The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Asher Ben Chaim
149
One striking source concerning this relationship is a rather cryptic statement in the very last Mishnah of Tractate Ketubot>Hakol ma'alin l'Eretz Yisra'el, "Everyone may force to go up to the land of Israel..." According to the Babylonian Talmud (ibid., p. 110b), the Mishnah means that both marriage partners have the right to coerce his or her spouse to immigrate to the land of Israel. If a woman refuses her husband’s request to live in Israel, he may divorce her without paying her the value of her ketubah. If a man refuses his wife's request to move to Israel, she may demand a divorce and the full payment of her ketubah.
In practice, contemporary Rabbinic courts are reluctant to enforce these Talmudic rules. If one searches hard enough, one can find authorities who argue that, for one reason or another, the obligation to live in the land of Israel does not apply nowadays. Moreover, it is abundantly clear that a husband and wife who are devoted to each other will work out the difficult issue of whether or not to live in Israel without recourse to a Rabbinic court. Nevertheless, as an indicator of the halakhic ideal for a couple that takes Judaism seriously - the Talmudic passage speaks volumes.
--------------------------
This is a weekly column contributed by Aloh Naaleh an organization devoted to motivating Jews to make Aliya.
Aloh Na'aleh
POB 4337, Jerusalem 91042
Tel: 972-2-566-1181 ext. 320 ~ Fax: 972-2-566-1186
Email: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il
Push Away with the Left Hand
Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli zt"l | 5773
From Zion to Jerusalem and Back Again
Jerusalem Day
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman | 5764
“Ba’omer” or “La’omer”?
Rabbi Daniel Mann | Iyar 4 5777
The Seudah of a Bris
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Cheshvan 9 5781
Tolerance but Not at All Costs
Ayn Aya Shabbat v, 73
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Iyar 5785
Ask the Rabbi: Scratching Improperly Parked Cars
Rabbi Daniel Mann | Iyar 5785
Daf Yomi Shevuot Daf 2
R' Eli Stefansky | 5 Iyar 5785
