The suffering of a donkey “sprawling helplessly under its burden” (Exod 23:5) which must be alleviated is an important concern for the Torah that powers over a person’s conflicting sentiments against the animal’s owner whom he considers as a nemesis. The issue at stake is not about the estranged donkey’s owner, but the innocent animal who needs to be promptly helped, even if the owner was not present at the scene or is indifferent to his donkey’s plight. Similarly, this weekly Torah portion Ki Tetse prohibits punitive measures against a blameless child of a parent who did wrong, or vice versa when the parent is innocent (Deut 24:16); the connection........

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