There
was
nothing
on
earth
to
compare
with
the
ineluctable
moment,
of
silence,
of
tranquility among the sands of the wilderness. Not a single sound. Not even a heartbeat.
Never
in
his
life
had
the
stranger
from
a
distant
land
felt
such
euphoria.
Never
had
he
experienced such a thrill.
In
the
elemental
silence
of
the
parched
hills
around
Jericho,
the
young
artist
from
Russia,
Alexei Shtraimishev, was having communion with his own soul.
Suddenly,
without
any
warning,
the
hard-nosed
theatrical
director
from
the
former
Soviet
Union
was
engulfed
in
a
maelstrom
of
delectable
strains
of
angelic
music,
cascading
upon
him
in
waves,
drowning
him.
There
was
an
instantaneous
uplifting
of
the
soul
as
it
danced
to
the
echo
of
the
music.
And
then
the
brief
glimpse
into
the
mystery
of
eternity
was
over.
Life
would
never
be
the
same
again
for
Alexei,
for
having
heard
the
music
of
the
angels,
he
experienced
a
dramatic
turnaround
that
he
describe
as
akin
to
Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.
As
he
recalls
his
revelation
among
the
seared,
forbidding
Biblical
hills,
the
wiry
new
immigrant's
eyes
shine
with
a
gentle
glow.
There
is
no
escaping
the
nagging
suspicion
that
this
fellow
is
no
more
than
just
another
of
the
inestimable
number
of
crackpots
that
infest
the
Holy
Land.
But
as
you
listen
to
him
expound
his theory, and then put it
into practice, your doubts are resolved.
Alexei
is
a
Jew,
but
he
has
had
the
benefit
of
an
early
exposure
to
Armenians,
in
Tbilsi,
Georgia
where
he
had
stayed
for
some
time
with
an
Armenian
family.
The
fact
that
his
wife
Angela's
father
is
Armenian
(his
name
is
Robert
Karabedian),
has
enhanced
Alexei's
Armenian
connection.
Haunted
by
the
memory
of
his
Jericho
experience,
Alexei
decided
to
embark
on
a
spiritual
journey
that
would
take
him
to
the
spiritual
wellsprings
of
the
Far
East,
particularly
India,
Ceylon and Japan and that would deepen and reinforce the new direction his life had taken.
He
could
not
shake
off
the
conviction
that
he
had
been
given
a
message.
But
for
two
years,
its content eluded him - until he returned to Jerusalem, with his wife, to settle down here.
Six
months
after
his
arrival,
he
knew.
And
the
stupendous
discovery
he
had
made
was
unveiled
to
a
few
close
supporters,
like
the
fellow
Russian
Jew,
Avraham
Shifrin,
a
leading
scholar
and
writer
on
mysticism
and
esoteric
religions,
and
the
Christian
pastor,
Ruth
Heflin.
At
their prodding, he decided to go public and share his secret with the world.
The
discovery
was
as
simple
as
it
was
earth-shattering:
the
Bible
can
be
read
not
only
as
prose but also as a musical score.
Alexei's
insight
into
this
revelation
did
not
come
easily.
Frantically,
he
had
set
about
trying
to
relive
the
experience,
to
recapture
the
music
he
head
heard,
but
it
was
an
almost
impossible
task
since
he
could
not
read
a
musical
score,
nor
had
he
ever
written
or
played
a
note
before.
But
driven
by
his
desperate
zeal,
he
finally
decoded
the
mystery
of
the
music
buried
in
the
original Hebrew words of the Bible.
He
has
arrived
at
his
discovery
using
a
simple
computation
that
assigns
each
of
the
22
letters
of
the
Hebrew
alphabet
its
own
musical
equivalent,
based
an
a
chromatic
scale
of
12-notes
which encompasses not only the regular 7-note octave but also 5 other half-notes.
This
week,
Alexei
gave
a
selected
audience
his
alternative
glimpse
into
the
mystery
of
creation,
at
the
Dormition
Abbey,
the
imposing
Benedictine
cathedral
that
is
the
traditional
site
of
the
Virgin's
transition.
The
Abbot,
Father
Nikolaus
Egender,
is
known
in
religious
circles
as
one
of
the
most
enlightened
Christian
clerics
in
the
land,
with
a
yen
for
ecumenism.
And
this
evening would riot have been possible without his active support.
With
Shifrin's
wife
acting
as
interpreter
Alexei
explained
how
he
had
arrived
at
his
discovery,
in an effort to make his hearers realize that the "'word'" that was "'in the beginning,"' that is, the
sound of creative vibrations, is not just a symbol, but a reality.
And
then,
there,
seated
in
the
nave
of
the
Cathedral,
a
stone's
throw
from
the,
500-year-old
walls
of
the
Old
City
of
Jerusalem,
and
a
host
of
other
historic
and
archaeological
wonders,
the
audience
was
given
a
preview
of
the
music
of
the
Bible,
as
played
on
the
church
organ,
the
only
musical instrument that could do justice to the majestic outpouring of the word of God.
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