The Donkey of your Enemy

(21) If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

(1) כי תראה חמור שנאך וגו׳ IF THOU SEE THE ASS OF HIM THAT HATETH THEE etc. — כי here has the meaning of “possibly”, “perhaps”, which is one of the four meanings which the word כי serves to express. The sense of the verse is accordingly the following: Can you possibly see his ass crouching beneath his burden and forbear to help him? (The Hebrew word בתמיה in Rashi means “Say this in the intonation of a question”, and is nothing more than our question mark).

(1) לא תראה את חמור אחיך, “You must not see the donkey of your brother ..fall;” in a similarly worded commandment in Exodus 23,5 the Torah uses the expression חמור שונאך, “the donkey of one who hates you.” The promise contained in our verse is that if you assist your enemy with his falling donkey he will eventually appreciate you and become אחיך, “your brother.” When you assist him he will forget the “hatred” between you and only remember the bond of love that unites brothers.

(5) If one unloaded and reloaded the animal, and it fell again, one is obligated to unload and reload it another time, indeed even 100 times, This is indicated by the verbs עזוב תעזוב and הקם תקים in the proof-texts cited above.
For this reason, one must accompany the animal for a parsah, unless the owner of the burden says that it is not necessary.

(6) When does one become obligated to unload and reload together with its owner? When he sees the fallen animal in a way that can be described as an encounter. For Exodus 23:5 states "When you see your colleague's donkey..." and the previous verse states: "When you encounter...."
How far a distance is implied? Our Sages determined it as being a distance of 266 2/3 cubits - i.e., 1/7.5 of a mil. If a person was further away from a fallen animal, he is not obligated.

(1) (Exod. 21:1:) AND THESE ARE THE ORDINANCES (mishpatim)…. This text is related (to Ps. 99:4): AND A MIGHTY KING LOVES JUSTICE (mishpat).1Tanh., Exod. 6:1; M. Pss. 99:2; Exod. R. 30:1. All strength, might, and glory belong to the Holy One. David said (in I Chron. 29:10): TO YOU, O LORD, BELONG THE GREATNESS AND THE MIGHT…. <Such> strength belongs to the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One. You find that whoever is in a position of power does not accomplish his ends with justice (mishpat) but <instead> subverts justice. The Holy One, however, is in a position of power and <still> loves justice (mishpat). (Ps. 99:4, cont.:) YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED UPRIGHTNESS. R. Alexandri said: Two donkey drivers who hated each other were going along the road.2M.Pss.99:3. When the donkey belonging to one of them lay down, his companion saw it and passed by. After he had passed by, he thought: It is written in the Torah (in Exod. 23:5): WHEN YOU SEE THE DONKEY OF ONE WHO HATES YOU <LYING DOWN UNDER ITS BURDEN>…, [YOU MUST SURELY ASSIST HIM.]3Cf. ARN, A 23; Matthew 5:43–48; //Luke 6:27–28, 32–36; Romans 12:20. He immediately returned and shared the load with him. He began to consider <the matter > in his heart. He thought: So-and-so actually loves me,4The Buber text reads, “him.” and I did not know it! They entered an inn,5Gk.: pandokeion. to eat and drink. Who caused them to make peace? <It happened> because this person considered the Torah. (Ps. 99:4, cont.:) YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED UPRIGHTNESS…. What is this? This is justice (mishpat).

(2) What is meant by Thou hast established equity (ibid.)? R. Alexandri explained it as follows: Two mules are being led along a road by men who despise each other. Suddenly, one of the mules falls to the ground. As the one who is leading the second mule passes by, he sees the mule of the other man stretched out beneath his load, and he says to himself: “Is it not written in the law that If thou seest the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its burden, thou shalt forbear to pass him by; thou shalt verily release it for him (Exod. 23:5)?” What did he do? He turned back to help the other man reload his mule, and then accompanied him on the way. In fact, while working with him he began to talk to the owner of the mule, saying: “Let us loosen it a little on this side, let us tighten it down on this side,” until he reloaded the animal with him. It came to pass that they had made peace between themselves. The driver of the mule (that had fallen) said to himself: “I cannot believe that he hates me; see how concerned he was when he saw that my mule and I were in distress.” As a result, they went into the inn, and ate and drank together. Finally they became extremely attached to each other. Hence, Thou hast established equity, Thou hast executed justice and righteousness.

(1) (Numb. 21:21:) “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon […].” This text is related (to Ps. 34:15), “Depart from evil and do good; [seek peace and pursue it].” The Torah did not command [them] to go in pursuit of the commandments.145Numb. R. 19:27. Rather [it says] (in Deut. 22:6), “When you come on a bird's nest”; (in Exod. 23:4) “When you encounter the ox of one who hates you”; (in Exod. 23:5) “When you see the donkey of one who hates you”; (in Deut. 24:20) “when you beat your olive tree”; (in Deut. 24:21), “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard”; and (in Deut. 23:25) “When you go into your neighbor's vineyard.” If [these situations] present themselves to you, you are given a command concerning them; but [you are] not to go in pursuit of them. In the case of peace, however, (according to Ps. 34:15), “seek peace,” wherever you are; “and pursue it,” wherever else it may be. And this is what Israel did. Although the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to them (in Deut. 2:24), “begin to take possession, and engage him in battle,” they went in pursuit of peace. So is it stated (in Numb. 21:21) “Then Israel sent messengers….”

And it is true that it is not at all necessary to show that in this he violated the moral commandment "We will besiege your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit" (Psalms 44:14), because the whole of Judaism is full of this, that we should also love the haters, such as "For your enemy's ox shall go astray or his ass shall go astray." , answer and answer him; because you see a donkey that hates you lying down under his burden, and you forsake him? He has left, and you will leave with him" (Exodus 23:45). "If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, and if he is thirsty, give him water" (Proverbs 21:21). And the Christian scholar Kornaval comments beautifully on the verse "You shall not abhor an Egyptian because you have lived in his land" (Deuteronomy 23:8): "So, even for the kind of hospitality that the Jews received in Egypt after they tortured them with all kinds of hard and cruel labor and also shed their blood, the Torah commands them without hating the Egyptians and acknowledging them with gratitude because they lived in their country - if this commandment is not close to loving enemies, then I really don't understand the Hebrew language." And the things are ancient.