[Avodah] [Areivim] Is it ..Galus

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

In the Areivim thread "Is it ..Galus", TorahMike wrote:
> Hyou can possibly compare us to those who violated the
> words of the Navi Ezra. Ezra is not around telling US
> to move to Israel! It's the difference between violating
> and not violating divrei navi. RMF( among the many
> poskim), who paskens there is no such chiyuv, is not
> telling everyone to be over divrei navi. 

I'm glad he used the phrase "divrei navi", because it made me think of an interesting question that I don't know if I ever heard before.

This thread had included comments and quotes of poskim regarding whether or not Aliyah is a chiyuv, mitzvah or reshus, d'Oraisa or d'rabanan. But now I'm curious: What was its status in Ezra's time?

Of course, for millenia Chazal have taught us to mourn the fact that so few Jews heeded Ezra's call to return to Eretz Yisrael. But my curiosity is now piqued: Exactly what were they guilty of? Was it a chiyuv d'Oraisa that they ignored? A mitzvah d'rabanan? Or maybe they simply opted out of following one of the great Religious Zionists of all time?

Akiva Miller
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