ALIYAH IN FACE OF PARENTAL OPPOSITION Moshe Zemer
QUESTION: A young man who had just graduated from university is preparing to go on aliyah to Israel . His parents strenuously object. They claim that he has visited Israel many times since childhood and may go there as often as he wants in the future. If their only son leaves them he will dishonor them instead of fulfilling the commandment to“Honor your father and your mother.” The son counters that his decision was influenced by the Jewish education and the love of Israel that his parents instilled in him. Is there in Jewish law a resolution to this dissension?
ANSWER: We have here a conflict in the observance of two mitzvot. On the one hand it has been argued that the Fifth Commandment,“Honor your father and your mother”(Exod. 20:11; Deut. 5:15) is of supreme importance. The thirteenthcentury author of Sefer Ha-hinukh claimed:
You should be mindful that your father and mother are the reason for your existence in the world. Therefore, it is indeed appropriate that you render to them all the honor and beneficence that you can (Sefer Ha-hinukh, ed. Chavell, Jerusalem , 1988, no. 28, p. 79).
On the other hand, great halakhists decided that aliyah is paramount. Maimonides (1138-1204) decided that settling in Eretz Yisrael is a rabbinic ordinance(mitzvah d‘rabban):“One should always live in the Land of Israel”(Hilkot Melakhim 5:12). Nahma nides (Gerona , Spain , 1195-1270) ruled that settling the Land of Is
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