Dybbuk

Short description: Malicious possessing spirit in Jewish religion

For other uses, see Unsolved:Dybbuk (disambiguation).

Dybbuk, by Ephraim Moshe Lilien (1874–1925).

In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk (/ˈdɪbək/; Yiddish: דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb דָּבַק dāḇaq, meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person.[1] It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being exorcised.[2][3][4]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 History
* 3 Expulsion
* 4 Dybbuk in popular culture
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 Further reading
* 8 External links

## Etymology

Dybbuk comes from the Hebrew word דִּיבּוּק dibūq, meaning 'a case of attachment', which is a nominal form derived from the verb דָּבַק dāḇaq 'to adhere' or 'cling'.[5]

## History

The term first appears in a number of 16th-century writings.[2][6] However, it was ignored by mainstream scholarship until S. An-sky's 1920 play The Dybbuk popularised the concept in literary circles.[6] Earlier accounts of possession, such as that given by Josephus, were of demonic possession rather than that of ghosts.[7] These accounts advocated orthodoxy among the populace as a preventative measure.[2] Michał Waszyński's 1937 film The Dybbuk, based on the Yiddish play by S. An-sky, is considered one of the classics of Yiddish filmmaking.[8]

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar rebbe (1887–1979), is reported to have supposedly advised an individual said to be possessed to consult a psychiatrist.[7]

Traditionally, dybbuks tended to be male spirits. According to Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, women could not become dybbuks because their souls did not participate in gilgul.[9] Sometimes these spirits were said to possess women on the eve of their weddings, typically in a sexual fashion by entering the women through their vaginas, which is seen in An-sky's play.[10] However, men and boys could be possessed as well.[9]

In psychological literature, the dybbuk has been described as a hysterical syndrome.[11]

## Expulsion

In traditional Jewish communities, the concept of the dybbuk served as a socially acceptable way of expressing unacceptable urges, including sexual ones.[12] Within Jewish mysticism and folklore, particularly in Kabbalistic traditions, protective practices were also used to ward off these malevolent spirits. One such practice involves affixing a mezuzah—a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Torah verses—to the doorposts of a home. While the mezuzah primarily serves as a reminder of faith and adherence to God's commandments, it is also viewed as a protective amulet against harmful spirits, including dybbuks. The Zohar, a foundational Kabbalistic text, suggests that a properly affixed mezuzah can prevent such entities from entering a home.[13] Additionally, Jewish folklore includes accounts where neglected or improperly maintained mezuzot were believed to make homes susceptible to dybbuk possession.[14] These perspectives emphasize the mezuzah's dual role in Jewish life: as both a symbol of faith and a spiritual safeguard.

## Dybbuk in popular culture

* Hanna Rovina played a role of leah in The Dybbuk in the year 1920.[15]

* The novel Satan in Goray by Isaac Bashevis Singer, which portrays the appearance of a dybbuk in the fictional Jewish town of Goray, serves as an early literary version of the well-known motif in Jewish mythology.
* The film A Serious Man (2009), directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, starts with a preamble about a dybbuk who visits a poor family living in a stetl. The dybbuk in the film may or may not be a rabbi who is either alive or dead. After being stabbed by the wife of the man who encountered the rabbi and invited him for a meal, the dybbuk walks out of their house and disappears into the snowy night. Whether he was or was not a dybbuk remains unanswered.
* The film The Possession (2012), directed by Ole Bornedal, is a supernatural horror film centered around the concept of a dybbuk. The story follows a young girl who becomes increasingly possessed by an evil spirit after discovering an antique dybbuk box at a yard sale.
* The Polish film Demon is typically interpreted as a story about dybbuk possession.
* The young adult novel The City Beautiful (2021) by Aden Polydoros features a gay teenager possessed by a dybbuk in 19th century Chicago.
* The novella To Clutch a Razor (2025) by Veronica Roth features a chapter in which a young woman found wandering in the woods is possessed by a dybbuk.
* The video game Mewgenics (2026) by Edmund McMillen features a boss fight against a feline Dybbuk that possesses one of the player's cats when its HP reaches one point and the other cats will have to knock their ally out to exorcise it.

## See also

* Dybbuk box
* Dementor
* Golem
* Kabbalah
* Shedim
* Zombie

## References

1. ↑ Trachtenberg, Joshua (2004). "Glossary of Hebrew Terms". Jewish Magic and Superstition. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 333. ISBN 978-0812218626. https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/jms/jms43.htm. Retrieved Jan 10, 2023. "Dibbuk – spirit of deceased person which has entered body of living person."
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Avner Falk (1996). A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 538. ISBN 978-0838636602. https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA538.
3. ↑ "Dybbuk", Encyclopædia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174964/dybbuk, retrieved 2009-06-10
4. ↑ Gershom Scholem. "Dibbuk". Encyclopaedia Judaica. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0005_0_05197.html.
5. ↑ See A. Sáenz-Badillos & J. Elwolde, A History of the Hebrew Language, 1996, p. 187 on the qiṭṭūl pattern.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Spirit Possession in Judaism: Cases and Contexts from the Middle Ages to the Present, by Matt Goldish, p. 41, Wayne State University Press, 2003
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Tree of Souls:The Mythology of Judaism, by Howard Schwartz, pp. 229–230, Oxford University Press, 2004
8. ↑ "The Dybbuk". The National Center for Jewish Film. http://www.jewishfilm.org/Catalogue/films/dybbuk.html. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Faierstein, Morris M. (2017), Greenspoon, Leonard J., ed., "The Dybbuk: The Origins and History of a Concept", olam he-zeh v'olam ha-ba, This World and the World to Come in Jewish Belief and Practice (Purdue University Press): pp. 135–150, doi:10.2307/j.ctvh9w0gb.14, ISBN 978-1-55753-792-8, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh9w0gb.14, retrieved 2024-10-12
10. ↑ Levin, Sala (28 October 2021). "Jewish Word: Dybbuk" (in en). https://momentmag.com/jewish-word-dybbuk/.
11. ↑ Billu, Y; Beit-Hallahmi, B (1989). "Dybbuk-Possession as a hysterical symptom: Psychodynamic and socio-cultural factors". Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Science 26 (3): 138–149. PMID 2606645.
12. ↑ Falk, Avner (1996) (in en). A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN 978-0-8386-3660-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA538.
13. ↑ "The Protective Power of Mezuzah". https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/310889/jewish/The-Protective-Power-of-Mezuzah.htm.
14. ↑ "Dybbuk Shmibbuk". https://templeofmiriam.com/blog/dybbuk-shmibbuk.
15. ↑ "Dybbuk Hanna rovina". https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rovina-hanna.

## Further reading

* Chajes, J. H. (2011). Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812221701. https://books.google.com/books?id=VRDtHsJEkhcC.
* Elior, Rachel (2008). Dybbuks and Jewish Women in Social History, Mysticism and Folklore. Urim Publications. ISBN 978-9655240078. https://books.google.com/books?id=pYkRAQAAIAAJ.
* Peñalosa, Fernando (2012). The Dybbuk: Text, Subtext, and Context. CreateSpace Publishing. ISBN 978-1478357803.
* Peñalosa, Fernando (2012). Parodies of An-sky's "The Dybbuk". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1477647721.
* Cutler, Yosl (March 2017). "The Dybbuk in the Form of a Crisis". Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230306234049/https://ingeveb.org/texts-and-translations/the-dybbuk-in-the-form-of-a-crisis.

## External links

* "The Dybbuk" by Ansky Jewish Heritage Online Magazine
* "Dybbuk – Spiritual Possession and Jewish Folklore" by Jeff Belanger, Ghostvillage.com
* "Dybbuk", Encyclopædia Britannica

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