Ki sir’eh chamor sona’acha rovetz tachas maso’oy – Perhaps you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden.
Sona’acha, your enemy, is your yetzer hara. Chamor can also allude to the word chumrius, which means, of course, gashmius; when your yetzer hara, animal soul, is being burdened by Yiddishkeit and instead is into ta’avas gashmius.
V’chadalto may’azov lo – will you refrain from helping him? Azov ta’azov imo – you shall surely help him. Learn Torah and teach him the beauty of Torah and mitzvos, connecting with the real thing, Hashem.
It used to be that people would fast and go into self-imposed exile to break their body and animal soul. The Baal Shem Tov taught: ozov ta’azov imo – help him along. Keep your body healthy and teach your animal soul the beauty of Yiddishkeit.
==== The Baal Shem Tov
The Rebbe would advise people who wanted to fast for teshuva reasons to add shiurim in Torah instead.
Note: Today, just keeping your body healthy by eating right is a great avodas Hashem.
UFARATZTA RABBI SHALOM BER MUNITZ
