Dear Rabbi Lamm, Enclosed please find the latest "Dear All" letter from Daniel. It speaks for itself in terms of the success and enthusiasm of the latest Gesher projects. Hoping that this finds you well and having enjoyed a pleasant Yom Tov. Sincerely, Ahava Gross, Gesher Foundation. Dear all, You have not received a letter from me in about three weeks only because of the unusual work load which we have been carrying. However, it has all been worth it because we’ve just scored a grand success on top of the summer success. B'li Ayin Hara things are proceeding so very very well for us in the last few months. Before getting to the Sukkot seminars I must tell you about the Yom Iyun which we had in Tichon Boyar in Jerusalem on Friday, Erev Shabbat Shuva. The Yom Iyun was for the entire school -600 students- in 2 shifts. First the Freshmen and Sophomores heard a lecture by Rabbi Chaim Brovender. They then broke up into 20 kvutzot diyun led by 20 volunteer madrichim from Mercaz, Yeshivat Hakotel and Heb. U. Halfway thru the workshops the Junior and Senior classes listened to a talk by Chanan and then as the first group ended workshops the second group began led by the same team of madrichim. Each group then came together for a summation and amazingly enough one girl got up and said just about word for word the quote which appears in the last Jcr Latter in the name of the girl from Kfar Saba. Over three quarters of the madrichim succeeded and the administration seemed quite satisfied, we will probably receive a thank you letter from them shortly. One of the lessons learned from this experience is not to conduct a Yom Iyun for so many kids--the workshops end up too large and the 2 shift system leaves too little time for successful workshops. In about 3 weeks we’ll be having another one for the junior or senior class in the Gymnasia in Rechavia--we hope to cover a substantial portion of all lo-dati tichonim here in Jer in the course of the year. Now to the Sukkot seminars, T…

Dear Rabbi Lamm: Enclosed please find a transcript of a recent radio broadcast on the Israeli Army radio station. The participants in the interview were Dr. Daniel Tropper, our Israeli director; Yaacov Boyer, a Gesher field director; as well as several young people who took part in Gesher Seminars. We hope that you will find this both interesting and enjoyable. Very truly yours, Ahava Gross. Dr. Tropper: Gesher is an organization which was founded two years ago with the purpose of bridging the gap between the religious and the secular communities in the State. We are convinced that the bridge can be built only upon the foundations of Judaism. I speak here of Jewish values not so much as of Jewish observances. Judaism is the heritage of all of us and it represents the unifying factor for Israel.Announcer: A seminar was recently held at the field school in Gush Etzion in which the opportunity was given for religious and non-religious youngsters to come together. The organization sponsoring it is called GESHER. Concerning this organization we are hearing from Dr. Tropper, the head of the organization and from Yaakov Boyar, the program coordinator.Dr. Tropper: The main thrust of our work is among youth and we organize a variety of activities for them.Yaakov Boyar: Our operations are based upon two premises. Firstly, we base ourselves upon the desperate situation which exists in the country between religion and the people, between the Jews and Judaism, and between the religious and non-religious populations. Everyone agrees the situation is not good, each from his own point of view. One claims it is not good that we have religious coercion. One claims that it is not good that we have anti-religious coercion. We claim that it is not good that people speak about coercion at all. We want to bring about a bridging of the gap very simply- by understanding and dialogue. Let everyone do what he wishes to do but if we understand each other there will be fewer points of contenti…