2 APRIL 2005, Page 21

On being Jewish

From Miriam M. Reik

Sir: I immediately recognise the experience and background of Miriam Gross because it is almost exactly the same as mine (‘What it means to be Jewish’, 26 March). What I do not recognise is the purported ‘resurgence’ of anti-Semitism. On the contrary, in America at least, any remaining barriers for Jews rapidly faded away and they are flourishing: in the universities, among the professional classes, and certainly with regard to income. We should give thanks for living in a tolerant society and see the occasional graffiti on a synagogue wall or in a Jewish cemetery as the acts of disturbed individuals.

Miriam M. Reik New York