300 families respond to conversion initiative

By MATTHEW WAGNER
The Absorption and Immigration Ministry said Monday that about 300 religious families responded to a call to host prospective converts for the Pesach Seder. The families were often willing to provide food and place to sleep for more than one guest, according to the ministry. The families were responding to a call by the ministry to aid new immigrants in the conversion process. There are approximately 300,000 immigrants from the Former Soviet Union who were eligible for automatic citizenship under the Law of Return but who are not considered Jewish. The Absorption and Immigration Ministry have a special department in charge of conversion to Judaism. Religious Israeli families are encouraged to host prospective converts in an attempt to give them a first-hand impression of what it is like to celebrate holidays in an Orthodox way.