The Dybbuk and Other Writings

A Dybbuk is a haunting and beautiful and haunting combination between a love story and a ghost story, growing out of the tradition of Yiddish theatre. The main story revolves around a young rabbinical student, Channon, whose beloved and promised bride, Leah, is denied to him, because of his poverty. He dies as a result of his misuse of the holy texts of the Kabbalah. His soul invades the body of his intended bride, as a Dybbuk - which is a spirit in Jewish mythology that invades other people's bodies. When he is exorcised from Leah's body, she makes a pact with her beloved to unite her soul with his spirit, and so she departs the earth too- so strong was the love of Leah and Channon that their spirits would not be kept from each other even in death. This volume contains some of the richest treasures of old Yiddish mythology and literature , much of it involving rich Chassidic mysticism.

This is THE version of the play to read. I've tried to read several other translations, and this is the first time I've made it all the way through, thanks to Kushner's adaptation, which is lean and poetic. At no point did I space out because I didn't understand the tradition or the arcana. Chonen's dabbling in Kabbalah feels timely and even appropriate given the rapidly changing world in which he lives. The horrors of the twentieth century are knocking on the doors of the Jews of Brinnitz and Mirapol, Poland is heading over the brink, and an old way of life is doomed not just by historical forces but by the wavering faith of its leaders. Against the lukewarm spirit of the rabbis and community leaders stand the love of Chonen and Leah and the spiritual betrothal which guides them. Condemned to live in two worlds, they take the ultimate step beyond life into the darkness where opposites not only unite, but fuse in a soul-marriage. The mystical rapture they achieve makes the practical, ethical religion of the elders seem faint and puny, but they must die to the world to achieve their hearts' desire. This is a romantic form of tragedy that's stirring to the soul but also troubling for those of us who have opted for life. In classic tragedy, the protagonist walks on, wounded but wiser; with this play, the reader is the tragic hero. You leave this play with the sense of having seen something long hidden and obscured. I don't want what Leah and Chonen found, but I want to keep the candle of their love alight in my soul as I try to manage the treacherous currents of reality. Reading this play is like going to the crossroads with Robert Johnson -- it's important to see it, to know it, and to dance there, but you must finally choose your own road and walk into your own life to really play the blues.

If Harold Bloom, in his afterword to the play, is to be believed, Tony Kushner has taken great liberties in adapting this 'classic of Yiddish theater.' Unfamiliar with the source material, I can only comment on how wonderful Kushner's version is.A DYBBUK is the story of a gifted rabbinical student named Chonen who begins dabbling in the mystical text of the Kabbalah. He seeks to use it to prevent the arranged marriage of the girl he is in love with, Leah. Instead, it causes him to die and to inhabit her body. What follows is a wonderful supernatural investigation as to why Chonen has become 'a dybbuk' and how to seperate him from Leah without killing her. I really enjoyed it.I'm a Kushner fan, and that's what led me here. I thoroughly admired what he did in freely adapting Pierre Cornielle's L'ILLUSION COMIQUE into THE ILLUSION. This DYBBUK another triumph of translation. As a goy (a non-Jew), I had no problem following the parts of the play that delved into Chassidic (their spelling) culture and Jewish law.Speaking of translation, several other short stories by -- and folk tales collected by -- S. Ansky are included. They are interesting and provide a sort of background to the play. They are bittersweet in that most of them are joyful and about songs, but they are also final traces of a European Jewish culture that, after the terrors of Hitler, can never exist as it once did.The stories are only a few pages each and read as if they were originally written in English, which is the best you can ask of a translation. Two are in trocaic tetrameter. One is a take off on the book of Revelations. Many of them deal with the origin of songs, or legends about Baal Shem Tov.But the play is the main thing. It's a great story and Kushner overlays it with philosophical and theological dimensions that will please fans of ANGELS IN AMERICA. For those interested in Yiddish theater, and those who are fans of Kushner, I wholeheartedly recommend A DYBBUK. 5/5 stars.

truly amazing, i wish i could understand the orginal language it was written in for i'm sure that it would be even more incredible. I'm very excited to audition for this play at the Unviersity, i would be truly honored to be a part of it. Beautiful imagry...