Letter: What Jews perceive through a glass darkly

Sir: In his open letter to the Chief Rabbi, Matthew Hoffman takes issue with Dr Sacks' concerns about rising rates of assimilation and intermarriage in the Jewish community. Mr Hoffman argues that intermarriage should be seen as a 'welcome development', and that through it we can achieve a new world of 'polyglot, polycultural humanity'.

While I whole-heartedly applaud Mr Hoffman's desire for a multicultural society, I do believe that he does those cultures a disservice by arguing that multiculturalism can only be achieved through intermarriage.

His suggestion that mixed marriages will lessen our propensity towards racism and conflict may appear reasonable, but this is not true multiculturalism. The way forward must be through recognising and celebrating our differences, rather than undermining the communities that make up our society.

Miscegenation can only lead to a dilution of those very cultural heritages which we would seek to preserve, leaving in their place a dull, grey, uniform culture, devoid of diversity, and flying in the face of multiculturalism.

Yours faithfully,

GIDEON SMITH

London, NW6

28 June