“The relation between body and soul, and altogether between the spirit of things and their corporeality, may be expressed by the example of a rider on horseback.
A rider who is in control and guides his steed can go much farther than he can go on foot.
How aptly then does the image of the Messiah as a poor man riding on a donkey describe the human predicament:
The divine spark borne and guiding, the physical donkey bearing up and waiting for guidance and power”
--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From The Thirteen Petalled Rose, p. 62 by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
