Dybbuk



In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk (דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb dāḇaq meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being exorcised.

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

History
The term first appears in a number of 16th-century writings, though it was ignored by mainstream scholarship until S. An-sky's 1920 play The Dybbuk popularised the concept in literary circles. Earlier accounts of possession (such as that given by Josephus) were of demonic possession rather than that of ghosts. These accounts advocated orthodoxy among the populace as a preventative measure. 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.

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

Traditionally, dybbuks tended to be male spirits who possessed women on the eve of their weddings, typically in a sexual fashion by entering the women through their vaginas, which is seen in Ansky's play.

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