Recently, a friend dragged me along to an exhibition at The British Library in central London that he had been talking about for weeks. When I arrived I was skeptical, but what I found changed my viewpoint and opened my eyes to a new problem facing the British Jewish community—ignorance about other people, our neighbors and our fellow Londoners.

The exhibition displayed texts hundreds of years old from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions. It clearly and simply explained the similarities and differences in birth, marriage and death ceremonies among the three Abrahamic faiths. The most stunning exhibits were, for me at least, the beautifully designed Qurans, Torahs and Bibles on display together for the first time. The ornate designs by scribes throughout history showed a great care and dedication to the words they were writing. The Chinese Torah, which was dated to 1643, looks identical to the Torah text my synagogue uses today!

What surprised me most were the similarities in the designs. The Spanish Torahs bear a resemblance in design to the Arabic Qurans created at the same time. This fluidity of style according to the traditions of the areas set me thinking about Britain's Jewish community today. Are we being influenced by Arabic design now, or are we influencing Christian language and prayer? The answer for me is a resounding “no.” Here's why:

Many Jewish children brought up in London live in a wholly Jewish world until the age of 18. Many attend Jewish kindergartens, Jewish primary schools and then a Jewish secondary school. For sports, they might join a Jewish football team or a Jewish ballet class, and when they are teenagers many join a Jewish youth group. There is no inherent problem with so much “Jewishness,” but I'm worried that it gives many young people a warped sense of multicultural London, a city home to 12 million people who speak over 300 languages.

The Jewish community is not completely isolated in a walled ghetto where there's never a chance to see a non-Jew. In fact, where many Jews live there are multiple other ethnic groups living in their own enclaves. We sit on the bus next to these people, we go to the same shopping malls, we support the same football teams, but there is no interaction. We see each other, but we don't meet each other.

I would suggest that now, in the 21st century, in this globalized world, we don't ignore our neighbors any longer.

There is a tolerance of other people in the Jewish community. The majority of the Orthodox British Jewish community live in northwest London, which is also home to large Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities. But this isn't enough. Young Jewish children need positive interactions with people from other communities to experience and remember. They need shared sports lessons or visits to each other's places of worship. They need to be more integrated with the wider multicultural community.

It would be unfair of me to paint a picture of doom and gloom, as there are some positive initiatives that are coming through. The organization Aliph-Aleph has started great work in the Jewish and Muslim communities, arranging interfaith activities and discussion groups. King David School in Birmingham also provides an amazing example of what a primary school should be. It's a Jewish school with Jewish-studies lessons, kosher food and an early finish on Fridays. The only difference is that the majority of the 250 or so pupils are Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or Christian. The area no longer has enough Jewish pupils to fill its places, so non-Jews from around the area go there as well.

As the scholars of hundreds of years ago influenced one another, I think it's about time we encouraged more positive dialogue between Jews and people of other faiths. For hundreds of years, we influenced one another's design of holy books, and now it's time we drop the divide again and begin to learn from one another in other ways.

Do you think the same thing is happening in the United States? If you have an opinion you'd like to share, sound off on our discussion board anytime.