Why do we speak so much about Eretz Yisrael?
1. This mitzva has been neglected for two thousand years.
2. It is a Mitzvah that is equated with the rest of the Mitzvot put together.
3. It is the only Mitzvah which the goyim are trying to prevent.
The issue of whether Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael is one of the 613 mitzvot is just about the most irrelevent of all the so important aspects of Eretz Yisrael. This shiur explains the shotot of the Megilat Esther, R. Chaim in Tosafot, and R. Moshe Feinstein.
Forfeitures based on practical considerations are not new to the Land of Israel. Those who today take an active role in reaching such agreements are not the first to be offered such an option. Let us not to be swept into the whirlpool of practicality.
