Join Today!

Tic-Tac-Talk's Story

The year 2020 with its lockdowns and hardships has forced us all into difficult and exhausting periods of social isolation, but this break from life's intensive pace also afforded us time to reflect and consider how to address some ongoing issues. And so it happened that we, Lola Scheiner and Orly Rosenbaum, found ourselves, one Spring afternoon, discussing various concerns, and inter alia the efforts we had both been investing, in our business activities, to help Israelis held back in their careers by lacking skills in Business English overcome this impediment. We found it upsetting that the only avenue open to such people involves paying for expensive and quite lengthy courses, that didn't always provide adequate opportunities for them to practice and improve. 

A casual mention, during this conversation, of a lovely American woman who had suggested that Israelis who want to practice speaking English be referred to her is what sparked the idea for Tic-Tac-Talk Project, founded soon thereafter. 

But the creation of Tic-Tac-Talk Project did not occur with only the interest of the Israelis in mind. We truly believe that all involved benefit from the connections we make. Jews from the Diaspora join our program for various reasons, primary among them is the opportunity we provide to contribute to Israel and to maintain a connection with the country as one way of manifesting one's Jewish identity. Some want to learn more about life here. 

Another motivation – particularly pressing in the Coronavirus period – is a desire for more interaction with others. Older people, in particular, have been spending much of their time at home alone. In large countries often their adult children and extended family do not live close by. Some have mobility limitations. Some quite naturally feel lonely. And sadly, the adverse effects of loneliness are not limited to feelings - loneliness has been found to be linked to serious health conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Obviously, it is not within our power to solve this issue, but to the extent that our participants do feel socially isolated or lonely, it is our hope that the interaction we foster helps to at least alleviate such feelings.

Ultimately, beyond the benefits to individual participants, we also hope that these one-on-one conversation and the friendships formed will contribute to strengthening the bond between Israel and the Diaspora. Because at the end of the day, we are all people, and we believe in people and strive to achieve a future in we all share our knowledge and skills and kindness to help others.