16 Responses

1. Did anyone ask him if the same rule applies to settlements?

2. No – the Gemara is most def. not “Cholek” on R’ Yosef.
   First of all, Goyim are not the same as secular Jews – it is much nore Pashut not to learn from Goyim.
   Second of all, The Gemara says “Rubah Goyim” – not all. There is no question in my mind that the Rav was not coming to preclude living in a religious neighborhood in an otherwise secular city.
   Does anyone really think that living a life devoid – or largely so – of Torah and Mitzvos in E”Y is “Domeh l’Mi she’Yesh Lo Elo’ah”?

3. Um, the twitter comment is inappropriate. The current state of affairs does not even closely resemble the situation in ancient times, where people were much more decent and moral. Today, if a person moves to the wrong neighborhood in Israel, he can easily spiritually destroy himself and his family – and there are many examples.

4. With all respect, a yid living in Tunisia or just any other Arab country would be much better off bringing his family to EY. While there may be safety today, we sadly know from recent history that can change in an instant and jewish lives could be at risk based on geopolitical events. Hertziliyah, even with its secular character, is a lot safer place for a jewish family than Tunisia,

5. True, the Talmud does say to live in Eretz Yisroel, but it is not talking about a case where the people, or a least their children, will probably go off the derech, if they are not in as invironment similar to where they lived before. Unfortunately, this has been seen over and over again. Rav Yosef knows what he is talking about.

6. Far be it from me to second guess HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef but his advice is strikingly like the advice many Gedolim gave before World War 2; to stay in place rather than move to America.

7. Shame on YWN for posting a tweet of an am Haaretz being mevazeh the posek Hador, as if he doesn’t know a Gemara

8. A quick search finds 20 shuls and 5 mikves in Herzliya. Should their users save their souls by leaving Israel for the security and sanctity of Tunisia, Morocco and so on?

9. Why did YWN see fit to publish a tweet from some idiot arguing with a simple piece pf daas torah that shouldn’t have to even be said to begin with?

   Look at the meforshim; don’t just spew random sound bytes and call them gemaros. They are “matmiah” because this is a cryptic chazal.

   The accepted mesorah is to be found in….every other chazal that talks about environment and influence; “aini dar ele bamakom torah” to name one…..also, chutz laaretz was fine for rav, rav yosef, abaya, rava, rav kahana, rav yehudah, rav, shmuel, ravina, rav ashi, and all the other bavli amoraim. Evidently they were “likened to one who has no god” chas veshalom

   Idiocy

10. A question by הוא אומר לעלות does it matter where they will live in Israel? Joeli slightly challenged the Rav . But the Gemara above is a bit more than that?

11. Far from being “the safest place for jews”, the state of Israel has made it by far the least safe place of any Jewish community – yes it is safer than, say Iraq, before someone jumps in on that, but as far as concentrated communities, Israel has more terrorism and antisemitism than literally anywhere else that Jews live. A Jew in America has almost nothing to fear… Even in Iran a Jewish person who keeps his nose clean need not worry about being stabbed for no reason: talk to any Persian Jew about it.

12. Let’s also not forget that it’s sefardi immigrants who are most susceptible and most targeted by the government for assimilation efforts… They are often denied exemptions from the army and due to lack of background they often end up in secular or mostly secular schools. Rav Mazuz, while not needing my haskama, knows this truth very well. The facts on the ground are that Israel is the most statistically unsafe place for jews all around, both physically and spiritually. However moving to the charedi parts not only removes that problem, but is an immense opportunity for growth and development of the sefardi community.

13. He’s entitled to his opinion.

14. The terumat hadeshen in siman 88 gave the same thing psak as Rav Yitzchak Yosef

15. For all those arguing with a gadol hador as if it’s your “8 year old nephew “. Just a little peek into the mepharshim as well as the tur and shulchan aruch will tell you that this doesn’t apply in various cases that entail danger … examples mentioned are danger of traveling as was prevalent back than …… So if a mere physical danger would be an exception HOW MUCH MORE SO SPIRITUAL DANGER!! Do you guys realize that sephardic communities were 90-100% religious and observant before making aliya in the 1940s and 50s and getting spiritually destroyed by the secular Zionist culture and influence?

16. Can we have a full list of the permitted areas? If I made aliya to Tel Aviv but later moved to Jerusalem, am I a baal teshuva, or do I have to go back to where I came from and make aliya again? Is all of Jerusalem religious enough or only some areas?

    We need answers!