Q&A: Religious Zionist / Haredi
Religious Zionist / Haredi
Question
I grew up in a Religious Zionist home (of Sephardi background, in the South)… In seventh grade I became more religiously committed and wanted to learn more Torah… I went for a year to a Talmud Torah and then another 6 years in a Haredi yeshiva… Over the last year and a half, topics in "Jewish thought" (forgive me for calling it that) have been occupying me a lot, and I listened to a huge amount of content by Rabbi Cherki… I very much believe in the path of Zionism… and in the path of Modern Orthodoxy… Right now I find myself at a dead end… I don't know what to do…. I want to start learning now in a Hardal yeshiva (like Mitzpe Yericho and the like)… My questions are:
- This feeling of not belonging… I have it strongly both in the Haredi public and in the Religious Zionist public. Is that a problem? And if so, can it be solved?
- Regarding shidduchim… I've already been dating for a year… Will I now need to wait a period of time to work my way into the Religious Zionist community (if I do that) so that girls from religious girls' high schools would want to hear such a suggestion?
- I have doubts about whether to take this step of moving from one sector to another. If I do, would you recommend changing my style of dress?
- Following up on the previous one: I understood that you claim that dressing like a Haredi is a desecration of God's name. Did you say that jokingly or seriously? And if seriously: why? And again, if seriously: why do you yourself sometimes dress like a Haredi?
- Where can one read your critiques of the Religious Zionist public (in which columns)?
Answer
In general, only you can answer these questions. You need to decide where you feel comfortable (also in terms of your outlook, not only socially) and what you are willing to live with.
1. That's a question for a psychologist. If you feel there is a problem, then there is a problem. If you're okay with it, then everything is okay. If you have dissonance, you can turn to a psychologist.
2. I don't know. Ask people who know what the girls think.
3. Dress is a matter of comfort. It has no value in itself. Choose what you're comfortable with (of course depending on the place and the community you choose).
4. I said it jokingly. Being Haredi is a desecration of God's name. Not the clothing.
5. I don't remember. I have critiques about various things, and some of them are about that community as well.