Critical Thinking
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out critical thinking events happening today here. These are in-person gatherings where you can meet fellow enthusiasts and participate in activities right now.
Discover all the critical thinking events taking place this week here. Plan ahead and join exciting meetups throughout the week.
Absolutely! Find critical thinking events near your location here. Connect with your local community and discover events within your area.
Critical Thinking Events Today
Join in-person Critical Thinking events happening right now
מפגשי עומק - הפילוסופיה של איין ראנד; מפגש 40
במפגש נקרא ונקיים דיון על הספר "אובייקטיביזם הפילוסופיה של איין ראנד", ונמשיך לקרוא את פרק ״אמנות״ את המפגש יוביל אייר רייכל, עמית מרכז איין ראנד בישראל
עד כה קראנו בספר "אובייקטיביזם הפילוסופיה של איין ראנד" מעמוד 9 עד עמוד 494.
במפגש הקרוב נקרא את עמודים 494 עד 510 **של התרגום החדש לעברית של הספר "אובייקטיביזם הפילוסופיה של איין ראנד" מאת לאונרד פיקוף**
ההשתפות כרוכה בתרומה למרכז איין ראנד בישראל.
20 ש"ח למפגש.
חינם: למשתתפים שתורמים תרומה קבועה של 50 ש"ח ומעלה בחודש.
[קישור לתרומה](https://www.aynrand.org.il/donate)
[קישור לרכישת הספר](https://www.aynrandstore.co/product-page/opar)
ניתן להשתתף גם מבלי לרכוש את הספר
(רכישה בהנחה למגיעים למפגש)
מיקום: וויוורק שרונה מרקט
הוראות כניסה:
יש להיכנס בכניסה א' של שרונה מרקט, מול מסעדת "מקסיקנה" יש דלת לחדר מדרגות, יש לעלות לקומה ה3 ולצלצל לפתיחת הדלת לאייר רייכל 050-5210025.
ניתן להגיע באמצעות הרכבת הקלה - תחנת יהודית.
למגיעים ברכב, חניה מומלצת ב"חניון פלטיניום" (מופיע בוייז). או בחניון "מילניום" (שקצת רחוק יותר) ב10 ש"ח עם אפליקציית סנטרל פארק.
לתיאום הגעה בפעם הראשונה ולמתלבטים ניתן ליצור קשר עם אייר בטלפון ובוואטסאפ 050-5210025
Diamond in the Rough: Real World Medical Records Challenges
Join us for a focused deep-dive into the **real challenges of working with medical records** — from collection and processing to cleaning and preparing it for ML and AI pipelines.
We’ll explore the gaps between clinical workflows and the data that actually gets recorded, and share practical methods, tools, and examples to help you build better models, run stronger research, and streamline development in the medical domain.
\*\*\*PLEASE NOTE: all the talks are in Hebrew\*\*\*
AGENDA
**18:00 Gathering and refreshments**
**18:30 Openings Words -** TLV Medical Center
* Prof\. Eli Sprecher \| CEO
* Shomrat Shurtz \| I\-NEXT Tech Ichilov\, CEO
* Michal Shevach\, PhD \| Chief Operating Officer & Business Development at I\-NEXT Data
**18:45 The EMR Landscape \- Know Your Enemy \|** Dvir Ben-David, Director of Data & Analytics at TLV Medical Center
**19:10 Predicting Expected Surgery Duration \(Use Case\) \|** Amit Rappel, Data Scientist at TLV Medical Center
**19:45 What does it really take to put your model into use? from a healthcare organization perspective \|** Stav Devons-Sberro MD, Resident Physician at Clalit Innovation
**20:05 Needle in a Full Stack \-Building with Messy Real\-world Healthcare Data \|** Guy Dolinsky, Software Specialist at Sheba AI Center
**20:20 Drinks and Sweets**
HOW TO GET THERE:
* **Parking:** Golda Parking Lot, Berkovitz 7, Tel-Aviv
* **Public transportation:** Numerous bus lines, 15 min. walk / 5 min. drive from Hashalom train station
* If you need help with access please contact **052-6779595 (Amit)**
TAMI open-fa-sure (Open Night)
TAMI open-fa-sure (Open Night) is a great time to visit the space and get to know how things work.
If you want to double check whether someone is in the space, call 03-3726660.
==========
TAMI wiki: [https://telavivmakers.org](https://telavivmakers.org)
TAMI main Telegram channel: [https://t.me/+0t5M0-jK9iIwZmM8](https://t.me/+0t5M0-jK9iIwZmM8)
Frontendistim Community December Meetup at UVeye!
We are hosting **Marc Grabanski** 🤩 - don’t miss it!
Join us for an evening of focused tech talks, real-world frontend knowledge, and good people. We’ll hear from experienced engineering leaders on modern web practices, then we’ll go live for an online Q&A with Marc Grabanski. You’ll be able to ask him questions in real time.
Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to connect, learn, and celebrate with fellow frontend enthusiasts!
This meetup is organized by **[Enpitech](https://enpitech.dev/)**, a frontend-focused team helping startups build reliable, production-grade web products.
This special event wouldn't be possible without the generous support of **UVeye**, our gracious hosts.
**Agenda:**
**18:00** \- Doors open \- Mingling \+ Food
**18:30** \- Opening Remarks
**18:40** - **Idan Cohen -** Principal Software Architect at UVeye.
**Stack-Fluid: Making Backend Feel Like Frontend**
As frontenders, we demand visibility and control over our application state. Why accept anything less on the server? If you're sick of diving into the murky backend, this talk is for you. We'll see how Event Sourcing is used to build backend state cleanly, just like in the UI. Learn to expose clear visualization that surfaces process and bugs instantly instead of fishing for logs, and discover the tooling to achieve a developer experience that finally makes infrastructure invisible
**19:15 - Gil Fink** \- CEO & Senior Consultant at SparXys
**Mastering Task Management in JavaScript**
In modern web development, efficient task management is crucial for ensuring smooth user experiences. Long-running JavaScript tasks can block the main thread, leading to janky, unresponsive interfaces.
This session will explore the importance of managing tasks and how to allow the browser to prioritize user interactions. We’ll discuss how to defer non-urgent tasks, improve responsiveness, and optimize performance by leveraging the browser’s built-in scheduling capabilities. Join us to learn how to elevate your JavaScript performance game and create more responsive web applications.
**19:45 -** 15 minutes Break.
**20:00 - LIVE! Marc Grabanski** **& Nir Parisian -** Q&A session with **Marc Grabanski** \- CEO of [Frontend Masters](https://frontendmasters.com/).
**When?**
Monday, 22 December 2025 - **18:00 We start on time!**
**Where?**
Aminadav St 21, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 4th floor
Repair caffé קפה תיקונים
באו לתקן כל מה שלא עובד.
יותר טוב אם [צרו איתנו](https://docs.telavivmakers.space/welcome) קשר וספרו לנו מה הולכים לתקן ךפני להגיע.
Come to fix together
It is much better if you [contact us](https://docs.telavivmakers.space/welcome) and tell what do you want to repair before coming.
日本語 in Sarona
こんにちは、よろしくお願いします.
קבוצת חברים לומדי יפנית מחדשת מפגשים ומחפשת מצטרפים חדשים.
כל הרמות וכל הגילאים מוזמנים — מתחילים ומתקדמים כאחד.
נפגשים בקפה לנדוור שרונה ת"א, יום שני 22.12, ב- 18:15.
מוזמנים להצטרף 一緒に練習しませんか。
המפגש באווירה רגועה ולא פורמלית.
בכל שאלה מוזמנים לפנות אליי בפרטי. לאון.
Critical Thinking Events This Week
Discover what is happening in the next few days
Flink & Kafka Deep Dive: From Data Streaming to Real-Time AI
As real-time systems become the backbone of modern products, the way we design and operate data infrastructure is evolving fast. In this meetup, we’re bringing together experts from Riskified, Confluent, and Wix to show how Apache Flink and Apache Kafka power the next generation of streaming architectures—from resilient, fault-tolerant pipelines and reusable data products to AI-driven decisioning at massive scale.
Whether you’re a data engineer, platform builder, or AI-curious developer, this evening will give you practical patterns and fresh ways to think about real-time systems.
**Agenda:**
18:00 - 18:30 - Mingling, drinks, and snacks
18:30 - 19:00 - Supercharge Your FlinkSQL Job: Use a Hybrid API Approach to Achieve Perfection - Gal Krispel, Senior Data Platform Engineer at Riskified
19:00 - 19:30 - From Data Mess to Data Products: Unlocking Real‑Time Value with Data Streaming - Ohad Israeli, Senior Solutions Engineer Team Leader at Confluent
19:30 - 20:15 - AI vs. Karen: Building Real-Time Sentiment Analysis Pipelines at Scale - Josef Goldstein, Head of R&D, Big Data Platform at Wix.com
20:15 - More drinks and mingling
The talks will be delivered in Hebrew.
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
**// Supercharge Your FlinkSQL Job: Use a Hybrid API Approach to Achieve Perfection - Gal Krispel, Senior Data Platform Engineer at Riskified**
Apache Flink’s SQL interface almost sounds like a dream: write standard SQL - get a full-blown streaming app. However, dreams and reality rarely align, and FlinkSQL achieved a questionable level of production readiness.
In this session, we’ll explore the known upsides and downsides of FlinkSQL. From the enormous velocity and traction FlinkSQL can create in your organization, to sleepless nights of manual state interventions and unexpected data type inference. The good news is, there are ways to bypass obstacles and tap the most out of FlinkSQL’s benefits by using a Hybrid Flink API approach.
We’ll examine the architecture of a fault-tolerant FlinkSQL job (using DLQ), bypass inherent FlinkSQL’s data-type limitations, and finally, show how we can set up our job to handle a massive load. Finally, we’ll also share step-by-step code examples of how to achieve it.
***About the speaker:***
Gal Krispel is a Data Platform Engineer at Riskified, specializing in streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka and Apache Flink. He focuses on building scalable, real-time data pipelines that power Riskified’s core products. Gal is particularly interested in making complex data architectures accessible and efficient across the organization. His work spans real-time analytics, event-driven design, and the seamless integration of stream processing into large-scale production systems.
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gal-krispel/)
**// From Data Mess to Data Products: Unlocking Real‑Time Value with Data Streaming - Ohad Israeli, Senior Solutions Engineer Team Leader at Confluent**
This talk shows how organizations can move from brittle, point‑to‑point integrations to a data streaming “central nervous system” that powers reusable, trustworthy data products across both operational and analytical estates. We’ll cover the Stream–Connect–Govern–Process blueprint, pragmatic pipeline patterns into warehouses like Snowflake, and real‑world use cases from fraud detection to personalization—highlighting how reusable data products slash time‑to‑value and operating cost while improving data quality and freshness. Attendees will leave with a practical framework to standardize schemas, materialize real‑time pipelines, and reuse domain data products to accelerate AI/ML and analytics initiatives.
***About the speaker:***
Ohad Israeli is a Senior Solutions Engineer Team Leader at Confluent with 20+ years of experience in data architectures. He helps high‑growth tech teams turn streaming data into measurable outcomes using Confluent. His focus is real‑time, event‑driven architectures, faster paths to production, and reliability at scale.
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/israeliohad/)
**// AI vs. Karen: Building Real-Time Sentiment Analysis Pipelines at Scale - Josef Goldstein, Head of R&D, Big Data Platform at Wix**
We’ve all heard that “the customer is always right". But let’s be honest, some customers are just impossible to please.
What if we could detect them before they turn into ALL-CAPS review bombers, in real-time?
In this talk, we’ll walk through how to build AI-powered streaming pipelines using Apache Kafka and Apache Flink that can detect frustrated users and respond in real time at massive scale.
We’ll explore how to embed AI models directly into data streams for live inference, discuss the trade-offs between using Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SLMs), and tackle the real-world challenges of latency, scale, and cost optimization in streaming AI architectures.
Finally, we’ll demo a live end-to-end example, from data ingestion to AI scoring and visualization, that you can later run on your own setup.
***About the speaker:***
The data and culture guy. Currently leading the Big Data Platform R&D at Wix.
Yossi has over 15 years of experience building data intensive SaaS applications and growing the awesome teams that make them.
He believes that the secret sauce for creating sustainable complex systems is good design practices, effective communication between people, and automating everything. In his day to day he works tirelessly on building the culture necessary to support these values and propagate them to others, one pep-talk at a time.
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josefgoldstein/)
Shut Up & Write!® at Cafe Nona
Join us for some focused writing time. All writers and all experience levels are welcome and don’t worry, no one will see what you've written. This session is about getting your writing done and meeting other writers in your area.
When you show up, say hello to everyone, grab a drink, and get your writing tools ready. Once you’re all settled, take some time to chat with your fellow writers. Once everyone’s arrived, I will lead quick introductions and then set the timer for our quiet and focused writing session.
Afterward, we’ll have time to chat and get to know each other. We often talk about our successes and challenges as writers. If you don’t have time to stick around, no worries!
**A note about the format**
We don’t host critiques or readings. These events are a safe space for writers of all skill levels and genres to work on their craft, so no one will read or critique your writing.
For our full event schedule, visit [https://shutupwrite.com](https://shutupwrite.com).
**Other Important Details:**
WiFi name/password: TBD
Venue Guidelines: Please thank our hosts by purchasing something.
Philosophy Group Meeting -- English
Join us in the search for the true, the good and the beautiful.
We will be reading and discussing a fascinating philosophical text in English.
Welcome anyone interested in understanding life more deeply, regardless of age or prior knowledge. The love of wisdom is enough.
Please join our WhatsApp group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/CDjIJ8i1LZsJ2a7WJXFxhG?mode=wwt
Sapere Aude! (Kant's Motto: Dare to Think!)
TLV Meetup - Autonomous AI Agent driven Testing
Join us for an exciting meetup where we delve into the latest innovations in software testing with a focus on AI technology.
Our expert speakers will share insights on how AI is revolutionizing quality assurance, agile testing, and test-driven development.
Whether you're a testing professional, developer, or QA enthusiast, this event will provide valuable knowledge and networking opportunities. Don't miss out on this chance to stay ahead of the curve in the world of next-gen quality assurance!
The meetup is in-person attendance only at Applitools offices.
Address : Abba Hilel 21 Ramat Gan (Bursa) Israel - 16th floor
Philosophy Group Meeting -- Hebrew
Join us in the search for the true, the good and the beautiful.
Each meet is in one of two formats: a shared reading and open discussion of philosophical texts, or a continuing series of lectures based on the reading of a fascinating book of philosophy. Both formats are in Hebrew, with some reading of English texts, assisted whenever needed.
We meet weekly Friday on 80 Rokach Boulevard, Tel Aviv, at the gardens of the Council for a Beautiful Israel.
Welcome anyone interested in understanding life more deeply, regardless of age or prior knowledge. The love of wisdom is enough.
Please join our WhatsApp group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/JeAa2uRNTlF0rdrVTLzUC0?mode=wwt
Note: there's always enough sitting room, but some of it is on the grass or a mat on the floor. If you want to guarantee yourself a chair, please bring one with you.
Sapere Aude! (Kant's Motto: Dare to Think!)
Community & Code: Navigating the Open Source Revoulution
Join the Maakaf open-source community for an exciting evening of deep dives into open-source contributions, distributed storage, and career growth, hosted at the Red Hat offices!
**📍 Location:**
Red Hat Offices
8 HaPnina Street, Ra'anana, IL
***Free parking starts at 18:00.***
**🗓️ Date & Time:**
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
18:00 - 20:45 (Israel Time)
\-\-\-
**📝 Agenda**
18:00 - 18:30 - **Gathering & Networking** \| Grab a snack\, meet your fellow community members\, and mingle\! \|
18:30 - 19:00 - Talk 1: **The Death of Traditional Maintainers? AI Is Rewriting Open Source** \| Speaker: **Yuval Kashtan**, Ecosystem Engineering.
\- AI doesn’t sleep\, but it does open pull requests—lots of them\. This talk breaks down how maintainers can keep their projects sane in a world where bots may be your most active contributors\. Expect practical advice\, real examples\, and a few laughs about the chaos AI brings to open source\.
19:10 - 19:40 - Talk 2: **Ceph and Google Summer of Code \(GSoC\): Open Source Contribution Opportunities \|** Speaker: **Yuval Lifshitz,** Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM.
\- Are you looking for the perfect way to integrate significant open\-source projects with career development?
This talk will focus on the leading open-source distributed storage system, **Ceph**, a Red Hat's project! As a developer involved with Ceph, I will share the advantages and disadvantages of contributing to this complex project, whether independently or as part of the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program.
GSoC allows students and developers to participate in meaningful open-source projects, receive mentorship from experienced developers, and even get paid for their work!
19:50 - 20:20 - Talk 3: **Technical Career Insights** \| Speaker: **Omer, Recruiter at Red Hat**.
\- Omer\, a recruiter from Red Hat\, will share valuable insights and tips on navigating the tech career landscape\, specializing in what open\-source companies look for in candidates\.
20:20 \- 20:45 \-Mingling & Wrap\-Up \| A final chance to chat with the speakers and community before heading home\. \|
Critical Thinking Events Near You
Connect with your local Critical Thinking community
ASH UU Topic: TBD
ASH is Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists of First Unitarian Universalists of Columbus Ohio
TBD
Snacks are usually available, and you are welcome to bringing something to share!
Leave the Past Behind, Burning Bowl Ceremony at Unity of Columbus
As we prepare to enter a new year, the Burning Bowl Ceremony offers a powerful and heartfelt opportunity to let go of what no longer serves us and make space for new beginnings.
You are warmly invited to join us for this sacred and reflective ritual. The Burning Bowl Ceremony is a beloved Unity tradition—an empowering moment where we release old patterns, worries, or limiting beliefs by writing them down and symbolically releasing them into the flame. This act of letting go opens the door to clarity, peace, and transformation.
Shut Up & Write!® Easton Town Center
We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator.
Join us on Sunday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking!
• What we'll do
Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at noon on Sundays.
Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done.
SCHEDULE:
12:00 - quick intros.
12:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour.
1:10 - chat / take off / keep writing.
OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 1-1:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing.
BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer.
Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you!
• What to bring
Whatever you need to be able to write!
Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible.
See you at The Café on Sunday!
COUNT Discussion Meeting: Topic: Current Events
We may pick a specific topic and post in advance or may discuss current events and various ad hoc topics . We would love to spend time hanging out and getting to know one another.
Atheist, agnostics, other non-theists, and atheist-friendly people are welcome to join us.
Note: COUNT operates a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions (http://www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions/) to promote discussions among members and visitors.
Soul of an Octopus
We will be having an open discussion of the book "the Soul of an Octopus" by Sy Montgomery.
[this is the amazon link for this book](https://a.co/d/1bRn8h4)






















