QUESTION: Is it true - that the there is no commandment to 'make aliyah' ('ascend through emigration') to the land of Israel? After all, the RMb"M does not list it as a commandment in his count of the 613 commandments.
ANSWER: Well, he does equate living outsie the land to idol worship in the Laws of Kings 5:12. As such, it has the Mosaic force of law:
טו [יב] לְעוֹלָם יָדוּר אָדָם בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, אַפִלּוּ בְּעִיר שֶׁרֻבָּהּ גּוֹיִים; וְאַל יָדוּר בְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, וְאַפִלּוּ בְּעִיר שֶׁרֻבָּהּ יִשְׂרָאֵל: שֶׁכָּל הַיּוֹצֶא לְחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ--כְּאִלּוּ עוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "כִּי-גֵרְשׁוּנִי הַיּוֹם מֵהִסְתַּפֵּחַ בְּנַחֲלַת ה' לֵאמֹר לֵךְ עֲבֹד אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים" (שמואל א כו,יט). וּבְפֻרְעָנוּת הוּא אוֹמֵר "וְאֶל-אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָבֹאוּ" (יחזקאל יג,ט). (from Machone-Mamre Site)
"For all time a person shall live in Eretz Yisrael even in a city that is mostly idol worshippers and do not live in the exiled land (diaspora) and even in a city that has mostly Jews. For all who who leave to chutz la'aretz are as if they are worshipping avoda zara as it is written..."
The reason why the RMb"M did not enumerate "making aliyah" as one of the 613 commandments of the Torah can be gleaned from thoroughly studying the principles that are listed at the beginning of the Mishneh Torah, where the RMb"M lists (explains) the criteria for mentioning or not mentioning commands in the 613 count. Based on principle number four, set down in Sefer HaMitzvoth: Commandments which encompass the entire Torah are not to counted.
Settling Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) is an extremely precious command. The fixing of holidays and the months (calendar), and all related commandments depend upon it. This is supported by the momentary (allowable) suspension of the Sabbath prohibition against commerce, in order allow Benai Yisrael to purchase houses in Israel (from Goyim) - Hilchoth Shabboth 6:11. There is also a law about not being permitted to build permanent structures outside of the land of Israel. The implications for today's Diaspora are apparent. There is an undeniable commandment to live in Israel.
Other legally related concepts include compelling one's wife to "make aliyah" (or be divorced without Ketubah). This also points to the undeniable existence of a foundational commandment to live in Israel. I would add that the RMb"M in (Hilchoth Ishuth 13:20), also grants a woman the right to force the man to move to Israel too!
As mentioned above, the establishment of a Jewish calendar is also an aspect of this foundation commandment. Adherence to most of the Torah is impossible without (at least) a Jewish court within the Land of Israel. Or at least a din in the Diaspora ordained in the land of Israel. Even without this, we still need Jews living in the land, or we are forbidden to count the months or establish leap years in the diaspora. Without a calendar, there is no Judaism. (see the laws of Qiddush haHodash 5:13, Mishneh Torah)
For out of Zion will go forth Torah. See Sefer haMiswoth - positive commandment 153. The RMb"M uses the words "G-D forbid" that there should be no Jews living in the land. Also, RMb"M himself writes that Moshe commanded us an Inheritance (Morashah) of the congregation of Yaaqov. He notes that this applies to all generations. The same is true of the land, for the Torah says: And I will give the land to you as an INHERITANCE (same word). Therefore it is clear that the RMb"M, who holds the word Morashah to imply perpetuity, agrees that the miswah (foundation) of dwelling in the land is forever, for Eras Yisrael is referred to as Morashah.
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Challenger: Nowhere inside the M"T (Mishnah Torah) is an obligation to "make individual Aliyáh" (immigration to Israel) mentioned!
Response: As shown above, this is totally false. This has to do with the 14 rules (stated by RMb"M used to enumerate the 613 commandments). According to rule number 4… commandments that encompass the entire Torah are not to be counted. It is very clear that our Holy Torah most certainly does require aliyah (and thus settling the land) - as a most treasured mitzwah. When taken together, the number of supportive and correlative statements in our Talmud makes any other type of conclusion implausible. The statements in our Talmud (which did come down as the final halakha - according to the last Sanhedrin (and court of r. Ashe and r. Ravina) are undeniable. In addition, the calendar issues mentioned in the short article above are also relevant. People dwelling outside the land are likened to Idol worshippers (ie: someone without a G-D) - even when living amongst a majority of Jews in the exile. Whereas those living in the land, even where there are mostly idol worshippers, are likened to someone who HAS a G-D. Another deals with the prohibition against permanent settlement outside the land. Taken together, they all add up to an undeniable command for aliyah. In the Mishneh Torah, this can be found in the Laws of Kings 5,11 until the end of the chapter. If a man wants to make `aliyah and his wife does not, he divorces her without paying the ketubbah, and he makes `aliyah; similarly, if a woman wants to make `aliyah and her husband does not, he must give her a get AND pay the ketubbah and she makes `aliyah. Laws of Marriage 13,25.
"One should not emigrate from the Land of Israel , except for the purposes of studying Torah or in order to get married... so, too, one may leave for the purposes of business. However, one may not leave on a permanent basis... [10] The Sages would kiss the ground of the Land of Israel , and kiss its rocks and roll on its earth... [11] Our Sages said that any person who lives in the Land of Israel will be forgiven for his sins... even if he walks four cubits there, he will merit life in the World to Come. So, too if a person is buried there, he is atoned for... [12] A person should always live in the Land of Israel , even in a town which is mainly inhabited by non-Jews, rather than live in the Diaspora in a town which is predominantly Jewish. If a person leaves [the Land of Israel] to go to the Diaspora, it is as if he worshiped idols, as the verse states, "For they have driven me this day from abiding with the inheritance of G‑d, saying, go serve other G‑ds" (Sam. I 26:19). Just as one may not emigrate from the Land to the Diaspora, so too one may not emigrate from Babylon in order to live in another country, as the verse states (Jer. 27:22), "They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will be" (Laws of Kings, 5:9-12).
Challenger: The Babyonian Sages were in no hurry to make Aliyah! So this proves it is not a command.
Response: So? If you see a "sage" who does a sin...this gives permission to imitate it?!?!?
That is a non-sequiter argument. Besides, the sages of the Talmud lived a long time ago, when the material conditions were much harder. Even the RMb"M came there and left, because of the dangerous conditions. Also, RMb"M lived in Egypt. The point is that RMb"M gave it a real shot. Will you also conclude from this that it is permitted to re-settle in Egypt? That is "no-no" from the Torah.
All of these statements taken together spell it out – not any one by itself. Again, there were 5-6 places in Gamara, all dealing with different accepted legal concepts. Taken together, all of these statements point to an undeniable requirement to MOVE to Israel.
Challenger: The Gemaráh proves the opposite. Aliyah is actually against the Torah itself!:
R. Zera was evading Rab Judah because he desired to go up to the Land of Israel while Rab Judah had expressed [the following view:] Whoever goes up from Babylon to the Land of Israel transgresses a positive commandment, for it is said in Scripture: They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I remember them, saith the Lord.1 [. . .]
That text is required for [an exposition] like that of R. Jose son of R. Hanina who said: ‘What was the purpose of those three adjurations?10 — One, that Israel shall not go up [all together as if surrounded] by a wall;8
Response: Actually, this text DOES NOT say what you want it to say at all. Note the brackets. Also - other gerasot (versions) have different words there. Be careful of this type of flawed thinking. This is the kind of thinking used by heretics like Netorey Karta and the like. The Talmud is full of minority opinions (even from r. Yehudah ha Nasi ZT"L himself), but we do not go by them. So far, you have still not shown me any proof or basis for remaining in the exile/ Galuth; whereas I have shown the opposite is true to you. You can continue to search vainly for minority opinions in Gamara, or lame excuses like "that Israel shall not go up by a wall". These same Netorey Karta types kiss the hands of our enemies and encourage them to murder Jews. Their so-called "Torah illogic" is patently flawed.
CONCLUSION: The final conclusion - reached by the Sanhedrin (and court of r. Ashe and r. Ravina) - requires one to move to Israel. This is a religious Rabbinic injunction, that has nothing to do with politics. Otherwise, the RMb"M would have surely spelled that out in the MT. Also, there *may be* a valid teshuva of the RMb"M - where he calls himself a sinner for not staying there.
However, this site does not rely upon Teshuvoth (even of RMb"M), which are generally unreliable, questionable testimonies, in terms of their ability to clarify the Mishneh Torah. On the contrary, RMb"M himself already considered them in his final redaction of the Mishneh Torah. Thus, they are disqualified (for legal purposes) according to his own words. Although they may have applied to very specific situations in the Diaspora, they must not be used to trump the Mishneh Torah:
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/p0000.htm#40"42 This is so that all the rules should be accessible to the small and to the great in the rules of each and every commandment and the rules of the legislations of the Torah scholars and prophets: in short, so that a person should need no other work in the World in the rules of any of the laws of Israel; but that this work might collect the entire Oral Law, including the positive legislations, the customs, and the negative legislations enacted from the time of Moshe Our Teacher until the writing of the Talmud, as the Geonim interpreted it for us in all of the works of commentary they wrote after the Talmud. Thus, I have called this work the [Complete] Restatement of the [Oral] Law (Mishneh Torah), for a person reads the Written Torah first and then reads this work, and knows from it the entire Oral Law, without needing to read any other book between them."
Here is some more irony:
http://books.google.com/books?id=mIbs4WrkJvwC&pg=RA2-PA432&lpg=RA2-PA432&dq=ezra+cursed+the+Yemenites&source=web&ots=zuYa7Xckf4&sig=3AYoD_En61hSafoJq6OiutIA5C4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#v=onepage&q=ezra%20cursed%20the%20Yemenites&f=falseIf you believe this story… on what grounds did Ezra have the right to curse an entire community of Jews for not coming to Yemen - even when their predictions turned out to be true?
http://www.chayas.com/sheela.htm#ethrog
Topic: Aliyah: Mentioned by RMb"M or not? (Read 2780 times)