12. Is There a Mitzvah to Love Eretz Yisrael?

Beyond halachic obligation, does the Torah command us to love the Land? Rav Shlomo Katz brings down a striking Rambam in Hilchot Melachim and a teaching from Rav Eliezer Melamed that reframes everything: when Chazal kissed its stones and rolled in its dust, it wasn’t poetic symbolism. It was halacha. If the Rambam records this in Mishneh Torah, then this is how a Jew is meant to feel. This episode reminds us that love for Eretz Yisrael isn’t just the soul of the mitzvah. It’s the mitzvah itself.

What is The Mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael?

In "The Mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael," Rav Shlomo Katz takes us deep into the heart and soul of one of Judaism's most profound and debated mitzvot. What does it really mean to conquer, dwell, and truly live in the land of Israel today? Is it merely about physical settlement, or is there a deeper spiritual conquest at play? Drawing on Torah sources, Chassidic insights, and practical halacha, we’ll explore questions like: How central is living in Eretz Yisrael to fulfilling our Jewish destiny? Can the mitzvah be achieved spiritually outside the land? What is our role in actively building and nurturing the land given to us by Hashem? Join us as we journey to reveal the extraordinary dimensions of this holy mitzvah.

I'd like to welcome my uncle-in-law. My she's back with us, ברוך השם. Always good to have you back. A שאלה, is there a מצוה to love ארץ ישראל? A מצוה to love ארץ ישראל.

We're seeing a very interesting רמב"ם. Only רב מלמד can take this and show us a רמב"ם in the manner that he does. Listen to this. The רמב"ם says ככה in הלכות מלכים, פרק ה'.

גדולי החכמים היו מנשקין על תחומי ארץ ישראל ומנשקין אבניה ומתגלגלים על עפרה. וכן הוא אומר כי רצו עבדיך את אבניה ואת עפרה יחוננו. So we know we have two גמרות, one about רבי אבא. When he would come to ארץ ישראל, he would come and he would once he entered into the גבול of ארץ ישראל, רבי אבא would go down and sit flat on the אדמה and start kissing the land.

We also know about it was רבי חייא בר גמדא that he from loving it so much, the second he got to ארץ ישראל, he would start to להתגלגל בעפרה. He would roll around in its in its dust. Funny, one time, one time actually Jerry and I were walking, we were in ירושלים and we met a, we're meeting with this חסיד, an older חסיד, probably someone that was probably just got to 70. And he spoke about, he mentioned the word ארץ ישראל, for saying he's been in ארץ ישראל for 50 years.

He mentioned ארץ ישראל, he just stopped, laid down on the ground in the middle of מאה שערים, kissed the floor as if it was nothing, and got up again. So the רמב"ם is saying over here, we see he's basically quoting these two גמרות and he's saying this is what גדולים used to do.So what's רב מלמד saying over here? Where is this written? Where does the רמב"ם write this? Where does he write this ענין of חיבת הארץ? Is it in a ספר מוסר? Or is it is it more in a ספר השקפה? Is it in רמב"ם's מורה נבוכים or is it in a ספר הלכה? He says it's in משנה תורה. If he's bringing something down in משנה תורה, which is a book of הלכה, he's not just telling you a cute idea, he's telling you כך צריך להיות. This is how it should be.

That the תורה is basically, the by the רמב"ם quoting it in דוקא משנה תורה, it's as if it's a הלכה to tell us this is what it's got to be. It's got to be a feeling of love, a feeling of immersing in its, in the זכות to be in it, to roll around in its dirt and kiss its floor. And then he quotes the famous פסוק where it says, וברכת את השם אלוקיך על הארץ הטובה אשר נתן לך. He says, התורה מחנכת אותנו לאהוב את ארץ ישראל.

Therefore, he says, the תורה is, the תורה is doing חינוך. Basically educating us that a יהודי has to live in a state of loving ארץ ישראל ומתוך כך להודות להשם עליה. So this is like one of one of these moments in this ספר where I love the way that he develops this מצוה of ישוב הארץ because it's true. You can go through all the different מניינים of מצוות and say, I don't know if it's clear anywhere that anyone says that it's a מצוה to love ארץ ישראל.

But a יהודי has to always learn דבר מתוך דבר. And if the רמב"ם's quoting the מצוה of love of, he's talking about how the גדולים would go and roll around in its dust and kiss kiss the floor. He's saying האי משמע that there is this מצוה that we have to love, and the תורה is מחנכת us to actually love ארץ ישראל. So even though we have all these, we've been learning all these איסורים, חיובים, all these things we have to do, all these things we shouldn't do, love, real love is the is ממש the battery and the engine of all the מצוות we're learning about מצוות ישוב ארץ ישראל.

Have a beautiful day everyone.