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Read NCJF Program Notes Archive Treasure from the Collection of The National Center for Jewish Film New Digital Restoration & New English Subtitles of Jewish communities in the large Sender brings Leah to Miropole to himself by reciting the Kaddish for the cities and urban centers of Eastern seek the help ofReb Azriel. His heart­ tormented soul. And yet, the Messen­ Europe, and eventually America, was rending confession of disregard for the ger cautions the Rebbe that although to a great extent an outgrowth of shtetl vow made eighteen years earlier the vow has been declared not binding !ife, institutions, and values. prompts the Rebbe to appeal to the and has been set aside, with Sender deceased Nisn to forgive Sender, and repentant and Leah's life saved, the The Story declare the vow null and void, since, heavens stilJ demand justice: the fulfill­ •••••••••••••••••••••• according to law, an agreement per­ ment of the vow for the lovers' sake, Sender and Nisn, former yeshiva stu­ taining to a thing not yet born is not for their hopes and spiritual struggle dents and now devoted friends, have binding. In an elaborately orchestrated for happiness together. Ultimately, come from afar to celebrate the High ritual, theRebbe succeeds finally in both worlds converge on the vow Holy Days with their spiritual leader, exorcising the dybbuk. TheRebbe's made between Nisn and Sender, for Reb Azriel, the HasidicRebbe of Miro­ earthly justice notwithstanding, the with the vow fulfilled, a human pole. In their desire to strengthen the young lovers are ultimately reunited in beings moral responsibility for one's bonds of friendship, Sender and Nisn death and, as the mysterious Messen­ fellow human being is reaffirmed. take a vow to marry off their soon ger notes in the film's final words, true expected firstborn children, should justice is done. Lore and Legend one have a son and the other a daugh­ ter. They make this pledge to one Between 1\voWorlds •••••••••••••••••••••• another, despite the foreboding words •••••••••••••••••••••• Inspired by Ansky's folklore expedi­ of theRebbe that "Man does not make As literary historians have shown, tion through towns and villages of the decisions" and the cryptic warning of modern Yiddish writers at the turn of Ukrainian countryside, The Dybbuk is a strange visitor, a Messenger, to the the twentieth century began to seek a rich ethnographic tapestry of Jewish sources of renewal for Yiddish litera­ lore and legend. Rebbes court, that "such things are not The inner life of a Hasidic done without deliberation." ture not in contemporary European After saying their farewellsat the culture, but rather in their own dis­ community is richly portrayed in crossroads, Sender returnshome to tant, and in some cases, not too distant image as well as sound: the court of find his wife has died giving birth to a past: in the bible and midrashic litera­ the HasidicRebbe with his many girl, Leah. Nisn suffersa fatalaccident ture, Old Yiddish medieval romances, disciples gathered round his table on his way home at the same instant stories of the Hasidim, Haskalah seeking to be inspired and that a son, Khonnon, is born. Nisn's literature, and folktales. Though far enlightened by his teachings and his removed himself, in time as well as radiant presence; the cen­trality of the ideology,from the world of marvelous Hasidic song and dance rooted in the The shtetl persisted as happenings, myth, and superstition insistence ofHasidism on joy as the a symbol of Eastern about which he writes, Anskys attrac­ prime factor in a good Jew­ish life tion to the folktale lay in what he saw and the essential element of worship; European Jewish as its primary theme: heroic spiritual the Rebbe as mentor and struggle. existence. Originally entitled "Between Two Worlds," Anskys play depicts a uni­ FILM RESTORATION & last desperate words are a plea to verse in which the natural and super­ NEW ENGLISH SUBTITLES Sender to remember the vow. natural worlds are intertwined, where Eighteen years later, Khonnons fate man not only senses the immediacy of brings him to Brinnits. Sender, now the Divine Presence but also has the a wealthy miser blinded by avarice, power to compel the upper world, and rejects the impoverished young where the spirit of man ultimately yeshiva student in favor of a wealthy triumphs over physical force. RESTORATION CREDITS son-in-law, failing to recognize Khon­ The Messenger, who symboUzes the non as Nisns son beforeit is too late. interplay of both worlds, stands at the Executive Director: Sharon Pucker Rivo Overwrought by his faHure to win crossroads of the storys conflicts and Co-Director: Lisa E. Rivo Leahs hand, despite his efforts to resolutions: conflicts which appear Technical Director: Richard Pontius affect the outcome through ritualistic infinitely complex, yet whose resolu­ Academic Consultant: Sylvia Fuks Fried ablutions, fasting,and mystical prac­ tions appear patently simple, indeed Translators: David Roskies & Sylvia Fried tices and formulations, including perfect. As an everpresent brooding appeals to Satanic forces, Khonnon conscience, this mysterious figure RESTORED WITH FUNDING FROM finally succumbs. His death is reminds man of his responsibility to announced by the Messenger during his fellow man and of the possibility of Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Leahs betrothal celebration. redemption from sin through moral Persons Foundation His love unrelenting even in death, action. And as the voice of fate, his Khonnon's restless spirit enters Leahs presence serves as a reminder of the Justin & Kenneth Freed in honor of body as she stands under the wedding inevitability of justice in the universe. their parents Hirsh & Rosalind Freed canopy and cleaves to the soul of his Thus Sender, who saw only himself beloved. The Messenger once again in the silver-covered glass, under the National Endowment for the Arts closes the act with the haunting Rebbes direction, seeks Nisns forgive­ ness for the wrongs he committed words: "The bride has been possessed © 2018, National Center for Jewish Film by a dybbuk!" against his son and finally redeems THE DYBBUK CAST tradition is almost always the same (as Leah herself explains to Khonnon Tsaddik of Miropole Avrom Morewski The Messenger Isaac Samberg early in the film, foreshadowing the Sender Moyshe Lipman wedding scene): In the years 1648-49, Leah, His Daughter Lili Liliana when Chmielnicki and his Cossack Frayde, His Sister Dina Halpern bands swept through the town, they Nisn Gershon Lemberger killed a bride and groom as they stood Khonnon, His Son Leon Liebgold under the wedding canopy. The bride Note Max Bozyk and groom were then laid to rest on Zalmen Shmuel Landau that very spot. And it became the tra­ Nakhmen Samuel Bronecki dition for wedding parties to visit the Menashe, His Son M. Messinger Reb Mendel, His Tutor Zishe Katz grave and pay homage to the mar­ Mikhoel, The Gabbai Abraham Kurtz tyred couple. Meyer, The Shammes David Lederman About the Author Dancer of Death Judith Berg •••••••••••••••••••••• S. An sky (pseudonym of Shloyme wonder-healer, skilled in the magical ter, hey, is often used as an abbrevia­ ZanvlRapaport), born in Belorussia in an of exorcism. tion for Gods name. Hence, Khonnon 1863, brought to Yiddish literature a The film draws its name from popu­ concludes, it must be true thatLeah deep appreciation for Jewish folk val­ lar folk belief about spirits which enter can be auained not through God, but ues, much in the neoclassical sryle of I. a living person, cleave to his soul. and through Satan. L. Peretz. Attracted by the ideas of the speak through his mouth. At first, The depiction of traditional marriage Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and dybbuks were considered to be devils practices is the most elaborate of any later the doctrines of the Narodniki, a or demons; later explanations, com­ Yiddish film: The towns matchmaker Russian populist movement, he joined bined with the Kabbalistic doctrine of and Sender visit the prospective the Social-Revolutionary Parry, subse­ the transmigration of souls, had it that groom, not only to examine his Ta l­ quently composing "Di Shvue" (The these were migrant souls which could mudic acumen, but also to negotiate Oath), hymn of the Bund, the Jewish not find rest. In the ftlm version, the terms of the marriage contract; Workers' Union. Khonnons wronged and restless soul Sender celebrates the betrothal of his He is perhaps best known as a folk­ "returns Lo the earth, so that it may daughter with the men of the commu­ lorist, indeed the first to undertake complete the deeds it had left undone, nity, neglecting even to tell his daugh- large-scale fieldwork. Between 1911 and experience the joys and griefs it and 1914 he headed an expedition had not lived through." The power to through the villages and towns of the exorcise a dybbuk, about which there ... the most widely Ukrainian provinces ofVolynia and is much in the body of Jewish mystical produced play in the Podolia, and the treasure trove of eth­ writings and folk literature, was given nographic materials that he unearthed to accomplished Hasidim. history of Jewish (the expedition gathered some 1,800 It was customary for yeshiva stu­ theater. tales and legends among other folklore dents to be invited to take some of artifacts) enriched not only his own their meals at the homes of members writing, but inspired the works of of the community Khonnon, as fate ter the "good news"; prior to the countless other writers. would have it, visits the home ofReb wedding, in customary, though in his The expedition was cut short by Sender and meets his destined love. particular case, miserly, fashion, the the outbreak of WorldWar I, which Khonnons efforts to win the hand of wealthy father of the bride distributes destroyed the very fabric of Jewish life his beloved rely heavily on his study alms and food to the poor in honor of in Russias Pale of Settlement.
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