Source: The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1805541,00.html
On October 1, 2005 The Times ran an opinion piece by Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (of the UK), in which he commented on what lessons British Jews' history could offer to new immigrants. Sacks writes, "There is a message of hope here for other ethnic and religious minorities. Integration and acceptance don’t happen overnight. And yes, there were conflicts between immigrant parents and their British-born and educated children. There was a long struggle to define an identity both British and Jewish. But these are pains of adjustment, not permanent conditions. The Jewish experience challenges the received wisdom about minorities. Jews did not seek multiculturalism. They sought to integrate, adapt and belong. Jewish schools focused on turning Jews into British citizens, at home in the nation’s language, culture and history... Our postmodern culture — moral relativism, multiculturalism, the right to self-esteem — entered into with the highest motives, has by the law of unintended consequences made it almost impossible for minorities to integrate... Today religious groups are in danger of becoming pressure groups instead of thinking what is in the best interests of Britain as a whole. That is not good for some of us: it is bad for all of us."