The dybbuk, a dead person's soul that possesses a living person, is an ancient and fascinating part of Jewish folklore in Eastern Europe. Drawing on the eerie world of the kaballah and the many mystical legends handed down through generations, the dybbuk illuminates various aspects of the Jewish supernatural world. The centerpiece of this volume is Tony Kushner's remarkable adaptation of A Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds, which tells the story of a wealthy man's daughter who is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved. The work is adapted from the original play by noted author and folklorist S. Ansky. In the early nineteenth century, Ansky embarked on a trip to the remote regions of the Ukraine to recover the many oral tales and legends of Eastern European Hasidic culture. His play, The Dybbuk, was the retelling in dramatic form of many of the tales he discovered. It received its premiere in Warsaw in 1920, several months after Ansky's death, and it remains as one of the masterworks of Hebrew mystical drama. Also included in this volume is a selection of Yiddish supernatural tales translated by Joachim Neugroschel. The stories, none of which have been translated before, illuminate the different aspects of the Jewish mystical world, including possessions, transmigration, fairy tales, parables and miracles. This volume features original cover art by Maurice Sendak.
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