Rabbi Zweig
"If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden…you shall help repeatedly with him” (23:5)
The Torah relates that we are obligated to help a person in a predicament even if we strongly dislike him. The terminology used by the Torah is “azov ta’azov imo” – “you shall help repeatedly with him”. The use of the term “azov” to describe the assistance which we are obligated to offer is perplexing, for “azov” is usually translated as “leave”, as we find in Sefer Vayikra “la’ani ta’azvenu velo silketenu” – “you shall leave it for the poor, do not gather it”. This would lend the opposite interpretation to our verse, i.e. “if you see a person requiring help, you should leave him”. Why does the Torah use a word to describe assistance which has the opposite connotation?
The Torah uses the term “azov” when describing a man leaving his parents’ home to find a mate for himself: “Al kein ya’azov ish es aviv ve’es imo vedavak be’ishto” – “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife”. The reason why marriage is described in terms of leaving the parents’ home is to teach us that marriage requires an individual to separate from his parents and acquire his own independence. Only then is he ready to establish a new home with his wife. The term “azov” does not only mean “take leave”, rather “become independent” as well.
The greatest assistance we can offer to a person in need is to bring him to a point where he no longer requires assistance. In so doing, we are giving him his independence. The Torah is teaching us that when we assist our fellow man, it should be done as an act of “azov”, providing the recipient with the ability to leave us, to no longer need our assistance.
