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. Ansky'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. Ansky, is considered one of the classics of
Yiddish filmmaking.[8]
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]
^Billu, Y; Beit-Hallahmi, B (1989). "Dybbuk-Possession as a hysterical symptom: Psychodynamic and socio-cultural factors". Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Science. 26 (3): 138–149.
PMID2606645.