ZIONISM VS. MAKING ALIYAH TO ERETZ YISRAEL [#15968]

October 19, 2021

QUESTION:

I very much want to make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. I understand that Mashiach is very close and that now it’s time for us to “return home” now. However, I’m afraid of transgressing the “Three Oaths” [as taught by the Satmar Rebbe zt”l].
I know that now’s the time for aliyah, and if not now, then never. However I need to make the move correctly and I need to know how to live in Eretz Yisrael with the proper attitude and hashkafos. How can I live in Eretz Yisrael without transgressing the Three Oaths?

ANSWER:

Aliyah is about moving to Eretz Yisrael (the Holy Land) - and it is not about “moving to the country of Israel.” There is no halachic issue of going to live in “Eretz Yisrael” – there are only halachic issues for a person who wishes to live in “Israel”, the country of Israel that is associated with what is called “Medinas” Yisrael, the Israeli government [meaning that it all depends on what your attitude is, if you are coming to live in Eretz Yisrael because of the holy land that it is, which is the right attitude to have, or if you are coming to live in Israel due to Zionism, which is the wrong attitude to have and which is problematic].
The Vilna Gaon wanted to come live in Eretz Yisrael, and so did the Baal Shem Tov, and Baba Sali came to live here, and so did many other great holy leaders from all different sects of Jewry from the past.
And even many chassidim of Satmar are living in Eretz Yisrael. The attitude you need to have towards aliyah is that you will be moving to “Eretz Yisrael” [the holy land], and not to the “Medinas Yisrael” (the country of Israel, which is the secular, Zionistic culture that is not Eretz Yisrael).