Our parsha relates to us the commandment of separating tithes for the Kohen and Levi, which are part of the unique commandments which can only be fulfilled in the Land of Israel. It is noteworthy that not only the commandments which are dependent on the Land of Israel, but, as Nachmanides and other commentaries state, all the commandments were given to the Jewish people to be fulfilled only in the Land of Israel; and we perform them in the exile in order for us not to forget them when we return. Imagine that we would not have put on tefillin for 2,000 years while we were in the exile. Certainly it would be lost to us forever, and when we returned to the Land we would certainly not remember its laws.
A commandment which every first-year yeshiva student today in the Land of Israel knows - how to separate tithes - was not known by the great scholars of the Talmud.
Now take the laws related only to the Land of Israel, as detailed in our parsha; for example, the laws of separating tithes. These commandments can be done only in the Land, so throughout our long exile, while the Land was mostly empty of Jews, they were not fulfilled, dealt with or learned. It should then come as no surprise that Rabbenu Haim, one of the Tosfot (12th century) who commented on the Talmud, states that "today we do not know how to separate tithes, or for that matter any of the commandments dependent on the Land, and so one should not live in the Land of Israel; and also because of the danger traveling to the Land."
Incredible as it might seem, a commandment which every first-year yeshiva student today in the Land of Israel knows - how to separate tithes - was not known by the great scholars of the Talmud.
How could this be? In their day, these laws were not relevant for them, as they were far removed from the Land and their main concern was just surviving in the exile. So they did not learn them, and these laws were almost completely forgotten.
Out of all the early-period rabbis from the 10th to the 15th centuries, it was only Rabbenu Haim who stated that there is no commandment to live in the Land of Israel today. As he writes: "The commandment of living in the Land of Israel does not take place today because there are some commandments which are dependent on the Land, some punishments for not doing them, and we cannot be careful about them."
Many commentaries question this: What’s to stop someone from learning the laws of tithes, and other laws that are dependent on the Land, and fulfilling them?
Today, daily in the Land of Israel, young yeshiva students wake early in the morning and head to Machaneh Yehuda market in Jerusalem in order to separate tithes from all the produce that has arrived that day, so it can be sold in the stores and the good people of Jerusalem can enjoy the fruit of the Land after tithes have been taken out. Today, there is no danger traveling to the Land of Israel, as was the case in Rabbenu Haim's times. Today, the real danger for the Jew lies in wait for those who do not come up to the Land and who stay in the exile - both a spiritual and a physical danger.
The excuses have run out. Today we know the laws of separating tithes down to a tee, and it's just a hop, skip and a jump to get to the Holy Land. Those who continue to stay away and cause the delay of the Redemption of the Jewish people will, in the end, pay the ultimate price.