Help a Brother Out

“When you see the donkey of a person who hates you lying under its burden, keep from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.” Exodus 23:5

At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be very relevant to a country that stopped using donkeys as pack animals a hundred years ago and replaced them with cars and trucks and planes. However, there are a couple of very obvious applications we can get from this.

First of all, we have a general rule that no matter how we feel about a particular individual, we should still help them when they need it. I don’t have to like you, but I do have to give you a ride when your car breaks down. Along these lines the Master tells us, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Matthew 5:46-47 (RSV)

Secondly, and maybe more obviously, we are obligated to help others out in general. Following Rav Hillel’s principle of “the light and the heavy,” if we are required to help our enemies, how much more our friends? The example I mentioned before may be the most obvious parallel: what should we do when someone’s car breaks down? We give them a ride. We help them repair it.

The sages of the Mishnah point out (Mishnah, Baba Meisa 2:10) that this law does not require us to help someone who expects us to unload the donkey on our own, we are only required to work alongside them as they unload the donkey. We are also not oblidged to help if the load on the donkey was more than it would normally be able to carry, because it says “its load,” meaning “it’s normal load.” And this is perfectly true. However, the Master does not teach us to do simply what is required of us. He tells us, “If any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Matthew 5:41 (RSV)

We should not do only what is required of us. Even if a person has overloaded their donkey, or let’s say their car, we are not required to help them, but R. Yeshua encourages us, as good Hassidim, to do it anyway.