Michael Avrukin, engineering manager at Google, is scheduled to talk about the intersection of technology and Judaism.
It won’t be all work, Gregory emphasized, as participants will be able to let off steam with early morning dance parties and nighttime bonfires.
The hackathon is still looking for applicants. To apply, visit https://hackingtikunolam.typeform.com/to/Ud3aX2. — drew himmelstein