A Dybbuk and Other Tales of the Supernatural

The dybbuk, a dead person's soul that possesses a living person, is an ancient and fascinating part of Jewish folklore in Eastern Europe. The stories in this collection, none of which has been translated before, illuminate the different aspects of the Jewish mystical world, including possessions, transmigration, fairy tales, parables and miracles.

Remember the graveyard dream scene in Fiddler on the Roof? Dybbuks, troubled spirits who try to enact their ascent into the afterlife by borrowing someone else's life, played an important instructional role in Jewish mythology as messengers, judges, or scolds. This collection contains the novella-sized drama "A Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds," plus 13 shorter tales of the spirit world. In the title story, a deceased man possesses the body of his beloved Leah. As Leah comes to realize what has happened, she resolves to sacrifice herself in order to be with her intended bridegroom. His shroud of death becomes sunlight when Leah finally joins him. In "God on Trial," God gets in trouble for, among other things, the destruction of the Temple, which He had decreed. The judges decide that God made a mistake and had inspired the emperor to issue the order. Upon God's recanting of the edict, the emperor concurs, and all is well again. "The Creation Melody" is a the folktale of a song performed for completion of structures. It was composed during a fundraiser in which the congregation of a synagogue found that they no longer had the funds for completion of construction. The rabbi was challenged, for a price, to come up with a new song within five minutes. When he did, the challenge was paid and the synagogue was finished. Each story in this collection depicts a piece of an ancient culture with a rich literary heritage. --SusanSwartwout