Halakhah sobre Génesis 13:17

Rabbi Ishmael the son of Rabbi Yosi asked those who lived in Babylonia, by what did they earn the right to call their living there “life.”²⁹²I.e., a successful life, since a life of sorrow cannot really be called “life.” They replied, “by right of the Torah.” And for those in the land of Israel, by right of the tithes. And those outside of the Land, by what right? Because they honor the Sabbaths and the holidays. Rabbi Yohanan in the name of Rabbi Yosi b. Halafta said, “Abraham our father, about whom is not written that he observed the Sabbath, inherited the world within measurable limits, as it is said, ‘Up, walk about the land through its length and breadth.’²⁹³Gen 13:17. But Jacob, about whom it iswritten that he observed Shabbat, as it is said, ‘and he encamped in the city,’ he entered at morning twilight, and fixed boundaries while it was still day,²⁹⁴Gen 33:18. In other words, according to the midrash, Jacob made an eruv that allowed him to carry things in the city on Shabbat. inherited the world without measurable limits, as it is said, ‘You shall spread out to the west and to the east, etc.’²⁹⁵Gen 28:14. Another interpretation: “God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy,”²⁹⁶Gen 2:3.He blessed it by exempting it from being postponed. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said, ‘A festival is postponed; Shabbat is not postponed.²⁹⁷That is, unlike other holidays, which occasionally may be postponed a day, such as the first day of Rosh Hashanah so that it won’t fall on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, which would create problems later on in the calendar. Shabbat always falls on the seventh day of the week (Chavel). Another interpretation: He blessed it with a partner.

It should, however, not be inferred from Rambam's failure to classify settlement in the Land of Israel as a mizvah that it was his position that residence in Israel is not preferable to residence in the Diaspora.¹¹This seems to be inherent in the position of Mahari Asad, no. 88; cf., however, Pe’at ha-Shulḥan, Bet Yisra’el, 1:15. See also R. Abraham I. Kook, Shabbat ha-Areẓ, Introduction, ch. 15, as well as the comments of Kli Yakar, Genesis 13:17. Even in the absence of a specific binding obligation concerning residence in the Land of Israel in all generations, Erez Yisra'el remains unique for all Jews. Despite the absense of the imperative engendered by a mizvah, domicile in Erez Yisra'el carries with it great zekhut or merit.