The mitzvos you lose

The sales pitch is come to Israel and get a continuous mitzvah, and if you don't move you are violating a chiyuv. 

Let's start with the second part of that. It's not a chiyuv. It's an optional mitzvah that you get credit for if you do it, but you don't have to. So says the posek Hador Rav Moshe Feinstein. And so many tzadickim didn't live here: Lubavitcher Rebbe, Satmar Rebbe, Rivnitzer Rebbe, Rav Avigdor Miller, Rav Yaakov Kamenestky, Rav Shimon Schwab, Rav Yosef Breuer, and many, many more. The Yekkes, bless them, are even buried in America as is the Ribnitzer. I believe this is proper as one should not encourage moving to Israel in any way.

Didn't the Ramban say it was a mitzvah d'orita to live in Israel? The Ramban didn't come until the last two years of his life. 

Is that because it wasn't safe? Is it safe now? Israelis keep telling me how they have to draft the Haredim because we are under an existential threat. That means danger. People get killed here every week from terrorism.

So if you come, putting yourself in danger, there's still the optional mitzvah that you get. OK, but you lose so many more. Here's what you are likely to lose:

Torah study - you work now six days a week, under stressful conditions so even when you study concentration is poor. If your Hebrew is weak, you'll suffer because the shuls, even in Anglo communities, don't have books in English.

Ahavas Yisroel - the hatred and internecine hostility here is overwhelming. People don't try to understand one another. You get drawn into it. Israel teaches you how to hate other Jews.

Tzedukah - you'll have far less money for giving.

Hachnachas Orchim - your tiny apartment has no room for guests.

Seichel - you'll learn to shut down your mind, not take an interest in alternative opinions, not be objective, live in intellectual isolation.

Honesty - the financial pressures causes it but so does the influence of Arab culture - you'll learn to be dishonest. 

Middos- Derech Eretz Kadmah l'Torah, and in Israel your derech eretz will decline significantly. You will not be the first to say hello anymore. Your sensitivity to the feelings of other will decline. Your anger will increase, and anger is one of the biggest sins.

Faith - That goes out the window too. Israelis have faith in their army that couldn't watch a fence. It rubs off on you. Faith is one of the six constant mitzvos, in fact all of them concern faith. So you are living in the land every minutes, which his optional, but lose out on the six constant mitzvos, which are obligatory. 

In sum, you lose far more mitzvos than you gain by moving to Israel.  In doing so, you are bringing sin onto the land because we are supposed to grow not decline. And bringing sin onto the land is osur.



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