“You shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the road and hide yourself from them; you shall surely stand up with him.” (22:4)
The Gemara (Baba Metzia 32B) brings the following conundrum: If you see your friend unloading his donkey and at the same time you see your enemy loading his donkey, you are commanded to help your enemy, even though you by helping a your friend unload his donkey you receive the reward for two mitzvot: azov ta’azov and tza’ar ba’alei chaim and by helping your enemy load his donkey you gain just one mitzva. Isn't it better to do two mitzvahs than one?
There is a deep message: The reason to help the person you hate is because you are doing tikun hamiddos. All mitzvot are given to us for this purpose. However, because some mitzvot provide the opportunity for a more direct tikun, as in this case, the halacha is to go first to your enemy and help him. Less is more.
The Yaitzer Hara knows he can't fool us by causing us to do an outright avaira. Instead he desguises himself as "a bundle of mitzvahs" or "an important mitzvah". And through this disguise he can cause us to neglect our family and friends for the sake of “doing more numerous or important mitzvot”. Certainly it is human nature to go after the mitzvot that are interesting and pleasant rather than the less “glamorous” or noticeable ones. We must guard from the excuse of a “better” mitzvah to get out of something we don’t want to do. Be aware that there is a “frum” yetzer hora. Don’t be fooled.
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