Q&A: The Third Identity
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
The Third Identity
Question
Hi Rabbi,
It was enjoyable to read your writing about the third identity, and I agree with it as well. Still, from the reading it isn’t clear to me what proposal you are trying to put forward—doesn’t Tzohar constitute a group of rabbis who advocate modern religiosity? Doesn’t Yeshivat Har Etzion constitute an institution with exactly that written on its banner?
Answer
I mentioned in the booklet the fact that there are such rabbis. But they do not relate to themselves and their outlook as an alternative identity. This is because of a desire for peace, feelings of inferiority toward the conservatives, and conceptual misunderstanding (they are captive to the conception that the essential dividing line is Zionism).