Jews don't follow Judaism

Even Rambam doesn't insist on aliyah. He lived in Egypt, you know.

I've quoted the Ramban (Nachmanides) who said Jews are commanded in every generation to live in the Land of Israel. Are you saying he was a hypocrite or what? Or the Rambam (Maimonides) who said Jews should live in the cities of Israel even if the majority there were Gentile idolaters? Was he a hypocrite too or what?

Why Do So Many Religious Jews Live in America?

The Ramban writes that the commandment to settle the Land of Israel is one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. He bases this on the language of the Biblical verse, “And you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the Land and dwell in it.” We are enjoined with two tasks: first to conquer the Land, and secondly to dwell in it. The Ramban states that this mitzvah (commandment) applies in every generation. Furthermore, all of the early and later Torah authorities (Rishonim and Achronim) who formulate Halacha agree on this matter.

In his sweeping Halachic (Jewish legal) compilation, the Mishna Torah, the Rambam quotes the Talmud: “In all times, a Jew should live in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most of the inhabitants are idol worshippers, and not live outside of the Land, even in a city where most of the inhabitants are Jews.”

Our Sages stated that the mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel is equal to all of the commandments of the Torah combined.
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Regardless of the Ramban or the Rambam, why do Jews resist the return to Zion? Why do Jews turn their back on the Promised Land of Israel? Why don't they yearn to return and GO? Why demand the Messiah do for you what you can do for yourself? If you so despise the Jewish Homeland, how can you expect non-Jews to hold it in high esteem?

Jews Should Follow Judaism to Israel!

And don't blather that it's only because of some alleged "Armageddon" beliefs that Christian Zionists want Jews to make the move, to follow their Judaism to the Jewish Homeland of Israel, because Judaism also teaches that such aliyah [immigration] is a blessing and hastens the coming of the King and is a part of the process of redemption.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Beyond Babylon

Maimonides was wrong (the Rambam)

The great Medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides wrote:

The Jewish people did not believe in Moses our teacher because of the miracles he performed. If one believes in something because of miracles, he may suspect that they were performed through sleight of hand or sorcery...We believe in Moshe because of what happened at Mount Sinai. Our own eyes saw, not a stranger's, our own ears heard, and not another's...The revelation at Sinai is the only real proof that Moses' prophecy was true and above suspicion...(Yad, Yesodei HaTorah 8:1.)

What the Scriptures show is such "believing" people provoked God 10 times in the Wilderness, even after the 10 plagues upon Egypt, the utterly unique Mount Sinai experience, the Manna and the Water from the Rock...

If not for miracles, in accordance with the Law and the Prophets, how would we know who is the Messiah that's supposed to be like Moses? It's not written that we'll all be gathered together again at Mount Sinai, is it? So miracles, faith and works in accordance to the Tanach (the Bible), the fulfillment of prophecies, is the proof after all.