All We Idolators

Real questions, submitted by actual OU Torah followers, with their real answers. NOTE: For questions of practical halacha, please consult your own rabbi for guidance.

Q. Is living outside of Israel likened to avodah zara?

A. There is such a statement in the Talmud, but I wouldn't take it too literally. Kesubos 110b says: “The Sages taught that one should always live in Israel … because one who lives in Israel is like one who has a God and one who lives outside of Israel is like one who doesn’t have a God, as per Leviticus 25:38, ‘To give to you the land of Canaan to be your God.’”

The Gemara then asks: “One who lives outside of Israel has no God? Rather, one who lives outside of Israel is as if he worshiped idols, as I Samuel 26:19 says regarding David: ‘They have driven me out today so I shouldn’t cling to the inheritance of Hashem, saying: Go, serve other gods.’ Who ever told David to serve other gods? Rather, we see that one who lives outside of Israel is as if he worshiped idols.”

Rashi on this explains that driving David out of Israel is compared to telling him to worship idols because he was compelled to turn to the king of Moav and to the Philistine city of Achish for help; were he still in Israel, he would have been able to rely on God alone. Clearly, living outside of Israel is not literally comparable to idolatry or one wouldn't be allowed to live elsewhere even on pain of death! As it is, one is permitted to live outside of Israel, it's just that living in Israel affords one a certain closeness to Hashem.

Throughout history, many people - including great people - have lived outside of Israel, either by choice or by circumstance. Avraham and Yaakov both moved out of Israel at various points. Moshe never set foot in Israel. Maimonides lived in Egypt. The Sages of the Talmud mostly lived in Babylonia. Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Soloveitchik and the Lubavitcher Rebbe all lived in America. Living in Israel is a great thing and it's certainly encouraged but it's not necessarily obligatory and there are many legitimate reasons one might choose not to do so, without judgment.

Here's a link to a PDF with some thoughts about Israel and living in Israel.

Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.