Reply To: Herzog’s column

Gadol – you’re missing my point. I’m discussing the definition of a Jew. The need for hishtadlus and how to provide for the community is a different discussion, of which views can differ.

I’m asking what makes a Jew. The Torah answer is that the Torah makes us Jewish, and nothing else. The secular zionist answer is that land, ancestry, languags, culture and a history make us Jewish. Religious zionists mostly believe it is a combination of the two.

That’s why rav elchonon calls it idolatry mixed with religion.

On this a torah jew cannot accept “other viewpoints” when they are sl decidedly foreign and contrived.