Does Jewish Law Actually Require You to Live in Israel? The Surprising Answer

Does Jewish law actually require you to live in Israel? The answer — or rather, the astonishing range of answers from history’s greatest Torah minds — will transform how you understand Aliyah, diaspora life, and your own Jewish obligations.

📚 In this transformative class, you’ll discover:

• Why Maimonides listed 613 commandments FOUR times and never once included living in Israel as one of them
• The Three Oaths from Song of Songs that may actually PROHIBIT mass Jewish migration to Israel until Messianic times
• The profound distinction between an absolute mitzvah obligation vs. a “kiyumit” mitzvah — and which one Aliyah may be
• Why the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who loved Israel passionately, deliberately chose NOT to make Aliyah — and his brilliant reply to General Sharon
• How 7 of Judaism’s greatest authorities reached 7 completely different halachic conclusions on the same question
• The stunning Midrashic principle: the Jewish PEOPLE came before the Land of Israel in the order of creation
• Why the assimilation crisis in diaspora Jewry changes the entire halachic calculus about where Jews should live

The debate in this class is not merely academic. As assimilation claims as many Jewish souls in the last 80 years as the Holocaust did, the question of where Jews are — or are not — obligated to live becomes a matter of Jewish survival itself.

🕰️ Detailed Navigation:

❓ Frequently Asked Questions: Q: Do Orthodox rabbis require Jews to make Aliyah? A: No consensus exists. Authorities from Maimonides to Rav Moshe Feinstein argue there is no absolute biblical obligation. Many hold it is a kiyumit mitzvah — meritorious but not mandatory.

Q: What is the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s view on living in Israel? A: The Rebbe expressed profound love for Israel and sent many people there, but did not rule that diaspora Jews are obligated to make Aliyah. He prioritized the spiritual survival of diaspora communities.

Q: Are the Three Oaths halachically binding? A: This is heavily debated. The Megillat Esther treats them as legally operative; others view them as aggadic (non-legal) material only.

Q: What did Nachmanides actually say about Aliyah? A: He derived a positive biblical command from Numbers 33:53. He is the strongest classical voice for Aliyah as obligation — though his personal biography reveals the profound complexity of what that actually means.

📖 Primary Sources:

• Maimonides: Sefer Hamitzvot; Mishneh Torah (Yad Hachazakah)
• Nachmanides: Commentary on the Torah (Numbers 33:53); Critique of Sefer Hamitzvot
• Rabbi Moshe Feinstein: Igros Moshe
• Rebbe Rashab: Collected responsa and writings
• Rabbi Oshry: She’eilos U’Teshuvos MiMa’amakim (5 volumes from the Kovno Ghetto)
• Megillat Esther: Commentary on Maimonides’ Sefer Hamitzvot