Rav Avrohom Gumbiner ZT”L, the author of the Mogain Avraham, however, provides a different explanation in his Zayis Ra’anan commentary on the Yalkut Shimoni. He writes that the Torah needed to write both Passukim, one for “brother’s ox,” and one for “enemy’s ox,” to teach us that if we contemplate that this enemy is still [Jewish and is] our brother, then we will overcome our evil inclination to not return his lost item to him. The Ramban in this week’s Parsha seems to explain the Midrash the same way.
We see an extraordinary lesson from the Mogain Avrohom above. Sometimes our negative feelings towards our enemies can cause us to obscure the truth and thus rationalize improper behaviors and assumptions – in this case, “I am not under an obligation to help my enemy.” The Torah here is telling you that if you contemplate the fact that your enemy is still your brother, you will do the right thing and help him.
What is extraordinary here is that the person surely had already known that the ox belonged to his enemy who is still part of his Jewish brethren, even before the Torah told him so! There is no “new information” here. How then does this help him see his true obligation to help his enemy?
The answer is one of emphasis and focus. The Torah is telling us that if we emphasize a positive idea, “this man is your enemy, but he is also your brother! Focus on that!” then that can help us do the right thing even if we already know what we are now being told to focus on.
