Get Think Jewish Delivered to your Home or Office
HOME | CONTACT US | DONATE LoginLOGIN Ask the RabbiASK THE RABBI
Chabad.org - Torah, Judaism and Jewish Info
 
Chabad.org » Jewish.TV » Inspiration & Entertainment » KabbalaToons » The Isifier » Walking Through Fire
  Kabbala Toons
Walking Through Fire
Your own imagination can't burn you, can it? So Rabbi Infinity teaches you how to be the master over your own desires.
Full Screen To download this video to your computer, right click on this link and select "Save Target As"
 
PrintSend this page to a friendShare this
Comment38 Comments

Walking Through Fire

Sunday, May 04, 2008
Posted by Rabbi Infinity

There's so much to talk about on this one. I'm anticipating a loud KToon community buzz, sharing experiences, reactions, rebuttles, rejections, rebellions, reconciliations, rethinkings, repercussions, recapitulations and more.

The idea is actually one of the early teachings of the great kabbalist and chassidic master, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, from when he used to say short teachings before his time in Czarist prison. What's neat is the way he teaches you to objectify your feelings, saying, "That's not really me, that's just a fire burning inside."

You see, the #1 booby-trap on the path to self-mastery is self-blame. As soon as you say, "Oy! I'm so bad for feeling that way!"—you've already sentenced yourself to eternal slavery. Why? Because you've identified yourself with those feelings. You've said, "That is who I am, that is how I feel." And you have to be who you are, right?

But if you say, "Oy, it's that burning fire/dumb animal/secretion of hormones happening again!"—so now you can choose to ignore/tame/master that fire/animal/limbic response system.

After all, you are not the animal inside. You are a G_dly soul.



38 Comments Posted  |  Post A Comment
Viewer Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Mar 30, 2011
walking through fire
This article is excellent advice,and I am saving this one!!! Thank you so very much for posting. Shalom!
Posted By Amanda, Pomona, NJ

Posted: Nov 22, 2010
Thanks
It seems the best anwers are the simplest yet most profound.
Posted By Anonymous, Pembroke , NC

Posted: Nov 21, 2010
Thnx!
I love this method!!
Posted By Anonymous, Boca

Posted: Jan 20, 2010
thanks
oh this is the way to fight the yetzer hora!
Posted By yehuda zev, monsey, ny

Posted: May 28, 2009
For Leah Shaindel - May 18, 2009
"Separate two things: The "I" and towards what does the I gravitate. When the body is dominant, your ego is wrapped up mostly with animal urges; when the soul is dominant, with soulful urges."

Would I be correct in saying that our objective would be to balance these two "forces" in our lives? - and that this is no easy task?
Posted By Jonathan, Johannesburg, South Africa

Posted: May 27, 2009
Thanks!
wow ok i get it now, thank you so much.
Posted By Leah Shaindel

Posted: May 24, 2009
The intersection of projections
You suggested a 'toon about the intersection of the projection from the bodily soul and the projection from the gdly soul.

I second the suggestion.
Posted By Hanalah

Posted: May 22, 2009
Again for Leah again
You're right that the "I" deciding what kind of an "I' I should be sounds quite recursive. But yes, that's exactly what we humans do--we define ourselves.

When we say that "you are your G-dly soul" we are not talking about your ego. We are talking about what lies at your very core and can never be destroyed. The I disappears at death--in a way, it dies at every moment. But the G-dly soul transcends time. So it is real.
Posted By Tzvi Freeman

Posted: May 20, 2009
from leah again
I'm sorry to keep going on about this, but it defines "me" so i guess it's pretty important...
thats a very interesting way to put it, but now it sounds like your "I" is what you make it- which side you decide to gravitate more to
(which I guess could bring up the whole q of how could the I which is defined by nothing more than the ratio of body and soul, then go and work on changing it's own ratio)
but this sentence: "After all, you are not the animal inside. You are a G_dly soul." sounds much more as though a person is objectively only their G-dly soul nomatter the "ratio."
Thanks for your time! (I feel like I have access to talk to the "moreh nevuchim" of our generation! (or as you would probably want it to be said, to the commentator on the "moreh nevuchim of our gen. -the Rebbe")
Posted By Leah Shaindel

Posted: May 20, 2009
For Leah again
Think of the two forces--the body and soul (or the animal soul and the G-dly soul) as two projectors. Each one on its own cannot project an image, but when their rays intersect, an image appears--that's the I.

Now let's say they intersect at a point closer to the body's projector. The I will be more animalistic and body-like. If they intersect closer to the soul's projector, the I will be more G-dlike,

Hey, maybe we should do a KabbalaToon about this!
Posted By Tzvi Freeman, Thornhill, Ontario


 



By Tzvi Freeman   More by this authors...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author
Written and conceived by Tzvi Freeman. Rabbi Freeman is available for public speaking and workshops. Read more on his bio page.
Animation and SFX by Pilar Newton of Pilar Toons
Music by The Piamentas
Rabbi Infinity played by Andrew Torres

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
 
 

Subscribe

Past Episodes
Isifier Tutorial: Investmentization
Isifier Tutorial: Otherness
The Otifier
Walking Through Fire
Isifier III
Isifier II
Isifier I
RSSSubscribe
Share on Facebook