SLOTS/VIDEO

POKER

been a success. Ms. Men has no-
ticed an improvement in reading
skills among the children who
participate.
"Anything that is inexpensive
and beneficial we knew the par-
ents would want," she said.
And Mr. Davis has enjoyed
seeing his child's knowledge of
Hebrew grow. Every week for the
past few months, Sarah has
worked with Chani Keselman, a
15-year-old Bais Chaya Mushka
student.
"Sarah has been doing very,
very well," Mr. Davis said. "She
has a great time here and she
learns."

❑

Conservatives
Are Dialing Up

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

I

n an attempt to reach out to
intermarried or interdating
couples, the Conservative
movement has decided to go
the route of personal-injury
lawyers and sellers of Ginsu
knives by using a 1-800 number.
The movement, through its
national Rabbinical Assembly,
recently established 1-800-ASK-
N-LEA(RN), a toll-free number
aimed at providing details on
"how you can convert to Judaism
according to Jewish law."
So far, the reaction has been
good.
"We have been overwhelmed
with calls," said Ben Asher, co-
ordinator of the 1-800 line.
Over 70 calls were totalled in
two days last week with 60 per-
cent of the callers expressing an
interest in converting. Telephone
answering machines were pick-
ing up calls until last Thursday
when the machine announced
that it was full and could take no
more messages.
"Many of (the callers) have said
they have been interested in con-
verting for a long time but didn't
know where to go with their ques-
tions," Mr. Asher said. "There is
a pent-up demand out there for
people who want to learn about
Judaism
and haven't been able
to. ,,

The phone Ede, funded by a
grant through an outreach effort
at Jewish Theological Seminary,
is staffed by volunteers who an-
swer questions about conversion
and send informational pam-
phlets to callers. In addition, the
caller may also be directed to con-
version programs in his area.
"We want to have perspective
converts understand that they
are welcome in our movement,"
said Rabbi Alan Silverstein, the
Rabbinical Assembly president.
"We consider a sincere conversion
to be a blessing."
While on some levels the toll-
free line appears to be a prose-
lytizing effort on the part of the

CONSERVATIVES page 23

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