Kiruv

לא תראה את שור אחיך או את שיו נדחים, "You shall not see the ox of your brother or his sheep cast off, etc." This paragraph is an allusion to the need for the scholars to admonish the plain people in order for them to become the true people of the Lord. The term used by the Torah to describe these morally upright righteous people is אחים, brothers. I have already explained to you that this appellation is reserved for the finest group of individuals (compare Shemot Rabbah 52,5). It is these people whom G'd commanded that when they see an "ox" who is lost, i.e. a human being on a lesser moral level who is compared to a beast, to engage in rescuing him. The reason the Torah speaks of "ox and sheep" instead of donkeys, for instance, is that the Jewish people whom the Torah alludes to by the words "ox or sheep" are basically sacred, fit for the altar as opposed to such animals as the donkey. The word אחיך, "your brother," is a simile for G'd who "owns" all of us. The reason that Moses employs this unlikely sounding simile is that the Torah wanted to make plain to which one of His holy people the commandment to restore lost Jewish souls applies, i.e. to the righteous, the Torah scholars.

נרחים, "gone astray;" the word is used in a similar sense in Deut 4,19: "and you are drawn astray." Someone who violates G'd's commandments is considered as having gone astray. The Torah commands that we must not ignore such people but bring them back to one's "brother" i.e. to G'd. The reason the Torah repeats the instruction השב תשיבם, "you shall surely restore them" is that if you will make the first move in setting such people on the right path they will complete the journey back to G'd under their own steam.

ואם לא קרוב אחיך, "And if your brother is not near, etc." Here the Torah hints that it speaks of a period during our final exile, when we will be quite estranged to our Father in Heaven. The period described is the one of which Bileam spoke in Numbers 24,17 when he said: "I can see it but it is not near." The very fact that the redemption does not seem near at hand is apt to estrange the Jewish people to G'd. Even in the present generation the knowledge that the ultimate redemption is so far away undermines the people's faith in G'd. Nonetheless G'd commands ואספתו אל תוך ביתך, "you are to gather him inside your house." The house the Torah speaks of is the Torah academy, etc. There you will teach him the paths of Torah so that the light radiated by Torah study will save this person spiritually. This process will continue until G'd is placated and will claim him back, i.e. עד דרש אחיך אתו. The words והשבות לו, "and you will return it to him," mean that your concern for the straying Jew will be accounted for you as if you had rescued him from becoming totally lost.

Alternatively, the meaning of the verse is that the Jewish people must engage the common people in the study of both halachah and Mussar, religious law and religious morals, until the day one dies, i.e. we are recalled by G'd. The Torah is particular about describing this as והשבת לו, to warn that if we remain inert in this matter we will be responsible for such people winding up in Hades instead of in the Eternal Life in the hereafter.

וכן תעשה, "And similarly you shall do, etc." These additional examples of animals or objects gone "astray," are due to the fact that man is composed of three components. 1) the composition of the body ; 2) the spiritual part of man; 3) the part of Torah to which every Israelite is "betrothed." The Torah writes כן תעשה לחמרו, "so you shall do to his donkey" as a simile for the body. It writes כן תעשה לשמלתו, regarding the spiritual part of man; we have been told in Shabbat 152 that the spiritual part of man is called שמלה "garment," when the Talmud recounts a parable about a king who has given garments to his various servants. Finally, the Torah describes the part of Torah every Israelite is betrothed to as אבדה when our verse speaks of אבדת אחיך. In Kidushin 2 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai tells a parable explaining why it is that although the Torah describes a betrothal as something initiated by a man the Talmud describes it as something happening to a woman, According to Rabbi Shimon the Torah considers that man when searching for a wife searches for a part he has lost, i.e. אבדה. It is not woman who has to search for what man had lost i.e. the "rib" G'd had taken from Adam when He created woman. Seeing man's betrothed is the Torah, he has to consider it as a lost object if he has strayed from the path of Torah. It therefore is part of our duty to ensure that this lost object is restored to all those Jews who have lost it.

לא תראה את חמור אחיך..נפלים בדרך, "You must not observe the donkey of your brother falling down, etc." This verse speaks of a state of estrangement from tradition which is far greater than that which the Torah spoke of when it referred to נדחים, "straying," in verse one of our chapter. The Torah warns that one must not use this degree of one's fellow's estrangement from G'd and the Torah as an excuse to remain aloof reasoning that any attempt to bring such people back to the fold would end in failure anyway. As long as the "fallen" Jew co-operates in efforts made to rehabilitate him, i.e. עמו, we are not allowed to ignore him; if; however, he refuses to co-operate in such attempts to lead him back into the fold we are allowed to leave him to his own devices. This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote (Proverbs 9,8): "Do not rebuke a scoffer, for he will hate you."

The Gemara relates: One day, Rabbi Yoḥanan was bathing in the Jordan River. Reish Lakish saw him and jumped into the Jordan, pursuing him. At that time, Reish Lakish was the leader of a band of marauders. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to Reish Lakish: Your strength is fit for Torah study. Reish Lakish said to him: Your beauty is fit for women. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: If you return to the pursuit of Torah, I will give you my sister in marriage, who is more beautiful than I am. Reish Lakish accepted upon himself to study Torah. Subsequently, Reish Lakish wanted to jump back out of the river to bring back his clothes, but he was unable to return, as he had lost his physical strength as soon as he accepted the responsibility to study Torah upon himself.

Rabbi Yoḥanan taught Reish Lakish Bible, and taught him Mishna, and turned him into a great man. Eventually, Reish Lakish became one of the outstanding Torah scholars of his generation. One day the Sages of the study hall were engaging in a dispute concerning the following baraita: With regard to the sword, the knife, the dagger [vehapigyon], the spear, a hand sickle, and a harvest sickle, from when are they susceptible to ritual impurity? The baraita answers: It is from the time of the completion of their manufacture, which is the halakha with regard to metal vessels in general.

These Sages inquired: And when is the completion of their manufacture? Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It is from when one fires these items in the furnace. Reish Lakish said: It is from when one scours them in water, after they have been fired in the furnace. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to Reish Lakish: A bandit knows about his banditry, i.e., you are an expert in weaponry because you were a bandit in your youth. Reish Lakish said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: What benefit did you provide me by bringing me close to Torah? There, among the bandits, they called me: Leader of the bandits, and here, too, they call me: Leader of the bandits. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: I provided benefit to you, as I brought you close to God, under the wings of the Divine Presence.