Who May Be Called to the Torah?

And you shall drive out the inhabitants of the Land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the Land to possess it.                                            Numbers 33:53

This verse is Naḥmanides’ source that there is an active mitzva to settle the Land of Israel, as he writes [Criticism of Maimonides’ Sefer haMitzvot, positive commandments, number 4]:

We are commanded to inherit the Land which the exalted God gave to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and not leave it in the hands of any other nation, nor leave it in desolation.

Similarly, Naḥmanides writes in his commentary on our verse:

In my opinion, this is a positive mitzva, wherein He has commanded them to dwell in the Land and inherit it, for He has given it to them, and they may not despise the inheritance of God.

Ḥatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer [1762-1839]) writes that we do not call to the Torah a Jew who violates a mitzva which appears in that aliya. For example, one does not call a Shabbat desecrator to the Torah to read “Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy.”

Combining Naḥmanides’ and Ḥatam Sofer’s comments, we can conclude that the only Jew outside Israel who may be called to the Torah when our verse is read  is one who lives in Israel and is visiting abroad) or perhaps one who has a firm date for aliya).