When you will see the donkey of your enemy collapsed under its load, you may wish to refrain from assisting him; nevertheless, you should help him (23:5)

Once, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (later to found the Chabad Chassidic movement) was preparing to leave Mezeritch after a prolonged stay with his Rebbe, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch. Rabbi DovBer's son, the famed Rabbi Avraham 'the Angel', came along to see him off. As the coach was about to set off, Rabbi Schneur Zalman heard Rabbi Avraham say to the coachman: "Whip the horses, so that they should cease to be horses!" (Another version goes: "Whip the horses, so that they should know that they are horses!")

For Rabbi Schneur Zalman, this remark opened a new vista in man's service of G‑d. He decided to remain in Mezeritch a while longer…

Explained the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory:

The inner meaning of Rabbi Avraham's remark can be best understood in light of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov's famous interpretation of the verse: "When you will see the donkey ['chamor'] of your enemy collapsed under its load, you may wish to refrain from assisting him; nevertheless, you should help him."

'Chamor', Hebrew for 'donkey', also means 'the material' - a reference to the physical body and its mundane drives and needs. Thus, taught the Baal Shem Tov, this verse also describes a Jew's attitude toward the body and physicality:

"When you will see the 'chamor' of your enemy…" - Initially, you will see your material self as your enemy. In the early stages of a person's struggle to refine his self and character, the physical obstructs and hinders his spiritual growth - the soul and the body are enemies.

"…collapsed under its load…" - Under such 'hostile' conditions, the Torah and its precepts are a burden to the body, despite the fact that Torah is its own load, given to man specifically to refine and elevate the physical. Not recognizing what is for its own benefit, the body resists the 'load'.

Thus, one's first inclination may be "to refrain from assisting him", to negate the material. Says the Torah, "nevertheless, you should help him"- cure the 'donkey' of its asininity, refine and develop its tremendous potential. First, make it aware "that he's a horse", bring it to recognize the coarseness of its undeveloped state. Then, "whip the horse so that he should cease to be a horse," directing its energies and resources to positive and G‑dly ends.1