כִּי-תִרְאֶה חֲמוֹר שֹׂנַאֲךָ, רֹבֵץ תַּחַת מַשָּׂאוֹ, וְחָדַלְתָּ, מֵעֲזֹב לוֹ--עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב, עִמּוֹ. If you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must surely raise it with him. -Shemot 23:5
We could imagine a world where someone might be inclined to help the enemy because the Torah instructs her to, but after doing so, she would remain hateful towards the enemy. One of our earliest commentators, Onkelos, believes that the act of seeing that person and helping them might strip away the layers of hate. Through the act of doing we have the power to transform what’s in our heart. Onkelos’s interpretation of the verse provides a model for self-growth which pushes us to use external action as a way to influence our internal feelings.
This notion is similar to the words that the Israelites use in this week’s parashah to demonstrate their acceptance of the commandments - “na’aseh v’nishmah” - “we will do and we will understand.” This doesn’t mean that we accept the mitzvot without ever questioning them or analyzing them, but it does speak to the value of immersing ourselves into action and then learning from it, and then understanding something deeper. Pushing ourselves to act is usually much easier than transforming our inner selves.
As the presidential election creeps closer, I too often hear people (or see their posts on Facebook) disparaging someone for their beliefs. It happens on both sides of the political aisle, and this rift, and the ease with which people speak ill of those they disagree with, is deeply affecting our ability to act as decent human beings to one another. Our world has made it increasingly easy for us to view someone else as our enemy.
The teaching from this week’s parashah offers us an opportunity, and perhaps a challenge. Our instinct may be to ignore the needs of someone we simply don’t like, let alone someone we view as the enemy. But when we see a moment to help someone with whom we disagree, when we have the ability to be a mensch to someone that we dislike, we might find that in the very act of giving of ourselves to them, our feelings could be transformed. Perhaps the Torah is saying that empathy for another human being might lead us to shift, ever so slightly, the way we feel about them. Sometimes those actions precede the change in ourselves. Push ourselves to do the kind and right thing, and maybe, Onkelos teaches, we’ll find we have fewer people we view as the enemy. May this Shabbat bring us closer to each other.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
Please note: Congregations all over the country are being scammed, with fake email addresses being created with the rabbi’s name. Please do not respond to a note from me asking for a favor to send money or purchase gift cards. All email from me will come to you from this address - RabbiSarit@bsholom.org - and not any other (like gmail), even if the name in your inbox says “Rabbi Sarit Horwitz.”
