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 forone'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. During of mystical teachings and practices, the joyous occasion; the bride visits the the turbulent war years, while organiz­ including fas ting, ritual ablutions and grave of her deceased mother in order ing relief work for TheJewish Dybbuk, war victims, numerical computations of the to "invite" her to the festivities; the Ansky completed captur­ Hebrew letters of key words and wedding bard performs for the bride ing in words and images a way of life names, which are purported to have and guests, moving many of the that was disappearing before his very mystical significance. In the harrowing women to tears; the bride and groom eyes. scene leading to his death, Khonnon are led co the wedding canopy, without The Play of Plays counts nine scrolls in the ark co equal, ever having met. Some of the scenes •••••••••••••••••••••• by one particular form of computa­ are markedly macabre and stylized, tion, the numerical value of the letters including the dance of the beggars and According co some sources, Ansky in the word "Emeth", Truth (Emeth what has come co be known as "the presentedThe Dybbuk an earlyRussian version of equals 441, thus 4+4+ I = 9). The dance of death." to the renowned director number of handles on the scrolls The marriage ceremony itself is Stanislavsky who, though declining to equals the numerical value of the let­ violently interrupted as Leah rushes to produce the play for his Moscow An ters in the name Leah - lamed-30, the tombstone of t11e martyred bride Theater, inspired the role of the Mes­ alef-1, hey-5 - 36, which when multi­ and groom in the town square to plead senger in the Yiddish version. Indeed, plied by three equals the value of the for protection. To mbstones marking Ansky was never to see the play pro­ name Khonnon. Moreover, the first the joint graves of brides and grooms duced. He died in November 1920, two letters ofLeahs name, lamed and were a common feature in the small after entrusting the play t0 his close alef, mean "no" or "not"; the lase let- towns of Podolia andVolynia. The friendand literary execut0r, Yiddish of war and the annihilation of entire Jewish communities and their institu­ THE DYBBUK PRODUCTION tions; other prints, produced on nitrate DIRECTOR Michal Waszynski | PRODUCTION COMPANY Feniks | film commonly used at the time, sim­ ply disintegrated, in part, or in whole, SCREENPLAY Alter Kacyzne & Mark Arnshteyn | BASED ON THE into dust. ORIGINAL PLAY BY S. Ansky | SCRIPT A. Stern | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR By the early 1960s film historian Parker 'Tylerfeared TheDybbuk, in its Mark Arnshteyn | HISTORICAL ADVISOR Majer Balaban | original form, was lost forever. "No CINEMATOGRAPHY Albert Wywerka | MUSIC Henekh Kon | negative print of The Dybbuk,I am told by its 16-mm distributors, is believed CANTORIAL MUSIC Gershon Sirota | CHOREOGRAPHY Judith Berg | to exist anymore; no 3 5-mm positive, SET DESIGN Rotmil & Norris | PHOTOGRAPHY A. Arnold | CAMERA L. apparently, has currency in this hemi­ sphere. Thus, "duped" positives pro­ Zajaczkowski | LABORATORY Falanga vide whatever currency it has in the U.S. Its sound track, especially the dialogue, has suffered more than its imagery,so that it no longer exists as writer Alter Kacyzne, who eventually Henoch Kon had served as musical originally created ... " wrote the screenplay for the film ver­ director for numerous Yiddish stage When the National Center for Jew­ sion.The Vilna Troupe premiered the and film productions, while Gershon ish Film was created in 197 6 with the play at the Elyseum Theater in War­ Sirota, who contributed the cantorial acquisition of a private collection of saw on December 9, 1920, at the end pieces, was regarded as one of the Yiddish feature films, a nitrate dupe of the traditional mourningperiod for most accomplished tenors of his negative was among the initial materi­ its author. generation. als. A work print was struck revealing The Habimah Theater company Majer Balaban, premiere historian that the materials were many genera­ soon followed with a Hebrew ver- of Polish Jewry,served as historical tions removed from the original: the sion translated by H. N. Bialik and advisor to the director Michal Waszyn­ sound track was of variable density directed by Ye vgeny Vakhtangov, a ski, a fascinating film figure who Stanislavsky disciple. This Hebrew had directed some twenty-five feature production in Moscow in 1922 estab­ films before turning to The Dybbuk. lished Habimah'.s reputation.Countless Waszynski'.s treatmentof this mystical The Dybbuk is a rich other productions in the Yiddish origi­ tale harks back to his early association ethnographic tapestry. nal and Hebrew, as well as German, with the German Expressionist Polish, English, Ukrainian, Swedjsh, cinema. and poor quality; large segments, Bulgarian, and French have made The Among the many acting talents, including the famous exorcist scene, Dybbukthe most widely produced play Abraham Morewski is featured in the were missing entirely. A search for in the history of Jewish theater. role of the Rebbe of Miropole, while better materials was launched. Lili Liliana provides a poignant por­ A visit to Poland in 1983 revealed 1937 Film Production trayal of Leah. Leon Liebgold, who that the original materials had been •••••••••••••••••••••• was already well-known to film audi­ destroyed during the war and that Much of Yiddish cinema in the inter­ ences for his performance with Molly only an incomplete, poor quality print war period has its roots in popular Picon in the musical Yid/ mitn fidl(Yid! with Polish subtitles existed. Other Yiddish stage productions. Written and His Fiddle). went on from his prints in France, Israel, and Holland during the First World War, and staged memorable portrayal ofKhonnon to were of equally poor quality and had in innumerable productions during the play a featured role in the famous film either French, Hebrew, or German ensuing years, The Dybbukwas finally Tevye. subtitles. After an exhaustive search, made into a film just two short years an excellent nitrate print with no subti­ before the Second World War, one in a NCJF Restoration tles was located at the British Film series of Yiddish feature films pro­ •••••••••••••••••••••• Institute in London; unfortunately it duced during the second half of the The Dybbukwas produced in Poland was missing two reels and had other decade. in I 937, during the last years of the technical problems. Additional prints The film was shot on location in most dynamic period in Polish-Jewish were acquired from a private collector Kazimierz and in a Warsaw studio, history Soon after its release it was in Los Angeles and the Australian Film and drew on some of the finest talents brought to the United States and Archives in Canberra. of Polish Jewry. opened at the Continental Theater in All these sources were examined Andrzej Marek (Mark Arnshteyn) New York on January 27, 1938, where and compared scene by scene to select who collaborated with Alter Kacyzne it became an instant favorite. It subse­ the best materials and produce a com­ on the screenplay and served as artistic quently played at theaters in New York plete print faithful to the original. In director, was active for over forty years and other metropolitan areas in the 1989 NCJF produced a completely as playwright, impresario, translator, United States and throughout Europe. new negative and reintroduced the publicist, and critic in both Polish and A considerable number of Yiddish film to audiences worldwide. Since Yiddish theater. In 1925 his own pro­ and Jewish content fiJms produced that time the film has screened duction of The Dybbukin translation before World War TI appear today to be around the world.In 2018 NCJF on the Polish stage won critical lost forever: many were lost or suf­ produced a new digital restoration, acclaim. fered destruction through the ravages including updated English subtitles. •