The Ben Ish Chai (Niflaim Maaseicha 62) writes, "There was once a חיגר, a lame person, standing on the fork of the road. Due to his poverty, he didn’t own a horse and wagon to ride on. He walked by foot, and he was hungry and thirsty. He rested in the middle of the forest, at the fork in the road, and he waited a long time for someone to ride by and help him. After a while, Hashem had compassion on him. A kind person riding a horse came by, and he saw the lame person lying on the ground. The horseback rider asked him, 'How can I help you?'
The lame person replied, 'You see that I am lame. I can't go on with my voyage, and I am hungry and thirsty. I have no strength.' The man gave him food and drink, and the man enjoyed it immensely. The rider returned to his horse to continue his way. The lame person begged that he take him on the horse, so they could ride together. The man agreed. The lame person climbed up, with great difficulty, onto the horse, and the rider thought to himself, 'How can I allow the lame person sit behind me? He might fall off the horse!' Therefore, he placed the lame person in front, and he sat behind him. He let the lame person hold the reins of the horses and lead the horses to the city.
When they arrived at the city, the lame person said to the owner of the horse, 'Reb Yid, we have arrived at our destination. Please get off my horse and let me go on my way.' The owner of the horse said, 'How great is your kafuy tovah! I gave you food and drink, I took you on my horse all this way, and now you want to take my horse away from me?'
The lame person shouted, 'Shame on you, for acting this way... I saved you from the forest. I took you on my horse, and now you want to take away my horse with your foolish words?'
The dispute went on and on, both shouting. Due to the shouts, a large crowd arrived. They didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Most people thought that the lame person was telling the truth because they saw that he was a great rachmanus, he could hardly move, and they figured that the other person took advantage of his weakness, taking away his horse. When the true owner of the horse understood where this was going, he said, 'Let us bring this case before the rav of the city.'
They came to the rav, each one telling his side of the story. The rav understood the truth of what was going on. He understood that the lame person was taking advantage of his handicap to take away the horse from its true owner. The rav cleverly directed the case until the lame person admitted on his own that he was trying to steal the horse. The horse was returned to its true owner.
The rav said to the owner of the horse, 'You saw how hard it was to get your horse back. From now on, be careful and never let someone else sit in front of the horse, and never allow a guest take the reins in his hands.'
We learn from this the following lessons: Each person has a body, which is like the lame person, which we have to feed and give to drink. We certainly can't lose sight of the body's needs. However, one must be extra cautious that he doesn't give the body the reins. This means the body shouldn't be the leader. At least one hour a day, show that you are the owner, you are the leader.
