Once again, Israel rushes in with helping hands

I keep hearing this phrase: “When the tallest mountain trembles, the smallest mountain comes to help.” As if the friendship between the people of Nepal and the people of Israel was not already so strong. Now it will be stronger.

Israelis are no strangers to Nepal. As has become the ritual over the past decades, many IDF soldiers travel to Nepal and India upon termination of their service. Israel is dotted with restaurants, clothes shops and more, in the Nepalese and Indian style. The biggest Passover seder in the world is hosted by Chabad for the many thousands of young Israeli travelers far from home, traveling in Kathmandu.

And now Kathmandu is in trouble, lying in utter devastation and desperation, after being struck by the force of an earthquake and countless aftershocks.

The photos alone break the heart.

I feel so proud of Israel, a tiny country with a huge heart. It never ceases to amaze me; of all the countries, Israel is so small — the size of New Jersey — yet her delegation is the largest.

I came across a video of the Nepal-bound IDF medics. The field hospital commander, Col. Dr. Tarif Bader, was giving his 260 soldiers a pep talk before boarding the plane, whose tail is painted with the navy blue stripes and Star of David, which was loaded with emergency supplies:

“We are prepared for anything. We leave here strong, full of motivation and with pride to do the job. Currently, the only hospital over there — functioning independently — is ours. Ours is the main hospital there, and anyone who is able to contribute, will do so. We will run into problems, dilemmas and challenges, but they will be met and we will improvise solutions. In that spirit I wish all of us good luck. We will do this. And we will do it with dignity and we will do it successfully.”

Again, Israel is saving lives, the first to be there to help in an international disaster and crisis, deploying a hybrid of compassion and skill that blooms deep from the well of Jewish values. Tikkun olam is the fiercest definition.