Yedidya Schwartz’s column (“Sabotaging the secular state,” Nov. 16) about the Jewish boy denied admission to the Jews’ Free School in London aroused my interest for several reasons.
I am Jewish and my children are Jewish, but their mother was converted to Judaism by a Reform rabbi (and, as such, the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate would not recognize them as Jewish). My second wife is a London native who went to convent schools in London. As my wife has noted, the religious participants in this proceeding are victims of their own indoctrination, as are most believers in the exclusivity, if not primacy, of their own religion.
In my opinion, the issue should turn on whether the school receives any state support and what other options the boy has for a free, but liberal-Jewish education. I hope Schwartz provides a follow-up on the decision and its consequences.
Michael Gold
North Benton, Ohio
Nov. 16
The writer is a 1960 graduate of Saybrook College and a 1962 graduate of the School of Engineering.