Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Settling in Eretz Yisroel Nowadays

The Mishna (Kesuvos 110b) had stated: A man may force all of his family members to go up to Eretz Yisroel, but he may not force them to leave Eretz Yisroel. A man may force all of his family members to go up to Yerushalayim, but he may not force them to leave Yerushalayim. This applies to both men and women (a wife can force the husband).

The Gemora explains that these halachos are based upon the mitzvah of furthering the settlement of Eretz Yisroel.

The Ramban says that this mitzvah is a Biblical commandment. The Rambam omits this mitzvah is his Sefer Hamitzvos. There are those that explain that the Rambam holds that it’s only a Rabbinical mitzvah. Other say that the Rambam holds it is not a mitzvah at all; the only reason why a man can force his family members to move to Eretz Yisroel is because this way, they will be able to fulfill the mitzvos which are dependent upon the Land of Israel.

The Ritva writes that the applications of the Mishna apply to nowadays also. Proof to this is from the fact that Rebbe incorporated these halachos into the Mishna even though he was living in the times after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh.

Tosfos cites Rabbeinu Chaim Kohen that there is no mitzvah nowadays because there are many mitzvos there which entail many punishments, and it will be impossible for one to be careful regarding all of them. This can be simply understood to mean that although there might be a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisroel, it is simply not worth it, for one will lose out by transgressing many aveiros there. Reb Avi Lebowitz (and afterwards I found this logic in the Beis Halevi) explains a little differently: Rabbeinu Chaim is actually describing the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel to be for the purpose of fulfilling the mitzvos that apply there. If one were to live in Eretz Yisroel without properly performing the mitzvos, they are not only losing out on these additional mitzvos; they are also not fulfilling the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

עיינתי בבית הלוי הנ"ל ח"ב סוף ס' נ ובאמת לא כתב כמו שרציתי לומר, אבל כדאי להציע דבריו שהם נאמרין בחריפות גדול כדרכו בקודש. בירושלמי משמע שאם האיש רוצה לעלות ולא האשה כופין אותה, אבל כשהיא רוצה והוא אינו רוצה אין כופין אותו וזה סותר הש"ס שלנו. ותירץ הרא"ש בשם הר"ם דשס"ד דידן איירי בזמן הבית מש,ה היא יכולה לכוף אותו אבל הירושלמי קמיירי בזמן הזה שהוא יכול לכוף אותה והיא אינה יכולה לכוף אותו. וזה צריך ביאור מאי שנא זמן בית המקדש לבזמן הזה לגבי הא דאין האשה יכולה לכוף אותו בזמן הזה. וביאר הבית הלוי שיש ב' מצות בישיבת ארץ ישראל: א. עיקר מצות ישיבה מצד עצמה כהרמב"ן שמונה זה למצוה בפ"ע. ב. מצד מצות התלויות בארץ. והנה, בזמן הזה רק שייך הא' שהוא עיקר המצוה, אבל מצוה הב' לא שייך כסברת רבינו חיים הובא בתוס'. לפיכך, בנשים לא שייך עיקר מצות ישיבה כיון שאין להם חלק, ומ"מ בזמן הבית יכולה לכוף את בעלה כיון שהיא שייך למצות ישיבה מחמת מצות התלויות בארץ, משא"כ בזמן הזה דלא שייך מצות התלויות בארץ אין האשה יכולה לכוף את בעלה, אבל כיון שהוא מצווה בעיקר מצות ישיבה בפ"ע, ובזה אין חילוק בין זמן הזה לזמן הבית, לכן הוא יכול לכוף אותה אף בזמן הזה. וזהו דעת הר"ם

Anonymous said...

That keeping mitzvos is part of mitzvas yishvas ha'aretz can possibly be seen from the Chazal about Moshe Rabbeinu's desire to enter Eretz Yisroel in order to keep those mitzvos not to eat from the fruits of the land.

Avromi said...

A proof to this point can be from the gemara in Sotah 14a where the gemara asks why Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel; did he want to enjoy the good fruits! His desire to go must have been fueled by his yearning to perform the mitzvos that apply in Israel. Why didn't the gemara answer more simply that he wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel to fulfill the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel (Meshech Chochma in parshas R'eh raises this question and offers an alternative answer that the mitzvah of yishuv could be fulfilled on the east of the jordan, so moshe's desire to cross the jordan was only to fulfill the mitzvos)?
Based on the above suggestion, the whole purpose for the mitzvah to live there is to fulfill the mitzvos that apply there, so the gemara focuses on the goal rather than the means. Therefore, this gemara is actually a proof to that understanding of R' Chaim in Tosafos.

From "Heoros al HaDaf"