| I. The Sources
A. Numbers XXXIII: And you shall conquer the land
and sit (dwell, live) in it.
Rashi: if you conquer it you will be able to live in it,
if not…
Ramban: This is a positive Mitzva
Rambam: Not listed among the 613 Mitzvot.
B. Talmud Ketubot 110b: A person should always live in
Israel even in a city of mostly gentiles and let him not dwell in diaspora
even in a city which is mostly Jews, for one who lives in Israel is like
one who has a G-d as it says, "to give you the land of Canaan to be
to you a G-d." And one who does not dwell in Israel is like one who
worships idols as it says, "ki gershuni hayom mehistapeach benachalat
Hashem lemor lech avod elokim acherim. For they (those who seek my harm
(including Saul)) have chased me out today from being in the inheritance
of G-d as if to say, go worship other G-ds." (I Samuel 26) (Codified
by Maimonides)
C. Midrash Sifrei: A story is told of some rabbis who
were going out of Israel. When they arrived at one place they remembered
Israel and their eyes swelled up with tears, and they tore their clothes,
and they read this verse: You shall conquer it and dwell in it, and you
should do (the mitzvot).. and they said: the land of Israel is equal to
all the mitzvot.
D. Ketubot ibid: R. Zera wanted to go to Israel. He
tried to avoid R. Judah who used to say, anyone who goes from Bablyonia to
Israel violates a commandment, as it says in Jeremiah, To Bablyonia they
will go and there will they be until I redeemed them from there.
E. Ibid: There are three oaths in the song of songs, 1)
that we will not go up forcefully, 2) that we will not rebel, and that 3)
the nations will not over work us.
F. He says he wishes to go up and she does not wish to,
he has the upper hand, and visa versa. Talmud Mishnah Ketubot, codified by
Maimonides. R. Hayim Hacohen: nowadays the roads are not good and it is
hard to keep the mitzvot there, so it doesn’t pertain.
II. The Positions
A. R. Isaac Leon, Megilat Esther: It is not fitting to
count mitzvot which are not applicable for all ages. The rabbis tore their
garments because they could no longer fulfill the mitzva nowadays.
B. GRA: the oaths only pertain to the building of the
Mikdash.
C. Nodah Biyhuda: we don’t follow an aggadah
D. Avnei Nezer: We do not follow the oaths as law. |
