I returned to my apartment in Jerusalem to find two technicians, who had come to install a telephone, enjoying a coffee break. My wife introduced me to the men, who were partaking of their refreshments bare-headed. “You’re religious,” said one of them, “so I suppose you resent our eating without kippot.’’ “I am religious,” I replied, “therefore I have two main worries, in this order: first, that my fellow-man have enough to eat, and second, that he do so properly — kosher, with blessing, and head covered.” He was clearly taken aback. Soon he smiled, opened his briefcase, and produced a mini-kippah which he donned, explaining, “In that case, I’m glad to wear one ...”This illustrates, to an extent, an insight I gained into Israel’s religious situation— its promises and its perplexities. There are many “non-observant" who are ready to return, to Torah. But they will not be coerced. They will not be pushed. They want to be invited, gently, to cross over to Torah.GESHER (“bridge”) is attempting to do just that. Its work is geared to intro- ducing Judaism, as it is, without missionizing or overselling, to the non-dati. Its begin- nings have been small — but its opportunities are great, if we in America will help along.Following are two excerpts from, non-observant participants in seminars con- ducted by Gesher. The first appeared in a Mapai journal by an adult resident of Kfar Blum.“. . . But most important was the contact which we had with sensitive religious ‘youth. Young and enthusiastic, keepers of all mitzvot both large and small — yet not fanatic or strange, but people searching for a way toward mutual understanding and tolerance — this is what distinguishes them. In our day when it sometimes seems that there is nothing in common between us and religious Jewry, and the abyss which separates us is only widening — it is refreshing to see that there are indeed others. Within religious Jewry there are groups whose members recognize a gen…