The Wayward Horse

Jacob is the rope of His inheritance (32:9)

The relationship between a Jew and his G-d is like a rope: the more the Jew pulls away, the tauter the bond grows; finally, the mounting pressure causes him to rebound with an even greater force of attraction than before…

- Zvi Yair

Near Lubavitch there lived a chassid who had married off his daughter to an extremely talented Torah scholar. The proud father-in-law promised to provide for the newlyweds so that the young man could devoted himself entirely to his studies.

But after a while, the promising prodigy fell into bad company, neglected his studies, and began to veer off to decidedly unsavory pursuits. After much effort, the distraught father-in-law managed to persuade the young man to come with him to his Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch.

"Tell me," said the Rebbe to the young genius, whose new-found interests included horse racing, "what's so great about a swift horse? Let's say that it can gallop twenty verst in the time it takes the average horse to go four. But should it take a wrong turn, it will carry its rider further and further from his destination -- at five times the speed!"

"You have a point," agreed the young man. "In such a case the swiftness of the horse has become a disadvantage."

The Rebbe's next words penetrated the young man's heart: "But remember, as soon as the horse realizes that it has gone astray, it can regain the right path that much faster than his weaker brother..."