Book review: From Infinity to Man: The Fundamental Ideas of Kabbalah – The Jerusalem Post

In this ground-breaking book, Eduard Shyfrin shows that the ideas of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) resonate with the ideas of 21st century science. From Infinity to Man introduces the reader to basic principles of Jewish mysticism such as the ten sefirot the Divine Attributes of God, the description of God as Ein Sof, absolute perfection, and the idea of Ohr Ein Sof, the unending Divine light. It then discusses basic principles of quantum physics and compares many of the concepts of Kabbalah to those of quantum physics, including the theory of information as discussed in Kabbalah and quantum physics. Additional chapters in the book discuss Creation, Kabbalah and Philosophy, and the Torah and Mathematics. Shyfrin is equally well-versed in Jewish mysticism and physics, and names like Einstein, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger frequently appear alongside Kabbalistic luminaries such as Isaac Luria, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and the Baal Shem Tov.

From Infinity to Man has enjoyed positive reviews since its publication in January 2019.

Midwest bookreview.com writes that it is exceptionally well written, organized and presentedan extraordinarily thoughtful and thought-provoking read and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Judaic Theology/Philosophy collections in general, and Kabbalah studies supplemental studies lists in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject

Ben Rothke, of the Jewish Link of NJ writes that This is an interesting book and Shyfrin does his best to show the dynamic between Torah and science. Quantum physics is an absolutely fascinating topic and certainly can be used to better understand the nature of the world we live in. In much of the book, Shyfrin finds corollaries between kabbalistic ideas and tries to map them to the world of physics. In From Infinity to Man, Eduard Shyfrin has written a thought-provoking and most curious work.

The San Diego Jewish World writes, Using information theory and a number of kabbalistic ideas, such as the Sephirot and Tzimtzum, Shyfrin shows the only reasonable conclusion is creation emanated from nothing. Shyfrin even links the arrow of time, our understanding that time can only flow in one direction from past to present to future, and not the other way around, to Kabbalah by demonstrating that terrestrial information mimics divine information, which continually flows in one direction, from the unknowable God, Ein Sof, to the world. Kabbalah has been studied philosophically, theologically, and even mathematically. In From Infinity to Man, Shyfrin examines Kabbalah from a new position, the combined effect of quantum physics and the Theory of Information, and in doing so brings to light a heretofore unstudied perspective.

The London Jewish Chronicle writes that in his book, Shyfrin uses concepts such as information theory to recast kabbalistic insights in scientific terminology. Or as the motto on the cover of the book puts it, In the beginning, God created information

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Book review: From Infinity to Man: The Fundamental Ideas of Kabbalah - The Jerusalem Post