Don’t talk about Infinity. Live it!
Rabbi Infinity is a cartoon character who stars in the Jewish.TV series called KabbalaTunes. The writer and producer of KabbalaTunes is Tzvi Freeman. About his series of brief cartoons, he says,
Give me one minute,
I'll give you cosmic consciousness.¹
This promise is quite a stretch, but he attempts to illustrate how practical it is to have a ‘conscious, constant capacity’ to understand our infinite at-one-ment with God.
In a skydiving episode, Rabbi Infinity jumps out of a plane and plummets toward the earth at 300 miles an hour. And what does he do during free fall? We see him calmly and serenely ironing a sock!
As he irons, he expresses confidence that his parachute will open in time. It does, and he says,
When life sends you
spiraling downward,
stay calm
and rely on the Creator of Life
for a smooth landing.²
Menachem Mendel Schneerson says,
Every moment,
every human activity
is an opportunity
to connect with the Infinite.
Every act can be
an uplifting of the soul.
It is only your will
that may stand in the way.
But as soon as you wish,
you are connected.³
King Solomon grasped God as infinity. When he dedicated the temple in Jerusalem he said,
Behold heaven
and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain thee.
— II Chronicles 6:18
The Psalmist says,
Great is our Lord,
and mighty in power;
God’s understanding
[that is, consciousness]
is infinite.
—Psalms 147:5
Adon Olam is a song that comes to us from Kabbalah. It’s a mystical song that praises God as Master of the Universe, a God who is “without beginning and without end.” It’s the line that says, “B'li reishit, b'li tachlit, v'lo ha'oz v'hamisrah.”
Infinite, eternal, immortal, unbounded. These are words we easily associate with God. But is there a basis in Torah to associate these words with our nature?
Rabbi Rami Shapiro says,
There is nothing in Judaism
that corresponds to
God manifesting
as Krishna or Jesus.
But Judaism does teach
that [we] are
the ‘image and likeness of God.’
That each one of us
[is] a reflection of God
and capable of manifesting Godliness.⁴
Well, of course! An image or likeness can't be unlike its original. Simply put, we’re here as God’s image and likeness—as God’s chosen way—to display divine attributes. This divine mandate is to live Heaven on Earth.
‘Infinity’ means ‘unbounded,’ but it’s often regarded as ‘unknowable.’ However, anyone who has ever transcended in prayer or meditation—or otherwise experienced a moment of intense awe, bliss, or unboundedness in activity—knows how tangible infinity is.
Living divinity is natural—except when something clouds our perception, like the haze or mist of ignorance. That’s when all sorts of problems seem to come up. Just ask Adam and Eve!
It’s been said that, from the standpoint of metaphysics,
The first Chapter of Genesis
shows what we really are.
The second chapter
[after the mist appears]
says what we seem to be.⁵
When we consider the image and likeness of God as finite, limited, mortal, and bound, we totally miss the mark, which makes it a sin. Really? Perhaps you say, I’ve never heard that one before!
The word “sin” in Hebrew comes from an archery term; it means to “miss the target.” So what’s the target? It’s to consciously realize our identity as one with infinite, eternal Being. That’s a big order, but Isaiah admonishes:
Enlarge the place of [your] tent,
and stretch...forth the curtains
of [your] habitations
[that is, your conscious awareness].
— Isaiah 54:2
Our consciousness is our home. It’s where we ‘dwell.’
The mysticism of the Zohar certainly stretches our boundaries. Our favorite Zohar scholar, Daniel Matt, in one of his lectures, says
The Zohar challenges
our understanding of God,
and dares us to transform ourselves.
It shatters childish theological images
and discovers a God called infinity,
[in Hebrew], ‘Ein Sof.’⁶
When analyzed, it can be said that
Every problem is, in essence,
a belief in lack—
be it lack of health,
lack of money,
lack of opportunity,
of desired companionship,
of ability,
or even lack of
spiritual perception.⁷
Seeming lack of any kind is a theory that somehow God is not All, is not present, is not operative or that some other power exists that can set aside God’s Will or come between us and God.
Now, to think of ourselves without lack can sometimes be quite a stretch. But Rabbi Infinity hints at a fix for this as well. He has invented what he calls the Isafier. He explains that with just your own thought, it makes things Be.
It generates “Isness.” The ‘Isness’ of anything you want to create. He says, “As you begin to play with the Isafier, you begin to wonder, ‘What is it that Isafies me?’”
The cartoon, of course, reveals God as the Grand Isafier.
When we acknowledge lack, by definition we doubt the infinite existence and power of the Grand Isafier, and we make an agreement with the suggestion or theory that we are, or could ever be, less than cared for, provided for, or loved by God.
Perhaps first and foremost, that’s the agreement we need to annul on Yom Kippur!
Where do we find the seemingly illusive ‘image and likeness’ of divine consciousness? In our own pure thought, where there’s never a haze or a mist to cloud our perception, where spiritual vision is so clear we can’t possibly miss the mark.
This is where we commune with God, in the silence and sanctity of our own pure consciousness.
In another episode of KabbalahTunes, Rabbi Infinity stands inside the Isafier and imagines himself engulfed by a raging fire. What does he do? He reasons that he’s fine because the flames are just his imagination (that is, something he created) and that his imagination can’t burn him.
In this cartoon, he teaches that we’re all responsible for our own conditions.
Now, back to Rabbi Infinity standing in the midst of the fire he created. He maintains his calm, walks right through the fire, and explains that this is great training for life.
He says, “Like for all those times you find yourself engulfed in a raging fire with burning urges, flaming emotions, and blazing hormones attacking from all sides.
“When there seems to be no way out other than complete surrender. What do you do?” asks Rabbi Infinity. He says, “You walk right through the fire.”
Then he adds, “After all, they’re your burning urges, aren’t they?”
Rabbi Infinity’s message is clear: it is better to live infinity than to merely talk about it.
One of the most inspiring accounts I’ve ever read in this regard was about a child born with multiple issues.⁸ He had unformed vocal cords, a damaged heart, a serious blood deficiency, a crippling bone condition, and cerebral palsy. What’s more, after birth he was immediately put up for adoption.
At the time of his placement, doctors expected him to live only 6-9 months.
From the beginning, his adoptive mother stopped viewing him as merely a deformed body that seemed useless. She says, “I knew that in reality he had far more to lean on.”
She was referring to the ‘sustaining infinite,’ that blesses each of us every day.
As he grew, even though he couldn’t walk or talk, and the prognosis was not at all encouraging, she taught him the
the Ten Commandments,
about the infinite nature of God and
how all that God creates is good
Remarkably, she says, she expected him to understand. God says in Jeremiah,
I will give them
a heart to know me.
— Jeremiah 24:7
She also specifically instructed her son to see himself—and to love himself—the way God sees and loves him. Again, she expected he could do this.
Also in Jeremiah, God says,
This is the covenant
that I will make with
the house of Israel...
I will put My law
in their inward parts,
and in their heart will I write it...
For they shall all know me
from the least of them
unto the greatest of them...
— Jeremiah 31:33
Now we may say, ‘Wait a minute,’ God’s covenant in Jeremiah is with the State of Israel. It is, however Torah can be understood on several levels, and the word Israel can be interpreted in different ways. For example, Israel is usually said to mean ‘wrestled with G-d.’ But there are other interpretations.
One Torah scholar points out that
‘Isr’ comes from the word ‘Yashar,’
[meaning] ‘direct’...
and ‘El’ is the Hebrew
word for ‘God.’
The word Israel means
'directly to God,’
to the spiritual reason
behind this world.⁹
Consequently, ‘Israel’ can also signify that we are linked ‘directly to God.’ Rav Meir Ben Gagai agrees. He says,
In the name 'Israel,'
there is also the meaning,
Yashar El, (directly to the Creator).¹⁰
Our direct link to God, divine consciousness, is our pure consciousness. Conscious awareness of this eternal Oneness is the highest ‘state’ of Israel, the state of enlightenment. It’s the true at-one-ment.
We can do this! In Deuteronomy it says,
For this commandment
which I command you this day,
is not hidden from you,
nor is it far away.
It is not in Heaven,
that you should say:
Who shall go up for us to heaven,
and bring it to us,
that we may hear it and do it?...
But the thing is very near to you,
in your mouth and in your heart,
that you may do it.
— Deuteronomy 30:11-14
By the time he was three, the little boy was able to stand up. He eventually began to walk, although feebly at first, and he fell frequently. This continued until he was about eight.
His mother tells of one day during those five years when the little boy woke up from a nap and managed to make his way to the kitchen to get a drink of water. As he did so, he spotted an intruder enter the house.
The mother was also napping but woke up just in time to see the intruder from behind and to hear the little boy—who had never spoken a word—say in a shaky voice, “No other gods before you; you don’t belong here!”
Then he repeated himself, in a clear, strong voice, “No other gods before you; you don’t belong here!”
The man left without disturbing anything.
This little boy didn’t have the words of the commandment quite right, but he certainly had the power of those words. And from then on, he was speaking.
Imagine how life would change if, when we encounter an intruding thought in our ‘dwelling place,’ we tell it to ‘take a hike.’
Intruders include anger, fear, resentment, helplessness, temptation, gossip, or whatever is un-Godlike. We can all do better in this regard.
The Zohar teaches that it’s with our right thoughts and actions that we make God real on earth. We’re not talking here about control of thought, but choice of thought.
What if we’re too overwhelmed by fear or pain to see our God-given divinity? What if we can’t maintain our calm, simple awareness like Rabbi Infinity always manages to do?
Or we can’t do as the Zohar prescribes? In Daniel Matt’s book The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, he quotes the Zohar, which says:
‘If your mind races,
return to the place,’
return to where you
were before thought.
Return to
the site of Oneness.¹¹
The ‘site of Oneness’ is one of eternal peace and serenity. It is the silence and sanctity of our own pure awareness. At any time, we can consciously experience this.
Rabbi Infinity says,
When skydiving, I’m calm
because there is a parachute.
In life I have a parachute
because I stay calm.
I once heard an account about a prisoner of war. His captors were keen to torture and hypnotize him to get information. He knew Truth is always the victor, so he resolved to hold on to a metaphysical Truth no matter what.
The problem is, he was in such fear that he couldn’t think of one! So he held on mentally to a mathematical truth; something like ‘2+2 equals 4, always has, always will’.
Now, nothing can separate ‘2+2 equals 4’ from the Principle of Mathematics.
This analogy serves as a reminder that nothing can separate us from our eternal and unalterable at-one-ment with God. It’s a done deal. Just like ‘2+2=4, always has, always will’.
After some days, his captors came in and said, essentially, “OK, we give up. We can’t control your mind.” And they let him go free.
As a wise person once reminded me,
What really is,
is all there is.
You’re as free
as your thoughts are free.
I love to ponder mathematics as a metaphysical exercise! Math is the same in the US as it is in China. It functions the same whether we’re walking on the town square or walking on the moon. Pi never changes.
No number ever gets tired, no matter how many times it’s used. It doesn’t get old or worn out; it’s not allergic to anything. It can’t be ‘used up,’ and it can’t possibly be separated from the principle of mathematics.
In fact, mathematics needs each and every number to be complete, even though there’s an infinite array of other numbers ever available.
Also, a mistake never alters the fact—either in mathematics or in metaphysics.
On a website called Kabbalah online in Safed, Israel, an author makes the point that,
Mathematical infinity
is a powerful example
of science clarifying
a deep concept in Torah.¹²
— Tsvi-Yehuda Saks
We must learn to identify ourselves as one with God—as inseparable as water is from wet—and, like Rabbi Infinity, to think and act from the basis of infinite intelligence which is forever calm and serene.
In summary, the problem is never ‘out there’. Neither is the solution! That’s because, with infinity, there can’t be an ‘out there.’
We can speak with power and dominion to an erroneous thought in our dwelling place (our tent), just as that little boy did to the intruder in his house.
That little boy, by the way, was actively involved in all sorts of sports by the time he was 15. Tennis, volleyball, basketball, bicycling, and swimming. In his 20’s he earned his GED, and by the time he was 30, he was married and had a steady job.
Clearly, the mother demonstrated that it's not our words about our at-one-ment with God that makes a healing difference. It’s our knowingness.
In closing, there’s a story that has circulated for years online about a calculus professor. Whether it’s true, or not, I don’t know. But it teaches an important lesson:
It “was [the professor’s] first day with a new batch of freshman students...He wrote a fairly advanced problem on the blackboard and [asked] if anyone could solve it.
“One student eagerly raised his hand and went to the blackboard with confidence...He hadn’t gone very far before the professor chided him... “No, no, you are way off right from your start.” The dejected young man put the chalk down and returned to his seat.
“Another student came forward and began exactly the same way. This time the professor raised his voice and sarcastically asked, “Is anyone listening when I speak?” The student put down the chalk and sat down.
“A third student volunteered, went to the blackboard, and began the same way.
“By now, the professor was fed up. He muttered to himself, “What on earth have they sent me?” and in utter despair threw his book down on the desk.
“However, the student at the blackboard ignored him, and continued until she solved the problem.
“The teacher said, ‘Perfect. Thank you’.
“Well, now the first two [students] complained that the young woman’s solution was exactly what they were going to do!”
Now here’s the punch line.
“The professor said, “This will be the most important lesson you will ever learn—it’s not enough to know something. You have to know that you know it.”
“He asked, “Why did you stop? Simply because I suggested you were wrong? [Was it] fear? Doubt? Confusion? Or were you so impressed with me that if I said something, you decided it must be true?”
If Rabbi Infinity were telling this story, I think he’d say, ‘When you face some tough question in life, don’t put down the chalk! Know that you know your infinite nature is ever at one with illimitable infinity, the One God; that there is one divine power, one divine presence, one divine consciousness.’
He might even say,
[All is] One unbounded ocean of consciousness in motion.¹³
Waves of the Ocean
[1] https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/video_cdo/aid/530191/jewish/KabbalaToons.htm 09.20.2015 AX 8823
[2] https://crownheights.info/shlichus/22414/on-kabbala-toons-an-animated-rabbi-offers-cosmic-consciousness/ 09.20.2015 AX 8824
[3] Tzvi Freeman, A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe, 10.04.2005 AX 5453
[4] Rami Shapiro, Essentials of Judaism: Divinity, Scripture, & Community in the Hearts and Minds of the Jewish People, (Nectar of Non-dual Truth: The Journal of Universal Religious and Philosophical Teachings #30, 2015), p. 32 https://books.google.com/books?id=OuArCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=infinite+image+and+likeness+of+god+zohar&source=bl&ots=jGWzNWc8xJ&sig=vNcwKj5C8tcnyhLaQhQYcgDLAE8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBGoVChMIxvWlxreIyAIVypkeCh2arAhb#v=onepage&q=infinite%20image%20and%20likeness%20of%20god%20zohar&f=false AX 8825
[5] Bicknell Young, The 1936 Primary Class as taught by Bicknell Young, Monday, August 3, 1936 (The Bookmark), p. 42 AX 8826
[6] Daniel Matt, Zohar and Kabbalah - Daniel Matt, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAkCeMZk-Pw&t=14s 09.20.2015 AX 8827
[7] Jamae Wolfram Richardson, Infinity, 1987
[8] Robert Peel, Spiritual Healing In a Scientific Age, (Harper & Row, 1987), p. 54 AX 8603
[9] G. Shadmon, Translator: C. Ratz of Bnei Baruch Group of Kabbalists, http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/holidays_eng/hanukah.htm 09.20.2015 AX 8828
[10] Michael Laitman, Jewish Self-Hatred: The Enemy Within, (Laitman Kabbalah Publishers, 2023), p. 113 AX 8828
[11] Daniel C. Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), p. 108 AX 3039
[12] Tsvi-Yehuda Saks, Infinity in Torah and Mathematics, https://www.kabbalaonline.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/2746367/jewish/Infinity-in-Torah-and-Mathematics.htm 09.20.2025 AX 8832
[13] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Vedic Knowledge for Everyone, (Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1994), p. 319 AX 5407
This post includes edited excerpts and subsequent additions
from d’var Torah, Kol Nidre 5776
September 21, 2015
Congregation Beth Shalom, Fairfield, Iowa
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