In fact, one sees many people with a similar dilemma. For some, the answer may be: in principle I know where I want to be, but practically, I find it very difficult. Thus, some people may be officially observant, but for them, being observant is an unimportant, external shell that they shed the instant the opportunity comes. For some people, that opportunity never comes; others may move to another place — and find out that their observance was no more than disposable habits. For others, it goes the other way around, but they too may find that changing one's culture is not like pushing a button: any change in life is a very complex process which may take a very long time.

It is a matter of choice, then, which for some people is a choice of a culture, and for others also a choice of nation. One very moving example is the story of the journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered in Pakistan. This man was surely not counted among the rabbis, nor was he a shining example of Jewish life. Yet before his murder he made a most startling last statement. He said: "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish." He certainly made a clear decision where he belonged.

Q: How do you see the future, in terms of where both Western culture and Jewish culture are heading? Is a renewed blending of Jewish ideas possible — or is the future more bleak?

RAS: I have hope, or I would not be standing here. There are all kinds of possible blends: certain blends yield mules or mongrels that are not fit to live, while others display the phenomenon known as "the hybrid power" — hybrids that are far better than their ancestors, be they human beings, animals or plants. Will there be another meeting of those two cultures? Perhaps. However, I always prefer to be an historian than a prophet; it's safer.