Kesubos 110b - Living in Israel in this day and age

For a more elaborate discussion about this, see the article I wrote in our bi-annual journal "focus" regarding the mitzvah of living in the land of Israel.

http://www.jsn.info/Focus/TishaBAv2006bodyfinal.pdf

R' Chaim mentioned in Tosafos claims that "nowadays" there is not mitzvah to live in Israel since ther are many mitzvos that one will fail in keeping properly. Simply speaking, this is not a statement describing the nature of the mitzvah, rather he is saying it is b'geder 'yatzah secharo b'hefseido', because the reward for living in Israel would be countered tenfold by the punishment for failing to keep the mitzvos properly. However, I wanted to suggest that R' Chaim is actually describing this mitzvah of living in Israel to be for the purpose of fulfilling the mitzvos that apply in Israel. If one were to live in Israel without properly performing the mitzvos, they are not only loosing out on these additional mitvos, they are also not fulfilling the mitzvah of living in Israel. In a sense, this mitzvah may be somewhat of a "hechsher mitzvah" that is meant to lead to something greater.

A proof to this point can be from the gemara in Sotah 14a where the gemara asks why Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel; did he want to enjoy the good fruits! His desire to go must have been fueled by his yearning to perform the mitzvos that apply in Israel. Why didn't the gemara answer more simply that he wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel to fulfill the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel (Meshech Chochma in parshas R'eh raises this question and offers an alternative answer that the mitzvah of yishuv could be fulfilled on the east of the jordan, so moshe's desire to cross the jordan was only to fulfill the mitzvos)?

Based on the above suggestion, the whole purpose for the mitzvah to live there is to fulfill the mitzvos that apply there, so the gemara focuses on the goal rather than the means. Therefore, this gemara is actually a proof to that understanding of R' Chaim in Tosafos.