Israel At War 5785: Mishpatim – Raising a Fallen Donkey

Are we obligated to help an enemy?

This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, commands the Jews:

“If you see the donkey of someone you hate lying under its burden, and you refrain from helping him—help, you shall help with him.” (Exodus 23:5)

If they hadn’t before, Hamas—and many Gazan civilians—proved themselves on October 7th to be enemies. What they did that day, and what they have done to hostages in the days following, are worthy of hatred.

Yet after the October 7th pogrom, the world demanded that Israel send the Gazans aid in the form of food, water, medicines and medical equipment, and tents. Israel also facilitated a massive polio vaccine campaign in the strip. With the latest ceasefire, aid has increased, and Hamas’ demands that mobile homes and rubble-removing equipment be allowed in are being met.

And before October 7th, Israel allowed aid into Gaza and allowed thousands of Gazans to earn a living by giving them work permits. Israel also provided medical care to sick Gazans.

So, does the commandment to help one’s enemy raise his donkey mean that Israel owes this aid to Hamas, or other enemies? Certainly, the international community believes so, although basing their opinion on humanitarian principles, not Torah.

But hold on. The Mishnah, part of the oral tradition of Jewish law, says about this commandment:

In other words, the owner of the animal must participate in unloading the animal. He may not sit passively and let the passerby do all the work. Yet since 1948, Palestinians have over the years availed themselves of millions of dollars in international aid, as well as aid from Israel, treating it as if it were their right. This aid was meant to build homes for refugees and build a society and economy in which Palestinians could be independent and flourish. Instead, the aid has gone to enrich the heads of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as to indoctrinate children into Jew-hatred in their schools, pay terrorist murderers, purchase weapons, and build tunnels to hide fighters and imprison hostages, while descendants of 1948 refugees still languish in camps.

To the international community, Palestinians cry, “It is your duty to help us,” while they do nothing to help themselves. To Israel, they say, “Give us jobs, money, and medical care so we can kill you.” They are not even the donkey-owner who insists it is someone else’s job to unload the donkey. They use the donkey as bait in a murderous trap, counting on compassion to draw the passerby in, lulling him into complacency about their intentions while spying on kibbutzim to help a later invasion.

Israel owes nothing to the Palestinians at this point. Maybe someday, in a future that is difficult to imagine, there will be a possibility to help raise the Palestinian donkey. But not today.

Neither does the international community. If they choose to help Palestinians without their active participation in raising the donkey, they are fools and Palestinians will not benefit.

I cannot end this piece without expressing joy and gratitude over the hostages brought back to light and life from the depths of hell, hope that those still trapped will be redeemed soon, and fury at the beasts who killed other hostages, yet to be identified at the time of this writing. I am hoping against hope that the Bibas family is somehow, miraculously, not among them, that this is another instance of Hamas’ cruel propaganda. May G-d avenge the blood of those murdered. May He redeem and rescue and bring all his people home, speedily in our day.