The Ladder - Stick Figure Vignettes

It took me a while to settle on using the ladder/prayer imagery for this week. I kept on fighting it because… well, honestly, I’m not very good at praying. But eventually time ran out and the ladder was the best shot I had. So I decided to animate what I think my struggle with prayer is.

The siddur is a pretty big book, considering how much of it we’re expected to recite every single day. It can be daunting, and thus, I’m often tempted to do the best I can, but basically just do a running jump straight to the top of the ladder. But since prayer is a process through which we move closer and closer to G-d, just Jumping to the top won’t do any good. We have to start at the beginning, look at the world around us and see how the entirety of creation praises the Creator. And slowly we move forward, step by step, rung by rung, and at each step taking the time to experience G-d on a more personal level.

Wow, It actually sounds beautiful to me just writing about it, but for some reason I’m still heavily relating to the stick man. But hey, learning to appreciate the process can also be a process, right? Btw -- perhaps those of you who have an easier/more meaningful time with prayer can give me some pointers.

Topics: Process & Objective, Ladder; Stairs, Prayer, Vayeitzei

By Dovid Taub

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January 21, 2013

Awesome how you can be so creative with stick figures.

anonymous
Pittsburgh, PA

April 25, 2012

Not only Prayer

This seems like an illustration of human growth in general. In prayer, sure, but also in learning to acquire any new skill, in becoming an educated person, etc., we all have to go step by step before we can get "to the top" and get the amazing "free stuff" of good feelings and maturity that accomplishment brings. From my perspective, all learning is spiritual growth in some way, and it all means that you can't get to the second step before going through the first step first.

Lyone
Columbus, OH

October 14, 2010

Victoria

Hi David, I never did see a more accurate depiction of my prayer life its an image I will not soon forget and hopefully will stop acting out :-) God bless you.

Victoria
Nairobi, Kenya

November 27, 2009

Why pray...

The endless amount of choices or directions to go in as we live our life can lead us to success OR failure: Meaning the results we want to achieve or avoid. There is no other way to be sure of having the results in our life turn out for the best. Prayer is the only sure way. Every other way, by simply using our thoughts, is risky business! Everything can go either way, as a gamble. Who wants to gamble their life away? Prayer is the sure way to have the outcome necessary for your sucess of your dream. So be careful of what you pray for and have faith that you will have it! Remember along the way to be gratful for what you already have.

Marlene
jewishtrivalley.com

November 27, 2009

You & He

Every story we read from adam to noah from noah to abraham from abraham to moshe...its all the same story ... no different than yours, than ours, starts w/modei ani and then we visit the day...step by step ...the now is the only reality we have in this world...thank you, your animation was PERFECT! Shabbat Shalom!

steve "shlomo" brody
roslyn harbor, ny

November 27, 2009

rush for the top

Dovid, you have no idea how incredibly comforting it is for me to know that I'm not the only person that struggles like this with prayer. The cartoon depicts me perfectly, and I saw immediately that i too had been making a foolish rush for the top without remembering the importance of carefully establishing a footing on each rung. Another thing- in ladder safety practice we are told to always maintain 3 points of contact on the ladder, and to keep ourself centered as we climb.... i wonder if this adds a few more ideas into the mix?

Anonymous
Saskatoon, Canada

November 27, 2009

Connection

Once i was on Shabat without a prayer book away from home. So what i did was to have an Hitbodedut with G-d for 60 of the 90 minutes that the prayer takes me to do (Hitbodedut is when u just sit by yourself and speak aloud to G-d as if you really see Him in the room). That allowed me to obtain an enormous sense of Divine Presence and of connection with Him.
When I pray, i try to remind myself of that experience and to feel the same intensity of connection - while I'm using the prayer book.

Reuven
Hertzliya, Israel

November 3, 2009

Prayer and praying?

Wow, I was thinking of this more biologically. Sometimes I get too caught up in the words (and sometimes the pronunciation) and forget the point of prayer, to send a message up to G-d, or through to G-d. So I have started praying by just feeling and using that as a communication point to converse with G-d. But, I am a girl. Through research, I have come to the conclusion, alongside those at Chabad, that for whatever reason, girls have an easier time at prayer than boys. I guess we are more inward and spiritual, and prayer is a very introverted thing. Blessings are a different story, though, being the opposite of prayer. :) Maybe you would start with getting inside yourself a little more? I don't know! It was a great animation, though. Profound. I really liked your explanation! :)

Pam
Hamburg, NY

January 19, 2009

Favorite Topics

Prayer has always been one of my favorite topics for thought and action too. I love this little vignette AND each comment has added something to my appreciation of what it means. Thanks one and all, and what could be better than 'free awesome stuff' except, maybe: 'awesome free stuff'' ;) Just the thought of it makes me want to daven Mincha!!!

Ednah-Sarah
San Antonio, TX

December 6, 2008

climbing

While there are so mnay obvious and connections between prayer and rising to loftier heights, sometimes i think we spend too much time caught up in metaphores. Perhaps we place to much emphasis on prayer being above us - attainable only through a process that contains, by its very nature, the risk of falling.
The place we are going is always before us and the Holy One of Blessing is always with us. . . so, we can remove the pressure of rising to what seems to be unattainable by placing that metaphorical ladder flat on the ground - focusing our next steps not on the ACT of rising (and possibly falling) but rather, on making each choice and action like another word of prayer. The sought height will be attained through acts, and prayer will be more powerful, as it will eminate not from the desire to attain it, but from within, as the connection would have been earned.

annonymous

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