Darshan is Eden 'Eprhyme' Pearlstein and Shir Yaakov

First Thursdays

Shir Yaakov — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:42:10 +0000

Every first Thursday Shir Yaakov and Eden “Eprhyme” Pearlstein will be performing with a rotating cast of creative characters. Each month will be something new, showcasing this experimental, unique and versatile Musical Midrash project. From straight-up rockin’ hip-hop and funk sets, to sit-down meditative acoustic experiences, to far-out improv-oriented excursions, and everything in between. Each month features very special guests….

Each month features guest lecture or class taught by Jazz Rabbi Greg Wall, followed by the concert.

This Week:
7:30pm Lecture with Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
8:30pm Darshan in concert Only $10 (at the door)

Sixth Street Community Synagogue
325 East Sixth Street (near 1st Avenue),
New York, NY 10003

More About Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

The concert will be preceded by a guest lecture on “Torah and Creativity” by Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, an internationally acclaimed bible scholar and pioneer of Jewish Education on the internet, is well known in the Jewish community for his essays on the weekly Bible portion. His vibrant thematic-analytical approach blends the methods of modern academic scholarship with traditional Jewish approaches to the Biblical text. He is best known for his ability to teach students how to study rather than simply read Biblical passages. In Israel, Rabbi Leibtag teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshivat Shaalavim, Midreshet Lindenbaum, and at Yeshiva University’s Gruss Center.

The “To Zion” EP

Shir Yaakov — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:24:20 +0000

Darshan is happy to announce the release of our latest recording: a five-song EP entitled To Zion:

Fans of Darshan’s live show have been clamoring for recorded versions of these songs, which creatively combine Eprhyme’s penetrating lyrics with Shir Yaakov’s evocative melodies.

To Zion, the album’s title track, is based on a quote from Rebbe Nachman, “everywhere I go, I am going to Jerusalem,” which Shir musically transforms into an anthemic chorus. Eprhyme then lyrically twists and turns the quote in a myriad of different directions and perspectives, squeezing out every last drop of symbolic substance and poetic possibility of metaphor and meaning.

Other songs from the EP include the haunting, fast-paced mystical tour de faith, “Praying In the Fields” and a hip hop version of the old Passover favorite “Chad Gadya.” Listeners will also encounter the Kabbalistic love song “I’m Here” and the remarkable story of the “Ghetto Nightingale”.

“Ghetto Nightingale” is a Kaddish of sorts, based on the life of Marysia (Miriam) Eisenstadt- a young, extremely talented female singer from Poland who was interned in a concentration camp with the rest of her family and tragically killed at age 22. This song is Darshan’s attempt at achieving a small sliver of poetic justice for a fellow artist and includes melodic instrumentation and vocals sampled from talented singer/songwriter Chana Laila.

To Zion is available at for purchase from iTunes, amazon.com and online: http://darshan.bandcamp.com/album/to-zion

“Lishmah” record release party at Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY

Shir Yaakov — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:23:53 +0000

At the Limmud UK Gala

Shir Yaakov — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:03:24 +0000

Eprhyme and Shir Yaakov here, reporting from England where Darshan has just participated in the biggest Limmud conference ever! About 2,500 people from all over the world, and across the denominational spectrum converged on the University of Warwick for an unbelievable week of learning, laughing and living as if our connections were more important than our differences. Quite refreshing, considering that most of the time we humans seem to remain fixated on what separates us, at the expense of the underlying theological basis of our Jewish faith — namely that all is truly One.

We were quite busy at the conference, doing everything from a Friday Night Fabrengen to a Melavah Malkah to a large, plugged-in on-stage performance to mystical text and Torah study to teaching five year-olds how to beat box.

We also had the blessing to meet and mingle with some amazing lights of the Jewish world — filmmaker Pearl Gluck, Israeli pop icon Kobi Oz, mystical mench Rabbi Simon Jacobson, radical non-dual polymath Jay Michaelson, arts & culture maven Joel Stanley, Jewish rockers Naomi Less and Glenn Grossman… not to forget David “The Hoff” Hoffman.

Thank G!D, Darshan was extremely well received — from the youths and teenagers to the elders and scholars of the conference. It seemed like everyone had a different angle that they viewed Darshan through that enabled them to appreciate what we were doing. Some people liked to be heavily involved in our sessions through chanting and singing along; others enjoyed the acoustic and contemplative performances where they were really able to listen to the lyrics and take it all in; still others (mostly the youngsters) were ecstatic over the big loud large scale performance/dance party set… which by the way was capped off with about 10-15 new Darshan fans who had already memorized some of our lyrics coming up on stage and singing with us… truly a heavenly choir!

We finished off the week with a slot in the Closing Gala Event (thank you Cool Jew Lisa Klug) where we played an acoustic version of our new and unrecorded Darshan song “Raysheet” with the ancient Hebrew and contemporary English lyrics projected above us in a beautiful auditorium, in front of over 1,100 captivated Yids.

All in all, Limmud UK was an amazing experience, truly mind-expanding and heart-opening; one of those rare slices of the human drama that leaves us feeling hopeful and amazed by human promise and potential. Thank you England and thank you Limmud! G!D Bless….

The “Lishmah” EP

Shir Yaakov — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:19:37 +0000

The title of Darshan’s first EP — Lishmah — comes from a profound Judaic concept. Commonly understood as meaning “for it’s own sake”, the term lishmah is usually applied to the proper state of mind for Torah study. Not for fame, money, or power — but merely for the simple joy of doing. It is in this spirit that Darshan’s first album was created Lishmah, purely for the simple of joy and fulfillment of Being what we are Doing.

Everything is G-d: A Jewish Spiritual Woodstock feat. Darshan acoustic

Shir Yaakov — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:43:23 +0000

A book release party for our friend Jay Michaelson, sponsored by Zeek and co-sponsored by Shemspeed, Eden Village Camp, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center and a slew of other amazing organizations.