Commento su Deuteronomio 22:4

הקם תקים [THOU SHALT NOT SEE THY BROTHER’S ASS OR ANY OF HIS HERD FALL DOWN BY THE WAY, AND HIDE THYSELF FROM THEM] THOU SHALT SURELY RAISE UP — This refers to the duty of loading — to re-load the burden that fell from it.

לא תראה את חמור אחיך או שורו נופלים בדרך, “You must not idly look on while the donkey or ox of your brother collapse under their load;” Nachmanides writes that here Moses adds an additional dimension to what the Torah had already written in Exodus 23,5 where the animal was described as רובץ תחת משאו, ”lying down (impotently) under its load” (overload). Whereas in Exodus only a donkey, an animal that is used to carry heavy loads is mentioned, and the owner is your enemy, so that the Torah’s concern appears to be only the suffering of the beast, here Moses speaks about אחיך, “your brother,” to show that another consideration for offering assistance must be the desire to keep alive the concept that all Jews are to relate to fellow Jews as if they were brothers. The hate relationship must be set aside when even only an animal’s suffering is involved.

לא תראה את חמור אחיך, “You must not see the donkey of your brother ..fall;” in a similarly worded commandment in Exodus 23,5 the Torah uses the expression חמור שונאך, “the donkey of one who hates you.” The promise contained in our verse is that if you assist your enemy with his falling donkey he will eventually appreciate you and become אחיך, “your brother.” When you assist him he will forget the “hatred” between you and only remember the bond of love that unites brothers.