HaRav Avraham Elkana Shapira zt"l, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and head of the Mercaz HaRav flagship Religious Zionist Yeshiva, passed away on the first day of Sukkot, eighteen years ago, at the age of 93. His son, Rabbi Yaacov Shapira shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem today, says that a few days before his father’s death, he presented him with the Four Species, the Arba Minim, he had purchased for him.
“After examining the Hadasim and Lulav, my father picked up the very large Yemenite (i.e. that is, the kind used by the Yemenite Jewish community,ed.) Etrog, the kind he preferred, which I had brought and which he had to hold in both hands because of its size. People often said the Yemenite Etrog resembled his big heart, with its great love for all of the Jewish People. Half smiling, half sad, he said that he wasn’t sure he would have the merit of performing the mitzvah that year.”
A seventh generation Jerusalemite, Rabbi Shapira (click for Arutz Sheva biography, ed.) was born in the Old City. Rabbi Haim Steiner, a longtime teacher at Mercaz HaRav, recalls that ‘Reb Avrum,’ as everyone affecionately called him, had a Haredi Yeshiva education at the Tiferet Tzvi and Hebron Yeshivas. Recognized as a prodigy in Torah study, the young Rabbi Shapira formed lasting Torah-learning partnerships, hevrutot, with such outstanding scholars as Rabbi Moshe Hevroni, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik, and the Hazon Ish.
“Rabbi Moshe Feinstein also recognized his greatness,” Rabbi Steiner relates. “In ‘Igrot Moshe’ (Even HaEzer 24) he deliberates over the words of Rabbi Shapira at length and refers to him as, ‘the brilliant and illustrious Rabbi amongst the Sages of Jerusalem - fit to rule in every aspect of Torah.’"
When Rabbi Shapira was 42, Israel’s Chief Rabbi Herzog appointed him to the High Court of the Jerusalem Chief Rabbinate, and later he served as Av Beit Din in Jerusalem. Forming an intimate friendship with Rabbi Kook’s only son, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, and marrying into the family, Rabbi Shapira began teaching at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, becoming the Rosh Yeshiva upon the death of HaRav Tzvi Yehuda in 1982.
Is Living in Israel a Torah Mitzvah?
Among the reasons many people cite for not coming on aliyah is the halakhic response of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, one of the most foremost Torah authorities of the last generation in America. Rabbi Feinstein, who lived in New York, was asked if aliyah to Eretz Yisrael was a Mitzvah from the written Torah (d'Orayta) that requires active fulfillment, as stated by the Ramban, or a Mitzvah that isn’t obligatory in our times, as a Tosefot in the name of R. Haim HaCohen implies (Ketubot 110). Notably, this opinion is considered to have been recorded by a student who misunderstood it, but it is often cited nonetheless).
Rabbi Feinstein answered that indeed it is a Mitzvah d'Orayta, derived from the written Torah, as the Ramban wrote, and about which most Torah authorities, both Rishonim and Achronim, agree (See the Pitchei Tshuva to the Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, Section 75:6), but that it was, in his opinion, a mitzvah which it is not obligatory to perform (not a mitzva chiyuvit) nowadays (Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer, 102, last paragraph) as it entails hardship. However, if one lives in Eretz Yisrael, he is fulfilling a mitzva and may not leave to live somewhere else. He compared it to the Torah commandment of tzitzit, which requires putting tzitzit on a garment that you wear if it has four corners. But if you don’t choose to wear such a garment, you don’t have to perform the commandment of tzitzit.
This question is explored in a wonderful translation by Rabbi Moshe Lichtman of Rabbi Tzvi Glatt’s book “Rise From the Dust” (“Me'afar Kumi”). The book is an in-depth study of the mitzvah of aliyah and settling the Land of Israel. The main topic analyzed is this very question, whether the mitzvah of aliyah is obligatory in our times. Rabbi Glatt, may Hashem revenge his blood, was murdered by an Arab terrorist in Hevron. In his scholarly treatise, he clearly demonstrates that aliyah is indeed a Torah mitzvah beholden on every Jew at all times, as the Ramban and a long list of eminent Halakhic authorities confirm.
Included in the book, “Rise From the Dust” is a response written by former Chief Rabbi of Israel, HaRav Avraham Shapira, zt"l Head of the High Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem and Rosh Yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav. Citing his great respect for Rabbi Feinstein, he strongly disagrees with his opinion on the subject of living in Israel, questioning the whole idea of a “voluntary” mitzvah. Here are some excerpts from his lengthy halakhic essay which appear in Rabbi Glatt’s book.
Rabbi Shapira writes:
“The implication of this concept - a ‘voluntary mitzvah’ - is that one is not obligated to fulfill it, but if one does, he has performed a mitzvah. This seems self-contradictory. On a simple level, a Torah commandment, counted as one of the 613, is not dependent on man’s desire - if he wants to fulfill it, he will, and if not, he won’t. After all, this contradicts the whole idea of a mitzvah, which is a command from Hashem, may He be blessed. How can one say that G-d leaves the fulfillment of His decree to man’s discretion? We assume that G-d did not give us the mitzvot in order to derive pleasure from them. Rashi explains in Tractate Rosh Hashanah (28a), ‘Rather, they are a yoke upon man’s neck, to fulfill Hashem’s desire.’ What kind of a yoke is it if one can decide whether to fulfill them or ignore them?
“This (the mitzvah of aliyah) is different from [Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s example of] tzitzit, which he maintains is not an obligatory mitzvah, but one that depends on man’s will. Tzitzit depends on a person’s desire to wear a four-cornered garment, and the Torah does not obligate one to wear such a garment. However, once a person wears a four-cornered garment, he is obligated to place tzitzit on its corners, and that is not dependent on his desire at all. Once he wears a garment that the Torah speaks of, he cannot evade the mitzvah. Why, then, would we say that there is a mitzvah to make aliyah, but that it is up to a person whether he wants to fulfill it or not? It appears that we do not find another mitzvah like this in the count of the 613 commandments….
“All this proves that none of the mitzvot, especially those included in the 613, depend on man’s desire. Rather, we force him to do them. Only those that Scripture designates as being voluntary depend on a person’s willingness [to perform them], for the verses teach us that these mitzvot are essentially not part of the 613. Rather, they are good practices, fitting to do, and good advice. All this is obvious, for it is illogical to say that the Torah establishes a mitzvah and man is permitted to say, ‘I am not interested….’
“Nevertheless, it is clear that when there is an explicit mitzvah in the Torah - one of the positive commandments included in the 613 - one cannot say that it depends on whether or not a person wants to [fulfill it]. Therefore, according to the Ramban, who holds that dwelling in Eretz Yisrael is a positive commandment counted as one of the 613, one cannot say that fulfilling it depends on man’s desire. Rather, it is absolutely obligatory.
“The Meiri writes in Bava Kama (80), ‘Every Jew is commanded to establish his dwelling in Eretz Yisrael.’ In addition, the Ramban writes in Bava Batra (24) that the law of [designating open areas for the purpose of] beautifying a city applies only in Eretz Yisrael. Regarding Chutz LaAretz (regions other than Eretz Yisrael), however, he says, ‘If only [those lands] would be despicable in the eyes of [the Jews] who dwell there!’
“Why, then, did the Gedolim (Torah Giants) of previous generations neglect this mitzvah? ‘Teshuvot Maharam’ and ‘Terumat HaDeshen’ (two leading Torah authorities) explain that [those generations] were under duress and unable to dwell in Eretz Yisrael because of difficult conditions, etc… I would add that this is not a regular case of compulsion, in the sense of ‘The All-merciful exempts one who is forced [to sin].’ Rather, the mitzvah itself is suspended when dwelling in the Land entails extreme danger and hardship. Similarly, we find that one who experiences discomfort sitting in a sukkah is exempt from the mitzvah, because of [the rule] “You shall sit [in the sukkah] as you dwell [in your home].”
"Chazal, our Sages, determined that the definition of 'dwelling' is when one is comfortable and has space, not when one is in pain. Dwelling somewhere in pain is not considered dwelling. The same applies to going up to live in Eretz Yisrael. One who finds his [new] accommodations distressful, relative to what he had in Chutz LaAretz, does not [fulfill] the mitzvah of You shall dwell therein (BeMidbar 33:53). Thus, any situation in which one would be exempt from sitting in a sukkah, one would also be exempt from dwelling in Eretz Yisrael….
“Now, if the definition of ‘discomfort’ [with respect to aliyah] is identical to its definition with respect to sukkah, [we can deduce the following]. Obviously, dwelling in a sukkah, a temporary structure, is less comfortable than dwelling in a permanent home. Nonetheless, that certainly does not constitute ‘pain.’ One is exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah only when dwelling there is painful, relative to the type of dwelling it is, and this requires serious evaluation. [So too, one is not exempt from dwelling in Eretz Yisrael just because it is easier to live in Chutz LaAretz.]
"The great Torah Scholars of [previous] generations determined that it would be [genuinely] painful for them to dwell in the Land, and they were [therefore] exempt from doing so. Today, however, when the Land of Israel is [governed by] the State of Israel, and enjoys [modern] economic conditions, the level of ‘discomfort’ is very mild - especially for singles who are free from the yoke of family - thus everyone is undoubtedly assumed to be obligated in the mitzvah.
"One would require the judgment of great Torah Scholars to determine that he is exempt from performing the mitzvah. In any event, it is clear that the concept of a mitzvah being dependent on each person’s discretion - whether he obeys the mitzvah or chooses not to - this is incomprehensible.”
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