Dybbuk: A Story Made in Heaven - Hardcover

Prose, Francine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688143075 ISBN 13: 9780688143077

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1996

Synopsis

In this warm tale of love, Dybbuk, a spirit in Jewish legends, helps change the destiny of an unhappy bride, Leah, when he takes possession of her on her wedding day as she is being forced to marry Mean Old Benya instead of her true love, Chonon.

About this title

About the Author

Francine Prose is the author of ten highly acclaimed works of fiction, including Bigfoot Dreams, Household Saints, Hunters and Gatherers, Primitive People, and Guided Tours of Hell. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, GQ, and The Paris Review; she is a contributing editor at Harper's, and she writes regularly on art for the Wall Street Journal. The recipient of numerous grants and awards, including a Guggenheim and a Fulbright, Francine Prose is a Director's Fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She has taught at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and Johns Hopkins University. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

Grade 1-3?A story that combines and loosely adapts two Jewish legends. The first is that 40 days before we are born, the angels match us to our future mate; the second is that a living person can be occupied by a dead person's spirit that can find no peace or by an evil spirit. In Prose's story, Leah is a young woman whose father will not allow her to marry Choron, a poor boy with whom she is in love. Instead, he arranges her marriage to a rich old man. Unknown to all, the girl and her young man had already been matched in heaven before their birth. At the wedding ceremony, Choron occupies Leah's body and possesses her spirit. A comical exorcism ensues but to no avail. Giving in, the father sends for Choron and the happy pair are wed. This is a silly noodlehead story, charmingly illustrated by Podwal. However, this adaptation errs in that a living person cannot occupy another living person, not in any tradition, and a tragic theme has been transformed into a tale that does not honor its religious or folkloric source. Scores of children will be misled about a timeless legend because of this distortion. In his numerous retellings, Eric Kimmel combines snippets of one folktale or legend with pieces of another to create new tales, but he always remains true to the essence of the original. Unfortunately, that is not so in Dybbuk.?Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Prose's first children's book is a humorously understated retelling of a traditional Jewish folktale (a scrupulous author's note provides sources). ``Forty days before a baby is born, the angels in heaven get together and decide whom the baby will marry . . . . A boy from here, a girl from there.'' It's the angels who decide that Leah will marry Chonon. Leah's parents, not knowing about the angels, make other plans. Fortunately for Leah, on the day of her wedding to Old Benya, she is conveniently overtaken by a dybbuk--a troublesome spirit--who speaks with the voice of her true love. The angels have their way, and Leah and Chonon marry. The lively narrative is wonderful to read aloud. Podwal (Golem, 1995, not reviewed, etc.) uses warm peach and brilliant turquoise tones in his fluid gouache paintings. These skillfully evoke the images in Jewish illuminated manuscripts and in the paintings of Chagall, providing a match made in heaven for Prose's funny tale. (Picture book/folklore. 5+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4^-8. In her first children's book, Prose weaves two old Jewish legends into a warm, funny story of love and trickery. Podwal's gouache and watercolor illustrations express the gentle magical realism of this shtetl tale; there's even a brightly colored picture of fiddlers on the roof. Before Leah and Chonon are born, the angels in heaven get together and decide that these two humans will marry. Leah grows up smart and pretty, and she does fall in love with Chonon, a brilliant student with the kindest heart and the loudest sneeze--Achoo! But her parents want her to marry Mean Old Benya, the most powerful man in Chopski. At the wedding, Leah talks in a deep, growling voice and sneezes loud--Achoo!over everything. The rabbi says it's because Leah is possessed by a dybbuk, and nothing can drive out the spirit until Leah is allowed to marry the man the angels chose. Adults who know the wild dybbuk stories may find this version too sweet, but the telling is wonderfully theatrical; there's no way to read this without acting the parts and laughing out loud. Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688143075
• ISBN 13: 9780688143077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Podwal Mark
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24