A. The Physics Parable – The Elastic Spring
Hooke’s Law:
The restoring force of a spring is proportional to how much it’s stretched.
🔹 The more you stretch it, the stronger it tries to return to its place.
🔹 But if you go beyond its limit – it breaks or becomes warped.
Spiritual Lesson:
The stretch is like a Divine test, a challenge that measures a person’s power to choose good, to listen to God’s voice.
Breaking or twisting represents what happens when one turns away from truth and from the Divine path.
Human Choice:
- To follow God’s commandments
- To return to one’s roots
- To walk the straight path
When a person chooses rightly – they find inner peace, like the calm of Shabbat after six days of struggle.
But if they act with pride and resist – they’ll eventually “break” under pressure and suffer, until humility and truth guide them back again.
B. “Elasticity” – Hidden Meaning: “No Deviations”
The Hebrew word for elasticity (אלסטיות) can be read as “לא סטיות” – no deviations.
Our purpose isn’t to live without pressure, but to stay faithful under pressure—and even if we stray, God helps us return.
As Maimonides wrote (Laws of Repentance, Chapter 5):
“Every person is given free will: if they wish to choose the good path and be righteous – it’s in their hands; and if they wish to choose evil – that too is their choice.”
Spiritual elasticity is using that freedom to bend your will back toward truth.
As the prophet said:
“Your children will return to their borders.”
Each person must first fix themselves, not others.
If someone is chosen to lead, they must align themselves with God’s will.
This is the meaning of “returning to one’s border” – fulfilling one’s role, mission, and divine purpose, without straying.
God promises: whoever falls can return and heal.
That’s the power of teshuvah – returning to your path, to your purpose, to the divine flow of life.
C. The Human vs. the Animal
The sages called the human “medaber” – a being who speaks.
But if one uses speech to curse, insult, or hurt – they fall below the level of an animal, for an animal doesn’t harm with words and has no moral guilt.
That’s not just stretching anymore – it’s breaking.
Yet even that breaking shows where repair is needed.
D. Suffering – A Lesson in Humility
Pain isn’t punishment. It’s correction.
It softens stubbornness, breaks pride, and teaches surrender to truth.
Don’t bend truth to fit your ego – bend yourself to align with truth.
E. Shabbat – The Pattern of Rest
Six days of trials, one day of rest – Shabbat.
Rest isn’t just stopping work; it’s returning to your source.
So too in the soul: when your will aligns with God’s will, you experience an inner Shabbat – true peace.
F. Healing the Broken Heart
A broken heart isn’t despair:
“A broken and humbled heart, God will not despise.” (Psalms 51)
Healing begins with the heart – stepping outside of yourself, seeking good in others, softening your words, showing compassion.
Then the inner vessel is rebuilt, and the real power of teshuvah (return) shines within you.
G. The Foundation of Spiritual Elasticity
- The stretch – a test from God
- The choice – in human hands
- The break – when your will refuses to align with God’s
- The rest – when your will unites with His
Spiritual elasticity means returning toward peace without breaking – the ability to yield to truth, to return to your purpose and place, to live in harmony with the Divine will written in the Torah, and so attain true serenity.
The Father–Child Relationship
“When I feel that my Father in Heaven loves me most of all, I’ll be careful not to harm our bond.
I can talk with Him like a friend; at times I question, and at times He reveals secrets to me.
But I’m still His child, and He is my Father.
So even though I love and cling to Him, I must always honor and respect Him.
He is the Creator; I am the creation.
If I stay humble and sensitive, I can fix myself before I break.
Even under pressure or trial, I’ll stand firm and return to clear thinking – that’s the essence of being Yisraeli – a person of Divine truth.”
