I learnt pity, sympathy, and what it was like to be at the other end of the stick. Such lessons can't be learnt in lecture halls.

I have ended as a Reform Rabbi, grateful to Christianity for so many good things.

Praying privately in churches, I began to discover that heaven was my true home and also that it was here and now, woven into this life.

I recovered my infant Judaism, but in a reformist version.

It's more fun to watch without joining in.

During the Second World War, evacuated to non-Jewish households, I encountered Christianity at home and in school.

For some years I deserted religion in favour of Marxism. The republic of goodness seemed more attainable than the Kingdom of God.