During Shavuot, the story of Ruth is read in synagogues, recalling the life of the Moabite woman who converted to Judaism in biblical times. The festival is a time to pay tribute to all those who, down through the ages, have chosen to become a part of the Jewish people.

In the past decade many of the new immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who are eligible for immigration to Israel under the Law of Return, but are not fully Jewish in the halachic sense, have chosen to convert to Judaism. One such candidate for conversion is Svetlana Levy, who for the past year has been learning at The Jewish Agency's Institute of Jewish Studies in Ramat Gan.

"My father's father, Avraham Levy, was Jewish and that qualified me for immigration under the Law of Return," she says. "I actually do not remember him because he died when I was two. But I do remember his mother, my great grandmother Olga, who lived until her late 90s. She told me stories about Jewish life and developed my Jewish identity."

"It was my grandmother Tamar Levy," she recalls, "who told me that I had the right to immigrate to Israel and suggested that I go along to Jewish Agency activities in Crimea. I joined the local youth club and felt very connected to Israel and Judaism so I decided to make aliyah."

Svetlana, now 23, immigrated to Israel in 1997 from Kerch in Crimea in the Ukraine, as a participant in The Jewish Agency's Selah academic preparatory program for high school graduates who come to Israel on their own. At the end of the program, she was accepted to Tel Aviv University, and will graduate this summer with a B.Sc. in Political Science. Svetlana is also the Coordinator of Ulpanim for The Jewish Agency's Jerusalem and Central Region.

Svetlana's parents, Alexander and Nadia, together with her younger brother Nikolai, 15, followed her to Israel in 1998. Today they live in Karmiel in the north.

"The idea of converting so that I would be halachically Jewish starting taking root soon after I reached Israel," she recollects. "I was drawn to religion and also I wanted to be fully Israeli. I want the children I have when I build a family to be halachically Jewish."

When Svetlana first started the conversion process last summer she found it difficult going. It meant an enormous change of lifestyle.

"My mother has been very supportive, making her kitchen kosher and lighting Shabbat candles with me. But," she adds, "my friends do not fully understand my decision, and wonder why I no longer go out to pubs and clubs with them on Friday night."

In the summer, Svetlana will complete her ulpan and expects to pass her exams for conversion. "After I convert I want to change my name to something Hebrew," she says. "Svetlana is Russian for light. I may change it to Ora, Orly or Orit -- names related to light in Hebrew."

Svetlana has an "adopted" Orthodox family with whom she spends time on Shabbat and holidays. With their help, she says, she has come to feel very comfortable with Judaism. "I enjoy the peace and quiet of Shabbat and the rituals of the festivals. Judaism has also given me an inner calm," she says.