(For the previous chapter of “The Land I Will Show You, click here. For the ToC, click here.) 4: The Definition of “Mitzvah” It was explained in the previous chapter that even if there is no explicit commandment in the Torah to reside in Eretz Yisrael (as indeed most sages held), this does not detract from the obligation to reside in it. The question arises: What is the difference between a mitzvah and something that isn’t an obligation? If even things that we weren’t commanded about explicitly are considered obligatory, what, then, makes something a “mitzvah”? Isn’t it the explicit command that determines what we are and aren’t obligated to do?
Could it be said that based on this a person would not be obligated to move to E”Y before reading הארץ אשר אראך ,but after reading it, and gaining a deeper understanding of the concept of yishuv e”y he is now obligated to move there? (According to the rishonim that hold its not one of the taryag Mitzvot.)
Could it be said that based on this a person would not be obligated to move to E”Y before reading הארץ אשר אראך ,but after reading it, and gaining a deeper understanding of the concept of yishuv e”y he is now obligated to move there? (According to the rishonim that hold its not one of the taryag Mitzvot.)