udaism contains many contradictions, but none has been
as glaring as the status of Israel through the ages. The
entire Jewish world celebrates a cycle of holidays agriculturally and historically connected with the Land of Israel. We orient our synagogues toward Jerusalem . We read the Torah , which moves the people of Israel gradually to the“Promised Land.” We pray for the restoration of Israel and the Temple in our synagogue and home liturgies. We have supported Jews who have chosen to live in Israel through the millennia, yet most Jews for the last twenty-five hundred years have lived and continue to live in the Diaspora. This generally was by choice and design, as it is now. What role does Israel play in our Jewish existence? What is the basis for Jewish life outside the Land of Israel? Does the tradition demand aliyah and settlement in Israel or is this a matter of indifference? The issue may be viewed from many perspectives, but this essay will limit itself to halakhah, that reflects a reality of Jewish life. We shall begin with a brief summary of our biblical past.
The gift of the Land of Israel was a promise God made to the patriarchs(Gen. 12:7; 15:7, 18; 26:3; 28.4, 13; 35:12), and it remained a goal during the long period of wandering in the desert. Through the Exodus from Egypt, this was expressed as movement toward the“Land of milk and honey,” a land in which God would be served at appropriate religious centers(Exod. 3:8, 6:8, 20:12; Deut. 7:1-2, 9:1-5, 25:15, 30:20, etc). The Torah clearly outlined the nature of the Land and the life to be established there, along with a centralized priestly ritual. The Land itself would be subject to the Sabbatical and the Jubilee Years. The goal of that good land was mentioned constantly and held before the people so that they