ALIYAH: CONFLICT AND AMBIVALENCE As Reflected in Medieval Responsa’
livah to the Land of Israel or emigrating from it A involved innumerable difficulties with family, physical security, and parnasah. The decision of one member of a household to leave his or her native land and take the giant step to Eretz Yisrael usually had a profound effect on the rest of the family. [n medieval responsa literature this decision, which often resulted in permanent separation of olim from their relatives, is usually discussed in halakhic, rather than emotional terms. In addition to the practical issues of an arduous journey and settling in the Land, they were confronted with a number of serious theological and halakhic problems.
As we shall see, this was the case of the foremost thirteenthcentury halakhic advocate of settling in Zion. Nahmanides ruled that aliyah, leading to settlement in the Land, is a Torah commandment, yet he fulfilled this mitzvah himself only at the end of his life. Even this leading exponent of aliyah had to overcome a number of family obstacles and other impediments before he could practice what he exhorted.
, the Maharam of Rothenburg (1215-1293), wrote a responsum’ about the reaction of great scholars t0 the mass emigration of their sons to Israel in 1211:
Dedicated to the memory of Wolfram Rainer, Counsellor of the German Embassy in
Aviv, who died in the Land of Israel serving his government and the people of Stag],