EXOD807 He used to say: Do not despise any man, and do not reject anything; for there is no man who has not his hour, and there is no thing that has not its place (Pirkei Avot Perek IV, mishnah 3). Therefore, says Ben Azzai, "do not despise any man," whatever you may know of his past. For "there is not a man that has not his hour." There is no person in the world without his moment of repentance, his occasion of yearning to do good. No one is completely set for life, determined by his past. The way of the future is open for all of us. Ben Azzai's words are precise and clear-cut: we can exclude no one from those considerations of courtesy and esteem due a fellow human being: not even the most flagrant violator of the Torah's most sacred commandments. There is another passage in the Talmud that bears out Ben Azzai's dictum: Scripture teaches, "If you see your enemy's donkey lying under its burden, you shall forbear to pass him by him; you shall surely unload it with him" [this verse]. But, asks the Talmud, what sort of "enemy" does the Torah mean? After all, we are not to have personal enemies, for Scripture itself ordains, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart." (Leviticus 19:17). And the Talmud concludes that the Writ must mean here only someone who, to your own first-hand knowledge, has violated the Torah (T.B. Pesachim 113b). This is the odious, hated "enemy" whom the Torah commands us to help; we are to be kind to him. To insult him or embarrass him will accomplish nothing; he will only be driven further from Judaism and decency. If he is in trouble and urgently needs help, show him the values by which the man of faith lives. Show him that where religion lives, humane help may be expected, readily gotten. Help him, and you may bring him back. For there is no person who does not have his hour; and your kindness may bring on that hour for him now.