“I’m a personality with many faces,” says Eduard Shyfrin. “And for me, music is one of the ways in which I can express my ideas.” Recently, Shyfrin, a businessman, mathematician, and Kabbalah scholar, and most recently, musician, displayed yet another ‘face’ of his multitalented personality with his latest album, “In the Shadow of Time,” which was released in late November under his band’s name, “Shyfrin Alliance.”
While Jerusalem Post readers have long been familiar with Shyfrin’s knowledge of Jewish mystical matters via his prolific writings on Kabbalah and science, his entry into the musical world is more recent, reflecting a return to his lifelong passion for music.
“Two and a half years ago,” says Shyfrin, “I started from scratch, and began composing, singing, and recording. But after two years, I had to ask myself: ‘Who am I in the world of music, and why am I doing this work?’ After further thought and contemplation, Shyfrin decided that his proper niche lay at the intersection of music and Kabbalistic ideas.
“I’m a PhD, I’m a Kabbalah scholar, and I’m a musician,” Shyfrin observes, “and they are all inextricably connected. In my music, I express many Kabbalistic ideas in both hidden and open ways. My Kabbalah research strongly influences my lyrics because my Kabbalah studies changed my attitude to the world and my vision of the world.”
Shyfrin next details the specifics of the seven rock-blues compositions that comprise “In the Shadow of Time. “What makes this album unique,” he declares, “is that there’s never been an album dedicated solely to the notion of time.”
Expounding on the complexities and difficulties of the concept of time, he explains, “We live in time, and we are bothered by time. People ask themselves many questions about time,” he muses. “When did it start? Why should we die? What will happen after we die? What is eternity? These are troubling thoughts, and people don’t like to think about them because they become distressed, scared, and depressed when they think about time.That is why I decided to take it on because I’m thinking a lot about time when I’m writing my books.”
He concedes that his music does not answer every question about time, but says, “I don’t want to be afraid of thinking about anything. On the contrary, we should vanquish this fear, and not be afraid.” Time and death are related, he says, because “sooner or later, we will expire, and what will happen next is all in the context of time. Time changes things. If there were no time, then we would stay the same for eternity.”
Shyfrin recalls the famous Talmudic tale of the four rabbis – Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuya, and Rabbi Akiva, who entered the mysterious and mystical orchard (pardes). Of the four, only Rabbi Akiva emerged in peace, while the others were damaged. One died, one went mad, and one became a heretic. “That’s my favorite story,” he shares. “I said to myself that I should not be afraid of thinking of time, why we die, or what will happen, because strong minds should not be afraid of that.” Like Akiva, he is willing to confront the unknown.
Reflecting Shyfrin’s combined approach of music and Kabbalah, “In the Shadow of Time” was released at a gala event in London, which featured 65 guests of varied backgrounds in music and science. Shyfrin opened the program with a 15-minute lecture on the origins of the blues and its relationship to the Bible.
He performed all seven compositions on the album and provided a brief explanation of the Kabbalistic background for each. “People said that they had never been to an event that featured the combination of Kabbalah, science, and music. That was very important, because that’s my niche. Second, those in attendance asked many questions, which is a good sign that people were involved and focused on the topic.”
One track, entitled “Insanity Blues,” conveys the torment and the torture of man’s thinking about time. Time, says Shyfrin, is the most challenging topic in philosophy, science, and mysticism. “Science doesn’t know what it is,” he continues. “Some people say that time is a mental construction of our brain. Philosophy doesn’t know what time is. But at the same time, we do live in time.”
Another track, entitled “The Pendulum,” was inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet). Shyfrin explains, “We live in a world that is like a pendulum, in a world of duality. The pendulum moves to the right, and then sways to the left.” As a result of the primordial sin, he posits, both good and evil entered the world. “That’s the moment when the world became dualistic like a pendulum.” Before that time, he suggests, the world was a radically different place without dual characteristics and was a world of absolute love and mercy.
Shyfrin’s motto for his style of music is ‘music of the mystics, mystics of the music. “I am a mystic,” he explains. “I am studying Kabbalah. That’s why it’s called music of the mystic. The term’ mystics of the music’ means that I am not a traditional musician. I express my ideas in different ways, through books and through musical compositions. This is my unique niche.”
Speaking of books, Shyfrin reports that Volume I of his upcoming four-volume series, “The Relativity of Death,” has been sent to the publisher. He explains what will be included in the forthcoming volume and in future books in the series. “In 2019, I published “From Infinity to Man,” which expressed the main ideas about the information and structure of creation. For the past six years, I’ve been working on the Kabbalah of Information Theory, publishing a series of articles on my page on the Jerusalem Post website. But the time has come to write a new book.
“The Relativity of Death is a systemic theory of Kabbalah of Information based on the ideas of my first book that covers many areas. The first part is the theory of information space and the theory of miracles. The second part will cover the relativity of death and the the creation of the first man. The third part will be about quantum physics and Kabbalah. The fourth part will be about the mysteries of the Torah and Kabbalah of Information.”
On March 8, he will appear at the Jewish Book Festival in London, where he will present his new book and perform some of his musical compositions in a combined literary and musical event. “People have seen many writers, and they’ve seen many musicians, he says, “but they’ve never seen an artist who does both.”
Shyfrin remains dedicated to his music and has been working on new musical creations beyond the latest album. Two additional albums are slated for release in the first half of this year. “Blues Impressionism,” a four-track release, will be available in late February, and “Mystical You,” a compilation of six jazz tunes, will drop in April.
As our conversation concludes, Shifryn reiterates the close relationship between his music and the mysticism of his Kabbalah studies, and how each enriches the other. “When I began my musical career two and a half years ago, I didn’t realize it. But after two years, I realized who I am. It’s very important to know who you are.”
This article was written in cooperation with Eduard Shyfrin.