Israel's Humanitarian Aid

Having met a few Iranians, I got the distinct impression that the people are not necessarily against Israel; it is their "leaders" who are so hateful. There have been times when we helped countries who were not friendly towards us. In the case of Iran, however, I've a feeling our efforts to help would be rebuffed

YASHER KOACH. I'M WONDERING IF PERHAPS -AND ITS A BIG PERHAPS ONE CAN FIND SOME GUIDANCE TO THE QUESTION ABOUT AID TO ENEMIES IN THIS WEEKS. PARSHA. SEE RASHI Z"L PEREK 21 POSUK 17 "BAASHER HU SHOM", THE MALOCHIM WERE ARGUING WHY SHOULD YISHMAEL WHOSE DECSENDANTS WILL BE KILLERS OF JEWS BE DESERVING OF AID. WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR TAKE. GUT SHAABOS

Those who are kind to cruel people will become cruel to kind people.

Turkey sent aid - immediately following its flotilla! - for the raging forest fires. It would be arrogant not to offer. Turkey turned down the offer to send rescuers, only took our stuff. My only concern with sending Israelis into Iran is whether they would be in danger.

The Talmud states: those who are merciful to the cruel, will end up being cruel to the merciful. There are plenty of wealthy arab nations, Let them send aid for a change.

What do the Rebbeim in the Gemarrah say? They must have addressed this issue to some degree. I also wouldn't want to make that decision. I would want very much to say, "Absolutely NOT!", yet one never knows what a Kiddush Hashem and a compassionate act will do for us in the future. Maybe someone would be helped by the Jews and thus change his/her mind about us. If later, that person were to be in a powerful position, s/he may speak up for us, help steer them to either not hurt us or help us, and it would be because we showed compassion. One never knows what gemilus chassadim will accomplish - besides giving us "points" with HaKadosh Baruch Hu!

Proverbs simply says in chapter 25 verses 21-22 "if your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. in doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you." I do not think that this is a debateable question when to help your enemy or not. God is very clear He says what He means and means what He says.

If your enemy refuses your help, the obligation to help is null and void.

Yes, Rabbi! I would help, the disasters are different then politics.Helping is moral, ethical and peace for the heart.I do not agree either Turkys or Irans politics becouse I am not able to understand, how so much haitred could come into their heart.We know very well, haite give haite.Jews showed and showing love and I do feel absolutely comfortable with that.Jews givin g the biggest charity of the world, without talkin about.I feel comfortable with this as well.In my Life I always kept my grandfathers teachings, Love Your neigbour as Yourself.He teached this to me after holocust. Not, not easy but I am absolutely happy, I have kept his advice.It hae worked for me.Yes, I would help!!!!

Make the offer. Let the Iranian govt. show the people of their land and the rest of the world that they accepted for the good of the Iranian people or rejected the offer because it came from Israel.

Iran does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, so I imagine it wouldn't happen. If there were an earthquake in Iran, I'd hope it would set back the development of the nuclear reactor or even obliterate it. Israel aided Turkey in the previous earthquake as well and then in the Carmel fire, Israel accepted aid from Turkey.

was the first thing to come to mind as the Rabbi spoke. Then the words of Teddy Roosevelt: ..."and carry a big stick". I must admit that I would be hesitant/reluctant to offer my ex-wife any humanitarian aid should she need it, but it would still be the right thing to do. Shouldn't one of our main goals as humans be to alleviate the suffering of our neighbors? Still, should Turkey (or any others) choose to bring suffering on Israel (or any others), you/we would then have the right to respond with every stick in our arsenal to protect ourselves. Comfort first, war if necessary...

NEVER give any type of aid to the enemy, whether it be Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc. All of the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people should be destroyed NOW!!!!!

you have to be kidding. the whole nation would love to wipe out israel and you would help them? you people never learn. who else would you help? maybe a nazi gov't? wake up fellow jews, and smell your enemy.

Turkey also aided Israel last year following the Carmel fire, even though the relationship was already strained.

Thank G-d that Turkey is not eqivalent to Iran . If you can't make a comfortabe decision why are you posting a video?

Just because you don't know the answer doesn't mean you can bring up the discussion!

Israel gives humanitarian aid to the PA. Israel gives humanitarian aid to Gaza. Of course Israel should offer to give aid to any country that is suffering as it did to Japan, Haiti, and others, some far away, some on it's border. That's how it is, that's how it should be. If the offer is not accepted, not Israel's problem.

Definitely lines must be drawn. Running to offer aid is part of our makeup but it should not be done without first asking daas Torah. Helping enemies who see the help offered/given as a sign of weakness doesn't help the giver.

Firstly it is the proper thing to do as Jews. Where there is suffering you must try to alleviate it. Secondly, on a more selfish note, we must hope that the Iranian people will rise up and overthrow their Ayatollahs and other leaders.

Jews are to take the high road, always. It is in our laws . As far as Amalak goes, King Saul suffered for his judgment long ago. We deal with another situation now. If a Jew does a Mitzvah, it is a blessing. If we are refused, it is to their shame.

As a another wrote, make the offer, the world will see your intentions as Israel has done in other disasters and the world will see Iran reject it. In do so they will reap coals on their head. The thing is any arab nation, (and especially Iran) seen taking anything from Israel would be more of a victory for Israel than any sort of conflict however history has shown that they cannnot be trusted and would use any help Israel gave to benefit the Government pockets and the aid would not reach the people it should.

I believe that the Iranian public and in fact most Arabs hate Israelis and Jewish people worldwide. They were very carefully taught and trained to do so and probably do not know why.

I would give Iran aid, but under certain conditions. 1. They publicly disclose all of their nuclear facilities, levels of enrichment and every blueprint of their missiles and bomb designs. 2. They immediately cease aid to, training of or protection to any terrorist groups. 3. They sign a peace accord with Israel guaranteeing explicitly that they will not attack Israel or go to war with them, even if other Arab/Muslim nations do. Since I doubt that any or all of the conditions would be fulfilled, Israel will have offered help and Iran will have refused it, by way of not complying.

Of Course. It would be the perfect opportunity to show Iranians that Israel isn't the enemy thier government is lieing about and it would help the rest of the world to see it too.

There is no question that humanitarian aid should be offered where it's needed. That's the nature of a Jew, the characteristic of mercy. If we start picking and choosing when it's okay to forget our better nature, where will that end. We have to br true to ourselves and not reduce ourselves to vindictive behavior. There is another element that has to be taken into account, though. We have to have assurance that those people we send would be protected. Without some kind of solid assurance, it would be insane to send our people into a place that has a habit of taking hostages. Not only do I not see Iran accepting Israeli aid, I cna't see them giving any kind of assurance of safety to our people. So the answer is, yes, but with caution.

Yes, Israel should offer assistance to the people of Iran. If the government of Iran does not accept, shame on them.

In the long run, it is always better to do the right thing even if you are dealing with a scum like Ahmadinajad. Long after he is gone (and it may not be that long), the people who receive the aid will remember that Israel helped them.

We Jews are obsessed with being loved by all - even those who promise to destroy us...We do things that help our enemies so we may be able to say - 'Look at us! We are so kind! We have such high moral standards - please be our friend!' Yech - it makes me sick...

I believe that extending aid to Iran after an earthquake could only lead to improved relations. Maybe the Iranians would see that the Jews are not the monsters that we've been portrayed to be. And since this aid, or charity, was not expected it would have a greater impact. So for me I would say definitely yes.

I have found that Jew haters will interpret any action by Israel in such a way to fit their psychotic construct. When Israel aided Haiti (certainly no enemy), the anti-Semites said, "Israel is just trying to win points (as opposed to every other country which sent aid for purely humanitarian reasons). There are many intelligent Iranians who realize what is going on, but they have to keep silent. Perhaps a few are in the middle, and would benefit from seeing the true nature of Israel. Don't some Iranians sneak their kids into Israel for sophisticated medical treatment?

If you really believe that, I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn, NY!!

Iran made a point of accepting aid from every country - except Israel.

Were I the Prime Minister of Israel I'd make the offer and allow the Iranian government to reject it, or not! Put the burden on THEM!

A moot point! Iran already refused Israeli aid before it was even offered during their last humanitarian crisis a few years ago. However to answer your question - of course Israel should offer aid, if for no other reason than as a way to expose to the Iranians the Israel that their government would never allow them to see.

I'm not a jew, but a catholic. My religion talks about turning the other cheek, but just how far can you take this philosophy. Sometimes you have to "get your retaliation in first" This is such a time. Iran can't be allowed to achieve these weapons.

No!

Make no mistake, should Iran be aloud to have a nuclear bomb. It will do what is says." Try and wipe Israel out"Are we all going to sit around and do nothing, No of course not. The world stood silent once before with another Hitler. Israel will have no choice, but to fight its survival and do what she has too.

This is not a theoretical question. You can look at the Jewish Daily Forward edition of 2 January 2004 to read about this. Israel did offer aid. Iran rejected the aid. It was the right thing to do. Iran’s rejection of aid is, perhaps, unusual in today’s world. Yes, Israel sent aid to Turkey after the most recent earthquake, but Turkey also sent firefighting aircraft last year to help douse fires raging on the Carmel despite the ongoing dispute regarding the Gaza flotilla. Regional organization for cooperative support in the face of disasters – natural and man-made – just makes sense. It isn’t a case of quid pro quo. It is to everyone’s mutual benefit. Even the pagan ancient Greeks suspended wars to hold the ancient Olympic games. The fact that Iran’s leadership cannot allow themselves to accept a symbolic gesture of civility reflects the degree of their institutional psychosis and hatred. It also demonstrates how truly dangerous they are.

Aren't we suffering because we didn't do as Hashem commanded thousands of years ago?

The enemy Iran would turn the aid around and use it against the Jews...While no one wants people to suffer, one must also take care of themselfs. (a better question would be syria....)

Many Iranian have been jailed and tortured for voicing support of Israel. The whole Iranian voting system is rigged in favor of theocracy, and many Iranians have been interviewed covertly condemning Iran's government and the mad mullahs. In contrast, the Turks voted for the current government and many openly call Israels destruction. Actually, Turks are far more culpable than Iranians.

I honestly believe that we as a people have to stop being so good with people who dont appreciate it. We helped blacks for over 100 years and that community as a whole is anti-Israel and anti-semetic. Let the Iranians rot. Would you also help a wounded nazi? After all it was his government, maybe not him personally.

Rabbi Salomon, I would, nor ever could, offer any aid to Iran. Absolutely not! I believe that there should be a very strong allegiance to Israel, and it's well being above all else. I believe in humanitarism, but the line must be drawn at helpng our sworn enemy. Israel must show the world that they are'nt foolish, and that they have pride. Beig a human, does'nt mean-a thing to these barbairians. I declare a resounding NO!!!!!

I believe that this issue is about OUR behaviour, not anyone else's. And OUR behaviour should not be dependent outside influences, it should come from integrity and an unwavering moral code. And anyway, reality suggests that we would be safe in offering Iran aid, because they would of course refuse it, but the world would know that we have done the right thig.

Our sages tell us that those who are kind to cruel people end up being cruel to kind people. What integrity and moral code are you referring to?

Maybe it would be a good idea to offer Iran aid after an earthquake because it might lead to peace.

although there has been strains between israel and turkey i think its important to show the world that israel will help anyone who is in a natural disaster, regardless of how we feel of them. we are compasionate people. unfortuntately, we have a very leftist media that will always make israel look like the bad guys but atleast israel can say we tried!

I believe there was an earthquake in Iran several years ago. Israel offered aid and it was refused.

Unfortuneatly it's going to be hard to differenciate between the Iranian government and their people. Children in that country are brought up to hate us in every way and ridding the world of jews is a top priority. therefore it would be like feeding a monster that is about to attack you. I can see them using the very aid that we send them against us publicly with no shame. Let's wake up and not be so naive. Don't say i did'nt warn you..........

thanks for your great dvar torah in shul (toronto) yesterday!

No Way! You don't have to help the people who want, in the worst way, to murder you. And I'm referring to the average Iranian, not the ruling elite. Save them today and they'll be tomorrow's sucide bombers. They teach murder to their pre-school children! The fewer of them around, the better off we are.

I think Israel helping to aid devastated areas anywhere in the world is really Zionism at its best, despite the bad rap the word Zionism tends to get in the international community. Since Israel promotes religious equality more than anywhere else in the Middle East in particular, I don't see why not help Iran since it would prove how decent Israeli humanitarian aid is....When I was about to click onto this video, I thought Rabbi Solomon was going to discuss why there really is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to a Red Cross official cited in an article on the Jerusalem Post website a few months ago. So, while much of the international community decries and is complaining about Israel "occupying" Gaza and the West Bank, what and where is Israel really occupying in those territories, and why don't we hear as much about Hamas being the actual ones who are either occupying and/or controlling Gaza and the West Bank?

But with the safety of the transport to a neighboring country. Iran must pick it up nearby. No charges of spying,hostages taken. Goodness will win over evil. Remember, we know the ending as per Torah.

Along the lines of the "keep you friends close, but your enemies closer", yes, humanitarian aid should be offered, but don't worry, the aid would be rebuffed by the Ayatollahs. One should not draw a line when it comes to the potential for safety.