The Torah giant, the Rambam, established in his “Letter of Teman” that our performance of the commandments is not dependent on the Mashiach’s coming. He writes: “We are to do all of the commandments to the best of our ability, and G-d will do what is fitting in His eyes. However, if a man stays in a place where he sees the Torah is waning, and where the Jewish People will be lost with the passage of time, and where he cannot stand by his faith, and says, ‘I will stay here until the Mashiach comes and survive where I am,’ this is nothing but an evil heart and a great loss, and a sickness of reasoning and spirit.”
In addition, the universally-respected Torah Gadol, the Ramban (with an N) states that the commandment to settle the Land of Israel is an obligation from the Torah, beholden upon every Jew in every generation: “In my opinion, this is a positive commandment, enjoining the Jews that they dwell in the Land of Israel and possess it, because it was given to them, and that they should not despise the inheritance of Hashem,” (Supplement to Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Positive Commandment #4).
The Gaon of Vilna, certainly one of the top Torah Gedolim of all times, warned that the sin of the Spies in not wanting to conquer and dwell in the Land of Israel will return to haunt the Jewish Nation in the beginnings of the time of Redemption: “Many will fall in this great sin of, ‘They despised the cherished Land.’
Also many Guardians of the Torah will not know or understand that thy are caught in the sin of the Spies, that they have been drawn into the sin of the Spies by many false ideas and empty claims, and they support their claims with the already proven fallacy that the commandment to settle the Land of Israel no longer applies in our day, an opinion which has already been refuted by the Torah giants of the world, both the early and later authorities,” (Kol HaTor, Ch.5).
We could bring a long list of Torah authorities who rule likewise, but in all likelihood, it would not matter to all the diehards of Galut who would undoubtedly answer with an assortment of convoluted explanations in order to rationalize their love for foreign Gentile lands.
For simple people like me, it seems pretty clear that G-d wants His people back in the Land of Israel. In our times, we have witnessed the miraculous rebirth of the Jewish Nation in Eretz Yisrael.
Who has brought all this about? The Zionists or G-d?
Who has gathered millions of Jews from the four corners of the world in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? The Zionists? The Jewish Agency? Or G-d?
Even to an eye untrained in the exegesis of Jewish law, it is obvious that G-d has decided that the time has arrived to come home. To facilitate the way, He has transformed desert and wasteland into vineyards and orchards that export produce to all the world. G-d has built thriving cities and settlements, restored Jerusalem’s beauty and power, led Israeli armies to victories over vast greater forces, and rocketed the tiny country into becoming a world leader in medicine, science, and computer technology. And Eretz Yisrael is once again the Torah center of the Jewish world.
Who has done all this if not the Holy One Blessed Be He? How can anyone think that He does not want His children to return home to Israel?
He has even given us a Jewish airline to bring us here in a glatt kosher fashion. With a Jewish airline, and available apartments, and a modern economy, and millions of Jews already here, how can anyone claim that the time to return has not come?
G-d has not waited for the Mashiach to appear to begin the rebuilding of the Jewish Nation in Zion – why should the Jews? Tell me, why should the Jews?
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land". His books are available on Amazon. Recently, he directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."