The Dybbuk - Between Two Worlds

The Dybbuk is a classic story of exorcism, possession and love in a religious Jewish community of eastern Europe. Credence in a dybbuk, the wandering soul of a dead person who can enter and control one's body, was part of the folklore and every-day belief of Hasidim, whose lives hovered between the two worlds of reality and the supernatural. So when a pious and gentle young woman, on the eve of her marriage, speaks out with the voice of the dead cabala student who loved her, the people of her simple village are horrified by the belief that she is possessed by a dybbuk. When efforts by the rabbi to drive out the spirit fail, an exorcism is decided upon as a last resort—an exorcism and an excommunication. Through contact with the supernatural, it is discovered that due to a vow her father made years before, the young woman was to be the student's predestined bride. In an effort to fulfill destiny and prevent her from marrying anyone else, the youth steeped himself in the supenatural. He succeeded in preventing the marriage of his beloved for a time, but when it was announced that she was betrothed to another man, he collapsed and died—returning almost immediately to claim his rightful bride by entering her body in the form of a dybbuk. Faith, piety, terror, and pervading mysticism are all woven together in this awesome, fascinating folk tale.

Text: English, Yiddish (translation)