Is it a Mitzvah to Live in Israel?

And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to possess.

In my opinion this is a positive commandment, in which He is commanding them to dwell in the Land and inherit it, because He has given it to them and they should not reject the inheritance of the Eternal. Thus if the thought occurs to them to go and conquer the land of Shinar or the land of Assyria or any other country and to settle therein, they are [thereby] transgressing the commandment of G-d. And that which our Rabbis have emphasized, the significance of the commandment of settling in the Land of Israel, and that it is forbidden to leave it [except for certain specified reasons]...

It is forbidden to leave Eretz Yisrael for the Diaspora at all times except:to study Torah;to marry; orto save one's property from the gentiles.After accomplishing these objectives, one must return to Eretz Yisrael.Similarly, one may leave Eretz Yisrael to conduct commercial enterprises. However, it is forbidden to leave with the intent of settling permanently in the Diaspora unless the famine in Eretz Yisrael is so severe that a dinar's worth of wheat is sold at two dinarim.When do these conditions apply? When one possesses financial resources and food is expensive. However, if food is inexpensive, but a person cannot find financial resources or employment and has no money available, he may leave and go to any place where he can find relief.Though it is permitted to leave Eretz Yisrael under these circumstances, it is not pious behavior. Behold, Machlon and Kilyon were two of the great men of the generation and they left Eretz Yisrael only out of great distress. Nevertheless, they were found worthy of death by God.

Rav [Moshe] Feinstein argues that even though most authorities agree with the Ramban, they believe that if one moves to Israel he has fulfilled a mitzvah (mitzvah kiyumit) but that there exists no absolute obligation to do so (mitzvah chiyuvit). Rav Feinstein believes that even the Ramban believes that living in Israel is only a mitzvah kiyumit and not a mitzvah chiyuvit. Rav Feinstein seeks to prove that the Rambam does not believe that there is a mitzvah chiyuvit to move to Israel. The Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 5:9) writes that it is prohibited to leave Israel but does not state that one is prohibited to reside outside Israel. If an absolute obligation to move to Israel exists, writes Rav Feinstein, the Rambam would have recorded a prohibition to live outside of Israel. Rav Feinstein concludes that since there is no absolute obligation to move to Israel, one must "certainly" consider Rabbeinu Chaim Cohen's concern that one might not fulfill the mitzvot hateluyot ba’aretz properly.

In relation to the basic point raised by the mishna concerning living in Eretz Yisrael, the Sages taught: A person should always reside in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that is mostly populated by gentiles, and he should not reside outside of Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that is mostly populated by Jews. The reason is that anyone who resides in Eretz Yisrael is considered as one who has a God, and anyone who resides outside of Eretz Yisrael is considered as one who does not have a God. As it is stated: “To give to you the land of Canaan, to be your God” (Leviticus 25:38).

It is not practiced in our times, as there is danger on the roads. And Rabbenu Chaim says that today, it is not a commandment to live in the Land of Israel, as there are several commandments that are dependent upon the land - and several punishments - that we are not able to be careful about and to be cognizant of.

It is proper for a person to live in Eretz Yisrael even in a city where most [of the inhabitants] are idolators and not outside Eretz Yisrael even in a city where everyone is Jewish. This teaches that living in Eretz Yisrael is equal to all the mitzvot in the Torah. And the one buried in Eretz Yisrael, it is as if he is buried under the altar [in the Temple].

They shall be brought to Babylon, and there they shall remain, until I take note of them—declares GOD of Hosts—and bring them up and restore them to this place.”

Until the time I will remember them which is the days of Cyrus and then I will take them up and return them to this place.

This mitzva is incumbent upon the Jewish people in every generation. For a long time, however, we lacked power and were thus forced to neglect this mitzva. We did not have a military or weapons with which to conquer and settle our land. In recent generations, God showed kindness to His people and a national spirit began to stir. Jews went forth and assembled in Eretz Yisrael. They planted trees, developed the country’s economy, organized a defense force, and resisted foreign rule, so that when the British Mandate ended, our public representatives were able to declare the establishment of the State of Israel. On that day, the Jewish people began fulfilling the mitzva of settling Eretz Yisrael. While it is true that we are not yet in control of the entire Eretz Yisrael, and we are still somewhat dependent on the nations of the world, we are actually fulfilling the mitzva of settling Eretz Yisrael once again. We likewise find that the halakhot of mourning over Eretz Yisrael’s destruction depend on Jewish sovereignty over the land.