EPISODE · Jul 24, 2025 · 3 MIN
12. Is There a Mitzvah to Love Eretz Yisrael?
from The Mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael · host Rav Shlomo Katz
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 this episode covers
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.
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12. Is There a Mitzvah to Love Eretz Yisrael?
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