Anyone who can help me greater understand The Dybbuk?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 12:12pm

I just finished reading Ansky's play (Gold Weman's translation (Yale Press)), not Kushner's adaptation, which I understand made some important textual changes. I've never seen the play per se or the film although I saw the interesting Polish production at BAM a few years back, with its new parallel story about actors in contemporary Warsaw; I enjoyed that production but have forgotten most of it, especially as it dealt with the original text.

Have many questions about the play am curious about others' interpretations and thoughts. Thought perhaps some on bww might have some insightful thoughts to share. Not sure if SPOILER ALERTS are appropriate for a classic play, but perhaps more will be discussed here than someone who has not seen or read it may want to know.

1) Who is the Messenger? Is he intentionally ambiguous? If so, how does his mystery complement the mysticism of the story?

2) When Reb Azriel arrives at the end and says they are too late, what exactly has happened to Leah and Khonan's spirits? I saw it as a spiritual marriage that no earthly one could supplant but can see that there might be other conclusions to draw. It even occurred to me that Leah is no longer alive, and in a sense that is true, united in spirit now but no longer in body, she and Khonnan seem to be "between two worlds," Ansky's supplementary title. What if anything is Ansky suggesting about the comparative states of demonic possession, physical union and marriage, and spiritual union between two worlds?


3) What are the global and cosmic ramifications of "being between two worlds," has this union changed earthly existence as we know it? Does it have spiritual consequences that go beyond Leah and Khonan to humanity? How has life changed for all the living after the play's end?

4) What is meant by Nissen's silence, revealed by the judges, at the court's judgment? Clearly he has respected the verdict in part as Khonan acknowledges that those directing him out of Leah's body include his father's spirit; does Nissen's silence indicate an understanding of what is to come, of divine justice and how it goes beyond and modifies the court's? Reb Azrielke repeatedly mentions that the court has only done the best it could and that the court's findings might conflict with God's, even suggesting that any disparity might have cataclysmic or at least far-reaching and unforeseen consequences?

5) What if anything does the play offer about arranged marriage? About young people choosing their own destiny? Here the original shiddach, match, Leah's choice, Khonan's choice, and even her father's hidden desires (if we are to believe his testimony) are one with God's, and Sender and Nahman have violated not only Sender's original arranged-marriage contract with Nissen but also God's law, and Leah's free will by betrothing Leah and Menashe. Even Menashe's anxieties seem extreme, a trembling before God which goes beyond predictable cold feet, the typical "I was scared, I was shy, I was nervous, so was I" jitters. Is Ansky addressing the end of traditions such as arranged marriages, and does the play's resolution beautifully harmonize social and political enlightenment with spiritual enlightenment? Does lighting, shadow and the play of candles, shadow, black and white in the play bring this to scenic life?

6) There have been several attempts to musicalize the play. I'm not familiar with them but to those who are, did you find them successful?

7) Finally, what do you think of it? I loved and was very moved by it.




Updated On: 7/23/13 at 12:12 PM