Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
Sep 25-26, 2026 • 15 Tishrei 5787 • Sukkot (Deut 22:26-23:44)
Try Try this hypothetical at your table tonight:
Imagine you had a friend who has been super loyal for many years, helped you in many ways, someone you've been through thick and thin with, shared so many ups and downs, so many shared adventures, someone who you know has a good heart. What would it take for you to completely turn your back on this person?
Sep 25-26, 2026 • 15 Tishrei 5787 • Sukkot (Deut 22:26-23:44)
Try Try this hypothetical at your table tonight:Imagine you had a friend who has been super loyal for many years, helped you in many ways, someone you've been through thick and thin with, shared so many ups and downs, so many shared adventures, someone who you know has a good heart. What would it take for you to completely turn your back on this person?
As you may know, Israel has a long history of providing international development assistance, agricultural training, and post-disaster emergency medical relief through field hospitals and rescue teams to all kinds of countries.
Below is a selection of countries that have received Israeli agricultural, technological, or disaster-relief assistance, mapped against their delegation status (Stayed v. Boycotted) during Benjamin Netanyahu's UN address this week:
| Country | Area of Israeli Assistance | Stayed (✓) or Boycotted (✗) |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey | Provided search-and-rescue teams and emergency medical aid following major earthquakes (including the 2023 earthquake). | ✗ |
| Mexico | Deployed IDF search-and-rescue and medical engineering teams following severe earthquakes (such as in 2017). | ✗ |
| India | Extensive bilateral cooperation in drip irrigation, water management, agricultural tech, and dairy modernization. | ✓ |
| Nepal | Delivered emergency search-and-rescue crews, field hospitals, and medical aid after the 2015 earthquake. | ✓ |
| Kenya | Long-term agricultural partnerships, water management projects, and arid-land farming training programs. | ✗ |
| Colombia | Shared agricultural innovation, water technology, and technical training for rural farming communities. | ✓ |
| Philippines | Sent medical teams, humanitarian supplies, and disaster relief following major typhoons (such as Typhoon Haiyan). | ✓ |
| Brazil | Historic technical and agricultural cooperation partnerships, alongside emergency search-and-rescue assistance (e.g., Brumadinho dam disaster). | ✗ |
| Ghana | Agricultural training programs and agritech development initiatives through MASHAV. | ✓ |
| Japan | Technology-sharing agreements and mutual disaster response frameworks. | ✓ |
| Ethiopia | Partnered extensively on modern agricultural techniques, food security initiatives, and rural healthcare training. | ✗ |
| Cameroon | Long-term cooperation involving vegetable production, irrigation training, and medical eye-care camps. | ✗ |
| Tanzania | Recipient of MASHAV agricultural training programs, water management workshops, and capacity-building. | ✗ |
| Uganda | Cooperative farming models, agritech capacity-building, and professional training sessions. | ✗ |
| Malawi | Agricultural training initiatives and rural development assistance through Israeli development programs. | ✗ |
| Rwanda | Horticultural development, dairy industry modernization, and agricultural capacity-building. | ✗ |
But you know what? It seems to me we shouldn't pay too much attention to that chart.
That chart is merely reflecting what we're doing to ourselves. We're the pace-setters for the rest of the pack. When Jews turn their backs on fellow Jews, some non-Jews feel that they too have permission to turn their backs on Jews.
We're one people, with so much in common, with a shared destiny —
Think about it: If your best friend is making a mistake, do you respond by pushing away or pulling toward you?
Shabbat Shalom and
Happy Sukkot
