1999 began strong with the release of Gary’s controversial book, Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community, which challenged the Jewish community to get beyond its focus on preventing intermarriage and to embrace a pro-conversion stance. He acknowledged that “Diane Kaufmann Tobin’s emotional intelligence and probing intellect helped guide my thinking on this book. Her love of Judaism, her choice to reclaim the identity her family abandoned, her journey to become a Jew—these things inspire me. Her story affirms that Jewish life is filled with joyous, purposeful, passionate possibilities.”