Uncomfortable truth behind being a Diaspora Jew today - opinion

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-883184

Virtually all of the thousands of attacks upon Jews over the last several years have gone unpunished; it is extremely rare for any of these criminals to have been fined, let alone incarcerated. As an NYPD detective told me recently, “Jews are attacked with impunity on a daily basis, but the law favors the perpetrator, not the victim.”

The late Rabbi Sholom Gold tells the story of a young American yeshiva student who spent a year researching the halachic sources regarding the requirement to live in Israel. He then came to Jerusalem and sought out Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, of blessed memory, one of Jerusalem’s great sages.

He asked the rabbi, “The Rambam and the Ramban – Maimonides and Nachmanides – argue over whether living in Israel is one of the 613 commandments. Which one was right?” The Rav did not reply. So the student persisted: “While some scholars say that living in Israel is obligatory, others, such as Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, say it is optional.

Which one is right?”

Rav Auerbach turned to the young man. “You don’t need to know the opinions of these rabbinic leaders,” he said. Just walk into any Hebrew grade school and ask, “What country did God choose for the Jews to live in?” Each and every child will unanimously answer, “Israel!”