Am I Allowed To Move To Israel?

(The following is a post from the blog Mystical Paths that I copied here.  Its fantastic.)
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I received the following question from a reader...

How is it that you have/are promoting aliyah if (you know?) :
The Talmud explains That we have been foresworn, by three strong oaths, not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of moshiach; as is written in Tractate Kesubos 111a.

Living Safely in a Non-Jewish Country Is Only Temporary

(Here is an interesting Dvar Torah that some may find inspirational for making aliyah)

The path to redemption in joy is open for every single Jew in the world. You need but get on a plane and come home to Israel, leaving the exile behind you. For sure, Jews in many countries are still living in comfort, plenty and safety. But the only guarantee we have is that one day, this will come to an end.

(Halacha) Handing Over Portions of Eretz Israel in a Situation of Piku'ach Nefesh

(The following is from the Yeshivat Har Etzion.  Its an interesting read.  The reason I post is purely to reinforce the importance of Eretz Yisroel in Halacha, and therefore how important it should be to every Jew living in Israel or in the diaspora.  May God bless Israel with peace and protection).

Handing Over Portions of Eretz Israel in a Situation of Piku'ach Nefesh

Rav Chaim Navon

Forr many years now a fierce debate has been raging in the State of Israel over the issue of "land for peace." Within the Torah observant community, beyond the political-security disagreement, there is also a fundamental halakhic controversy: Is it at all permissible to hand over portions of Eretz Israel in a situation of piku'ach nefesh, i.e., in order to save lives? That is to say, even were we to assume that handing over territories that are part of Eretz Israel would lead to peace, would it be permissible to do so? This is the question that we shall attempt to answer in this shiur. Let it be noted, however, that we shall not address either the factual issue or the ethical dimensions of the problem.

Chanukah Dvar Torah: Why We Say Hallel Only on Chanukah

This is also from the Book "Eretz Yisrael In The Parashah":

The Talmud (Arachim 10 a-b) discusses the reasons why we recite Hallel on certain holdiays as opposed to others.  We say it on Chanukah, of course, because of the miracles that occurred in the days of the Hasmoneans.  Why, then, asks the Gemara, do we omit Hallel on Purim?  After all, miracles occurred then too.  The Talmud offers three reasons.  (The following is one reason).

R. Yitzchak says, "[Hallel is ommited on Purim] because we do not sing praise for a miracle that occurred outside the Land."  The Gemara goes to explain that the Exodus from Egypt is an exception to this rule because it occurred before te Jews ever entered Eretz Yisroel.  After they entered the Land, however, Hallel is no longer said on miracles that take place in Chutz LaAretz.

Why is this so?  Why should it make a difference where the miracle occurred?  Do we have less of an obligation to thank God for the miracles He performs in Chutz LaAretz?  The Maharsha provides a beautiful answer, but first a word of introduction.

Parshat Vateishev: Man is Safer in Eretz Yisrael...ALWAYS!

This is from the book Eretz Yisroel in the Parsha:

Each year we read again the account in the Torah of the sale of Yosef.  We recall that Reuven suggested that Yosef be thrown into a pit, and that is suggestion was acceped.  The Torah says, "the pit was empty - there was no water in it."  Rashi explains: The pit contained no water, but it did contain snakes and scorptions.

Such a pit was more than merely dangerous.  The halacha states that whoever sees a man in a pit where there are snamkes and scorpions may testify that the man is dead.  On the basis on such testimony, the man's wife may remarry.  This gives us some pictures of the gravity of Yosef's situation.

Dvar Torah: We Must Remember That We Are In Exile

Question: The Gemora in Megillah (13b) relates that when Yaakov encountered Rochel at the well, he asked her to marry him. She replied in the affirmative, but warned Yaakov that her father Lavan was a trickster and that Yaakov would never be able to outfox him. Yaakov responded that if Lavan deals with him honestly, he would respond in kind, but if Lavan attempts to deceive him, he would be Lavan’s “brother” in deceit and beat him at his own game. In what way do Jews living in America thousands of years later still need to protect themselves from Lavan’s deceit?

Answer: Although American Jews feel comfortable that the government respects our rights, Rav Nachman Bulman pointed out that it is no coincidence that the President’s residence, the White House, when translated into Hebrew becomes בית לבן – the house of Lavan, who seemed externally to be fair, yet in reality wanted to destroy the Jewish nation. While we must be appreciative for the unprecedented freedom granted us, we must remember that we are still in exile and never completely let our guards down.

(Source: Parasha Potpourri)

Rabbi Jonathon Sacks: What is special about Israel?

What then is special about Israel? In The Kuzari, Judah Halevi says that different environments have different ecologies. Just as there are some countries, climates and soils particularly suited to growing vines, so there is a country, Israel, particularly suited to growing prophets – indeed a whole Divinely-inspired people. “No other place shares the distinction of the Divine influence, just as no other mountain produces such good wine” (Kuzari, II: 9-12).

Nachmanides gives a different explanation. G-d, he says, “created everything and placed the power of the lower creatures in the higher beings, giving over each and every nation ‘in their lands after their nations’ some known star or constellation . . . But the land of Israel, in the middle of the inhabited earth, is the inheritance of G-d . . . He has set us apart from all the nations over whom He has appointed princes and other celestial powers, by giving us the land [of Israel] so that He, blessed be He, will be our G-d and we will be dedicated to His name.” (Commentary to Lev. 18: 25). Though every land and nation is under the overarching sovereignty of G-d, only Israel is directly so. Others are ruled by intermediaries, earthly and heavenly. Their fate is governed by other factors. Only in the land and people of Israel do we find a nation’s fortunes and misfortunes directly attributable to their relationship with G-d.

Judah Halevi and Nachmanides both expound what we might call mystical geography. The difference between them is that Judah Halevi looks to earth, Nachmanides to heaven. For Judah Halevi what is special about the land of Israel is its soil, landscape and climate. For Nachmanides, it is its direct governance by G-d. For both of them, religious experience is possible outside Israel, but it is a pale shadow of what it is in the land.

(Source: Covenant and Conversation)

Rav Kook and Hevron

Chayei Sarah: Rav Kook and Hebron

"Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, also known as Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her." [Gen. 23:2]

On February 18, 1930, a somber gathering assembled in the Yeshurun synagogue in Jerusalem. The synagogue and its plaza were packed as crowds attended the memorial service for the Jews of Hebron killed in the Arab rioting half a year earlier.

Parshat Lech Lecha: The First Mitzvah Given to a Jew Is To Move To Israel!

Rabbi Moshe Lichtman in his sefer "Eretz Yisrael In The Parasha" notes that the first mitzvah ever given to a jew is to move to Eretz Yisroel.

Part II: Is It Halachly Permissible to Leave Eretz Yisroel To Go Touring?

(To follow-up on my previous post about the prohibition of leaving Eretz Yisrael, here is a shiur from the Gush yeshiva on the same topic. I know a man who lives in the Old City who never left Eretz Yisroel after making aliyah from France because he was in doubt whether it would be permitted according to halacha. Similarly, I heard the one of the reasons that the Lubavitcher Rebbe never visited Israel is becaues he wasn't sure that he would be allowed to leave according to halacha. My point is, based on the lengthy discussion here on whether its permitted to leave Eretz Yisrael, you see how important the mitzvah is to LIVE in Eretz Yisrael.)

Dvar Torah: The Message of Sukkot As it Applies to Aliyah

From the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt”l - Drasha for Sukkot 5708 (1947)

The verse says: “All citizens in Israel shall sit in the sukkot in order that your generations shall know…” (Devarim 23: 42-43).

There is a lot to be learned from the message of the mitzva of sitting in the sukka

So what does sitting in a sukkah symbolize? There are 2 conflicting opinions. One opinion says that the sukkot we sit in symbolize the actual booths that bnei Yisroel sat in while coming to Eretz Yisroel after leaving Mitzrayim. The other opinion says that sukkot symbolizes the “clouds of glory” that accompanied bnei Yisroel in their sojourns through the desert.

Dvar Torah: Israel Is Excellent When Jews Live There

I came across an interesting Ohr Hachaim recently in parashat Eikev.

Rav Kook Derasha (1933) Warning About Hitler

Background Note

Rav Kook delivered this well-known sermon in the Old City of Jerusalem on Rosh Hashanah, 1933. It was a time of mixed tidings. On the one hand, ominous news of the beginning of Hitler's reign in Germany became more troubling with each passing day. On the other hand, the Jewish community in Israel was flourishing. Immigration from central Europe was increasing. Educated immigrants with needed skills and financial means were arriving; they contributed greatly to developing the country's economy. It seemed that the footsteps of the redemption could be heard.

Shabbos Rosh Hashanah: The Worst And Best Things

(This is the weekly dvar Torah from Rabbi Gottlieb of Shomrei Emunah who is taking a year sabbatical in Eretz Yisroel)

The Power and Passion of Shabbos

The unique feature of Rosh Hashanah this year is, of course, that we only blow the shofar on the second day of Yom Tov. On Shabbos, however, Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 29b) ruled that we must refrain from this important mitzvah because we are afraid “shema ya’avirenu daled amos b’reshus ha-rabbim” – lest someone carry the shofar in the public domain and thereby violate the Shabbos. This phenomenon occurs every few years and, in fact, just three years ago the first day of Rosh Hashanah also fell out on Shabbos.

Ohr Hachaim on Parshat Ki Tavo: Simcha Only In Eretz Yisroel

The Pasuk (Devarim 27)
והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ

The Ohr HaChaim On The Pasuk
אמר והיה לשון שמחה להעיר שאין לשמוח אלא בישיבת הארץ

The Ohr Chaim made aliyah at the age of 45.

!שבת שלום

Parashat Ki Tetzei: Aliyah is a Leap of Faith Part III

Okay, for some reason, aliyah being a leap of faith has really been pervasive for me this week.

Amazingly, I found it in this week's parasha.

Dvar Torah: The Holiness of Making a Tiyul In Eretz Yisroel

"There is no better way to feel the connection to Eretz Yisrael than to walk its length and breadth." - Ze'ev Vilnai

"Its been said that Avraham Avinu had to walk the length and breadth of the land of Israel in order to really make "kinyan," to become the true inheritor of the Land....Hiking (or biking!) across the land of Israel is the only way to truly fall in love with it, whether you're a tourist or a solider" - Jerry Silverman, student at Bat Ayin

Zev Vilnai - How To Connect to Eretz Yisroel

Dvar Torah: Tu B'av - Celebrating Love and Unity (Mei Hashiloach)

"No days were as joyful for the Jewish people as Tu B'av" - (Taanis 26b)

"...we need to "chop" and cut all barriers away that divide the Jewish people" - Mei Hashiloach

6 Joyous Events Happened on Tu B'av

The gemara lists 6 joyous events that happened in Jewish history on the date of Tu B'av which cause us to celebrate this holiday. The Mei Hashiloach (Reb Shlomo Carlebach's favorite sefer) explains that the common theme between all of these events are love and unity:

• amongst Jews with each other and


• between Hashem and the Jewish people;

Here is the list of the 6 historical events and how they demonstrate the aforementioned theme of love and unity:

Event 1: No More Deaths In The Desert

On each Tisha B'av of the 40 years of the desert, anyone who turned 60 would die. This was because of the Hashem's decree after the sin of the meraglim that all men would die during the 40 years in the desert. In the 40th year, on Tisha B''av, no one died. The Jewish people thought that maybe they were mistaken about the date for Tisha B'av and prepared for the deaths to come the next day. On Tu B'av, when the full moon had appeared, the Jews of the desert knew that Tisha B'av had definitely passed and Hashem's decree had ended. This demonstrated the loving unity between Hashem and the Jewish people.

Events 2 & 3: Ban Lifted on Intermarriage

Originally, the 12 tribe of Israel were only allowed to intermarry with each other. This ban only applied to the original members of the dor hamidbar who died in the desert and thus, the ban was lifted on Tu B'av of the 40th year in the desert. Similarily, there was ban to marry into the tribe of Binyamin after the episode of the "Concubine of Giv'ah) (Shofrim 19-21). This ban was lifted during on Tu B'av. The lifting of the bans created increased amongst the Jewish people.

Event 4: The Ability To Go to Jerusalem Again

Tu B'av is the day that Hoshea ben Elah removed the guards from roads leading to Jerusalem, and Jews were allowed to once again go to the Bais Hamikdashn and participate in the Shalosh Regalim. This event also increased the unity amongst the Jewish people.

Event 5: The Jews of Beitar Were Allowed To Be Buried

After the Romans conquested Beitar, they did not let the corpses of the Jews who died during the conquest to be buried for 7 years (miraculously, the bodies did not decompose). After 7 years on Tu B'av, the Jews were permitted to bury the bodies of these deceased. The Jews being allowed to bury their dead showed the Hashem once again was showing favor to the Jewish people. Similarly, by burying their bretheren, the Jews were able to demonstrate the loving kindness for each other.

Event 6: The Jews stopped cutting down trees for the Mizbeach's Aish

The Mei Hashiloach teaches that the celebration of having enough wood for this mizbeach teaches that we need to "chop" and cut all barriers away that divide the Jewish people.

(source: Artscroll's A Daily Dose of Torah)