The war in Gaza and recent rise in antisemitism globally has stirred much discussion and debate regarding aliyah. Over 6,500 people have immigrated to Israel since October 7, and there has been a significant increase in applications for aliyah from Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and France. The Minister of Aliyah and Absorption, Ofir Sofer, expects the numbers to continue to rise dramatically and announced just last week the launch of a 170-million-shekel project to encourage and support immigration to Israel.
But is there a mitzvah to settle in the land of Israel? And does that mitzvah apply today? Over the next several weeks we will explore this important topic together in these pages.
The mitzvah of settling in the land of Israel finds expression in several areas of halacha, among them: divorce, avadim, Shabbat, kibbud av v’em, and mezuzah.
Divorce
The Mishna (Ketubot 13:11) teaches that one may compel his or her spouse to ascend to the land of Israel, but no one may compel a spouse to leave the land. The Talmud explains that refusal to comply is grounds for divorce and, in such a case, the compensation stipulated in the ketubah is forfeited by the offending party (Ketubot 110b). This is also extended to moving to a lesser-quality domicile in the land of Israel. In this case, the halacha sides with the party who wants to move to Israel, or remain there, because of the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, settling the land of Israel.
Avadim
This concept applies to avadim (non-Jewish servants) as well (see Ketubot 110b). A servant too can compel his master to move to Israel, since he “is obligated to keep all of the mitzvot that women must keep, and they too are commanded to dwell in the land” (Ra’avad as quoted by the Ran on the Rif, Ketubot 65b, s.v. la’atuyei avadim). Alternatively, should the master want to leave Israel, the servant is not required to leave with him. The servant is freed rather than being sold into servitude outside of the land. And should he flee from the Diaspora to the land of Israel, the servant is not returned to his master. The Rambam adds that these laws are in effect at all times, even when the land of Israel is not under Jewish sovereignty (Hilchot Avadim 8:9).
Shabbat
According to Rabbinic Law, a Jew may not ask for, nor directly benefit from, work done by a non-Jew on Shabbat. The Talmud teaches, however, that one may ask a non-Jew to write a contract on his behalf in order to purchase land in Israel (Gittin 8b. Cf. Bava Kamma 80b). Tosafot emphasizes that this leniency is limited to the mitzvah of settling the land, due to the great significance of this mitzvah (Gittin 8b, s.v. af al gav; Bava Kamma 80b, s.v. omer l’nochri). The Talmud Yerushalmi even compares the acquisition of land in Israel to the conquest of Jericho, which took place on Shabbat (Mo’ed Katan 2:4).
While generally travel is prohibited on erev Shabbat, the Shulchan Aruch rules that if one is ascending to the land of Israel and his caravan is leaving on Friday, he may leave with them because of the mitzvah of dwelling in the land of Israel (Orach Chaim 248:4). While this leniency would apply to other mitzvot as well, the Magen Avraham (ad Loc.) extends this even to one who ascends “with intent to return, as walking even four cubits in the land of Israel is a mitzvah.”
Kibbud Av V’Em
The mitzvah of honoring one’s parents is central in our tradition, as it is one of the Ten Commandments. Yet a child must not listen to a parent if he or she asks the child to violate the Torah (Yevamot 6a; Bava Metzia 32a). This applies to Rabbinic mitzvot as well (see Rambam, Hilchot Mamrim 6:12). But may one make aliyah against his/her parents wishes? The Maharam Mi’Rothenburg ruled that the mitzvah of ascending to the land of Israel takes precedence: “You have asked whether a father may prevent his son from ascending to the land of Israel. Since we maintain that it is a mitzvah to ascend, and it is written, ‘I am the L-rd,’ [this teaches] one may not listen [to a parent, if commanded to violate] any mitzvah, for Hashem’s honor takes precedence” (Teshuvot Maharam Bar Baruch, Berlin edition, no. 79).
Similar rulings are found in the teshuvot of Rav Moshe di Trani and Rav Ovadiah Yosef. While Rav Shimon ben Tzemach Duran writes that one may indeed leave the Land of Israel for kibbud av v’em, some explain this exemption is only temporary, and on condition that he return.
Mezuzah
While one who rents a home in the Diaspora has thirty days to affix a mezuzah, in Israel the mezuzah must be affixed immediately “because of [the mitzvah of] settling the land of Israel” (Menachot 44a). Some conclude that this too serves as proof that the mitzvah of settling in the land of Israel applies at all times (See Rav Ovadiah Yosef, “Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael B’zman Ha-Zeh,” Torah She-Ba’al Peh 11, 5729, p. 38).
Next week we will explore the view of the Rambam, Ramban and Tosafot.
