At 8 p.m. on a Thursday, 14-year-old Ben Krebs awaits the phone call in his home in Avon, Indiana, as he has nearly every week for the past two and a half years. Nearly 750 miles away, 46-year-old Ira Berkowitz finds a quiet spot away from his five kids and places the call. As the phone rings, Ben grabs his humash; his Torah lesson is about to begin.

As the only Jewish kid in town besides his sister, Ben longed to connect with his religion. He had never been to synagogue, and couldn't tell an alef from a bet, but Ben knew he was Jewish and wanted to discover Judaism. At a family trip to Disney World when he was 10, a realization struck him as he watched the fireworks dazzle in the skies over Epcot. "I want to become a bar mitzvah," he told his mother over the thunderous fireworks.

With the closest synagogue 45 minutes away, Ben struggled to learn about Judaism until his mother found a unique study program, Partners in Torah. The program links students of all ages with mentors who guide them through Torah study over the phone. The program paired Ben with Ira, a learned Jew from Passaic, New Jersey.

"Learning over the phone is almost like having someone sitting next to you; only he's not actually next to you," says Ben. He started his studies by learning how to read Hebrew. From there, Ira helped him learn a haftorah. During each call, they also studied Torah and discussed how it relates to today's world.

Ben considered ending his studies with his bar mitzvah in October 2005, which took place in a park. But something Ira said resonated in his head: "There's always more to learn." After a short break, Ben was back waiting by the phone on Thursday evenings, ready to study Torah.

When Ben heard that Ira was making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) this August, he decided to fly to New Jersey to meet the man behind the voice. Meeting his mentor was "very cool," says Ben, and the trip opened a whole world for him. For the first time, he visited Jewish communities, prayed at synagogue, and saw a Torah, whose words he had lovingly studied for the past few years. "I feel important that I'm carrying on the tradition," says Ben.