Many commandments are relevant only in the land of Israel, yet there is a dispute whether living there is an independent commandment. Those who count it, they point to this week’s parasha: And you shall take possession of the land and dwell in it, for to you I have given the land to take hold of it. For them this verse is not just a prediction but an explicit commandment. This disputed verse is always read during the “three weeks” of mourning for the loss of absolute Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. Whether we are commanded to live in Israel is a technical point: for us the inability to enjoy absolute Jewish sovereignty there is a cause for national mourning.