Dybbuk

Actress Hana Rovina portrays a possessed woman in The Dybbuk

In Kabbalah and European Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. Dybbuks are said to have escaped from Gehenna, a Hebrew term very loosely translated as "hell," or to have been turned away from Gehenna for transgressions too serious for the soul to be allowed there, such as suicide. The word "dybbuk" is derived from the Hebrew דיבוק, meaning "attachment"; the dybbuk attaches itself to the body of a living person and inhabits it. According to belief, a soul that has not been able to fulfill its function in its lifetime is given another opportunity to do so in the form of a dybbuk. It will leave once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped.

Ancient background

File:David soothes saul.jpg

David plays his harp for King Saul, causing the "evil spirit from the Lord" to leave him.

While evil spirits and exorcism are relatively rare in the Old Testament, a famous instance of spirit possession is related in the story of King Saul, who was possessed by an "evil spirit form the Lord" after losing God's support as king. According to 1 Samuel 16:23 "Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him." In the apocryphal Book of Tobit, a beautiful bride name Sarah is plagued by a demon who has killed all seven or her husbands on her wedding night. She is finally liberated after the angel Raphael instructed Tobit (Tobias) to marry Sarah and drive away the demon by burning a fish's liver and heart.

Exorcisms were also done at Qumran by the Essene branch of Judaism. Jesus of Nazareth was a powerful Jewish healer and exorcist, as evil spirits were believed to be the source of much illness. Jewish sources report exorcisms being done in the first century C.E. by administering drugs with poisonous root extracts or by offering sacrifices. (Josephus, "B. J." vii. 6, § 3; Sanh. 65b).

Talmudic and kabbalistic tradition

While not denying the influence of spirits, Pharisaism insisted that the observance of the Law was the best defense against demons (Ber. 5a; Num. 48b). In addition, the tefillin were apparently regarded by some Jews as amulets of protection (Targ. Cant. viii. 3; Gen. R. xxxv.; Men. 33b), Protection against evil spirits was also provided by the posting of a mezzuzah at the door of one's home and the reading of certain prayers such as the Shema.

A Talmudic injuction affirms the presence of both good an evil spirits in human affairs: "The wicked are accompanied by the angels of Satan; the righteous by the angels of God" (Tosef., Shab. xvii. 2-3; compare Book of Jubilees, x. 6). For each commandment observed by man becomes an angel "to guard him against demons" (Ex. R. xxxii). "Every observance of the Law is a protection" (Soṭah 21a), and those bent upon doing some sacred work need fear no evil powers (Pes. 8b). A priest's blessing also is a protection against malign influences (Num. R. xi).

The reality of demons was never questioned by the Talmudists and later commentators. Jewish law accepted them as a fact (see Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 4, 2 et seq). Nor did most of the medieval Jewish thinkers question their reality. Only Maimonides and Ibn Ezra denied their existence.

The tradition of the Kabbalah, on the other hand, tended to make demons part of the cosmic pattern in which pure and impure powers fill the world and divide it between the Holy One and the serpent Samael (see Zohar, Bereshit, 47b, 53 et seq., 169b et seq., 174b). Nevertheless, while the belief in the efficacy of incantations is firmly adhered to, these writers repeatedly urge their readers not to resort to any conjuration or magic practices, but to have perfect confidence only in prayer and in the power of God.

Many prayers for the warding off of demonic influences found a place in the Jewish liturgy and the Shulḥan 'Aruk. A special incantation is prescribed invoking the protection of guardian angels against the evil spirits haunting privies (see Ber. 60b; compare Ber. 62a and Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 13, 1). Prayers to be recited before retiring to bed were also intended to guard the sleeper against demons (Ber. 4a; Shebu. 15b). At the close of the Sabbath, evil spirits were thought to swarm everywhere, poisoning the wells and doing harm in many ways (see Pesiḳ. R. xxiii.; Sheeltot, Bereshit; Tanya, xxi.; Ha-Manhig, Shabbat, 65; Solomon b. Adret, Responsa, 1119; Kol Bo, xli).

As early as geonic times (sixth through eleventh centuries CE) a special incantatory formula was recited before drinking from the cup of the Sabbath wine against "the demon Puta, the prince of forgetfulness." It commanded "by the power of the holy names of the angels Arimaz, Arimas, Ansisel, and Petahel, he may be cast upon the high mountains [Alburz]." ("Seder Rab Amram," i. 31) Many rites and prayer formulas were introduced to avert the malign influence of evil spirits, and special formulas for the dying were prescribed in the mystical tradition of the Kabbalah, by which all the demons that may have been created by the impure thoughts and actions of the dying person, brought under control. Amulets, incantations, prayers, and other formulas were widespread. Women were sometimes banned from going to a cemetery because demons might be attracted to them sexually, and the shofar was sometimes blown at funerals to ward off the shedim (see Yalḳ., Ḥadash, l.c. 47).

Later Jewish tradition

The word "dybbuk" is related to the the Hebrew term "to cleave" or "to cling." While belief in evil spirits, possession, and exorcism goes back to ancient times, a widespread belief in dybbuks became evident especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The kabbalist Isaac Luria (1534–72), popularized the use of incantations to mystical purpose and also added new features to the chants to ward off demons ("Tiḳḳune Shabbat" ). Luria's influential works emphasized the correlation between the physical and spiritual worlds and the cooperation of spiritual beings with humans on earth. He described this relationship as a method by which imperfect souls could cooperate with men on earth to attain spiritual perfection. Other kabbalistic writers took the teaching to its logical conclusion with the idea of a dybbuk—an unenlightened or wandering soul—attaching itself to the body of a human being on earth.

In kabbalistic texts and Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person returned from Gehenna, the Hebrew term for the spiritual world below heaven. Occasionally, a soul that has not been able to fulfill its purpose on earth is given another opportunity to do so in the form of a dybbuk. Such a spirt seeks out a living person in a similar "life position" to itself during its lifetime and "attaches" itself to that person.

Having a dybbuk is not always a bad or unhealthy thing. There are good dybbuks and bad one. A good dybbuk acts as a kind of "spiritual guide" there to help the person through their current trials and tribulations, while simultaneously accomplishing their own purpose and thus perfecting themselves. In the case of an evil dybbuk,however, the spirit peruses its own negative inclinations and causes its host to make the same mistakes and sins it committed during its own lifetime.

The beneficial type of possession by a dybbuk is known as sod ha'ibbur, Hebrew for "mysterious impregnation." This kind of dybbuk is thought to have struggled and and gained victory over what the host himself has not yet been able to overcome. In this case the dybbuk is "lent" to the host from the spirit as a spirit guide or guardian angel. In such cases, the dybbuk does not need to be exorcised, but leaves the host once its mission is accomplished. However, the loss of the dybbuk can sometimes result in depression, as the host misses the energy and inspiration it formerly received.

A dybbuk, especial of the evil sort, is thought to be drawn to a person who whose spirit and body are not fully connected to each other. Examples include severe depression, psychosis, or the use of mind-altering drugs. The dybbuk is particularly attracted to a person who is struggling with the same challenges it did. Thus, a good dybbuk who died in a moment of cowardice might return to help a soldier overcome his fear, while a bad dybbuk who died alone and resentful might return to a person in a similar circumstance and make her life more miserable that ever.

A particularly powerful miracle-working rabbi known as a baʿal shem (master of the name) could expel even the most evil dybbuk through a rite of exorcism. However, exorcism of a dybbuk today normally normally involves nine Jews plus the rabbi. The group surrounds the possessed victim and repeatedly recites Psalm 91. The rabbi proceeds to blow a shofar (ram's horn trumpet) in a specific pattern. This "shocks" both the possessed person and the dybuuk, causing a loosening between the two which enables each entity to be addressed separately. The rabbi then enters in to dialog with the dybbuk to discover its purpose. The group then proceeds to heal it through dialog and prayer, and this is also done for a person who is possessed.

See also

• Jewish mythology
• Kabbalah
• Ibbur
• Gilgul neshamot
• Qliphoth
• The Dybbuk (a play by S. Ansky, and later adaptations):
  • a 1937 film directed by Michał Waszyński
  • Dybbuk, a ballet by Leonard Bernstein
  • A Dybbuk, adaptation by Tony Kushner
• Song by Gackt Camui
• An all-female Czech rock group

External links

• Dybbuk by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
• Dybbuk - Spiritual Possession and Jewish Folklore

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