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]

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] though 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^[2] 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.^[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 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.^[9]

In psychological literature, the dybbuk has been described as a hysterical syndrome.^[10]