Letter: Rabbi wronged

IT SADDENS me to read that the Chief Rabbi is "...rocked by fraud scandal" (2 August), but his denigration of the late Rabbi Hugo Gryn angers me. To have written that Hugo was "one of those who destroy the faith" shows a total misunderstanding of a man of great personal integrity whose overriding concern was to strengthen the faith of all who knew him.

As secretary of the London Rainbow Group, of which Hugo was joint chairman, I saw him time and again defending Jewish faith while at the same time supporting and strengthening those of other faiths. Never did he waver in the affirmation of his beliefs but, as the devout Jew will, asked soul- searching questions to which he sought answers.

With Hugo, I shared in the first ever Jewish/Christian Songs of Praise and, together, we pronounced the blessing, he in Hebrew and I in English, on a joint congregation of Jews and Christians. Perhaps Dr Sacks saw Hugo's outreaching quest for inter-faith dialogue and for a harmonious blending of different beliefs as a challenge to Judaism. I see it as a realistic and positive approach to the situation as it is, in which neither Judaism nor Christianity can claim to be at harmony within itself.

Rev E Philip Schofield

Chester