Dybbuk

Dybbuk – in kabbalah and European Jewish folklore, is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person, escaped from Gehenna, a Hebrew term very loosely translated as "hell". The word "dybbuk" is derived from the Hebrew דיבוק, meaning "attachment"; the dybbuk attaches itself to the body of a living person and inhabits it, and must be exorcised by a prescribed religious rite. According to belief, a soul which has not been able to fulfill its function in its lifetime is given another opportunity to do so in the form of a dybbuk.

See also

• Kabbalah
• Ibbur
• Gilgul neshamot
• Qliphoth
• The Dybbuk (a play by S. Ansky).

External links

• Dybbuk by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
• Dybbuk – Spiritual Possession and Jewish Folklore