Dybbuk and Other Tales of the Supernatural

Dybbuk and Other Tales of the Supernatural PDF Author: Tony Kushner
Publisher: Theatre Communications Grou
ISBN: 9781559361378
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Considered by many to be the greatest Yiddish drama, 'A dybbuk' recounts the tale of a wealthy man's daughter who is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved.

Dybbuk and Other Tales of the Supernatural

Dybbuk and Other Tales of the Supernatural PDF Author: Tony Kushner
Publisher: Theatre Communications Grou
ISBN: 9781559361378
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Considered by many to be the greatest Yiddish drama, 'A dybbuk' recounts the tale of a wealthy man's daughter who is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved.

Between Worlds

Between Worlds PDF Author: J. H. Chajes
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812221702
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
After a nearly two-thousand-year interlude, and just as Christian Europe was in the throes of the great Witch Hunt and what historians have referred to as "The Age of the Demoniac," accounts of spirit possession began to proliferate in the Jewish world. Concentrated at first in the Near East but spreading rapidly westward, spirit possession, both benevolent and malevolent, emerged as perhaps the most characteristic form of religiosity in early modern Jewish society. Adopting a comparative historical approach, J. H. Chajes uncovers this strain of Jewish belief to which scant attention has been paid. Informed by recent research in historical anthropology, Between Worlds provides fascinating descriptions of the cases of possession as well as analysis of the magical techniques deployed by rabbinic exorcists to expel the ghostly intruders. Seeking to understand the phenomenon of spirit possession in its full complexity, Chajes delves into its ideational framework—chiefly the doctrine of reincarnation—while exploring its relation to contemporary Christian and Islamic analogues. Regarding spirit possession as a form of religious expression open to—and even dominated by—women, Chajes initiates a major reassessment of women in the history of Jewish mysticism. In a concluding section he examines the reception history of the great Hebrew accounts of spirit possession, focusing on the deployment of these "ghost stories" in the battle against incipient skepticism in the turbulent Jewish community of seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Exploring a phenomenon that bridged learned and ignorant, rich and poor, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, Between Worlds maps for the first time a prominent feature of the early modern Jewish religious landscape, as quotidian as it was portentous: the nexus of the living and the dead.

Lilith's Cave

Lilith's Cave PDF Author: Howard Schwartz
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195067266
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Tales of terror and the supernatural hold an honored position in the Jewish folkloric tradition. Howard Schwartz has superbly translated and retold fifty of the best of these folktales. Gathered from countless sources ranging from the ancient Middle East to twelfth-century Germany and later Eastern European oral tradition, these captivating stories include Jewish variants of the Pandora and Persephone myths.

The Dibbuk Box

The Dibbuk Box PDF Author: Jason Haxton
Publisher: Truman State Univ Press
ISBN: 9781612480121
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
A series of eerie events slowly unfolds when a wine cabinet sells at an estate sale in Oregon. It is soon sold and resold on eBay's Internet auction, and each new owner becomes desperate to get rid of the box along with the health problems, accidents, or death they claim came with it. Jason Haxton, the curator of a medical museum in a small Missouri town, learns of the mysterious cabinet and is intrigued by it as an artifact to be studied and researched. He places a bid on eBay and soon finds himself the proud owner of the Dibbuk Box. But as he carefully investigates and records everything he can about this unusual item said to be possessed by a Jewish spirit, Haxton discovers far more than he bargained for. In this true account, a dark story comes to light—a story that began at the time of the Holocaust and seems to have come full circle.

Leaves from the Garden of Eden

Leaves from the Garden of Eden PDF Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199754381
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
In Leaves from the Garden of Eden, Howard Schwartz, a three-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award, has gathered together one hundred of the most astonishing and luminous stories from Jewish folk tradition. Just as Schwartz's award-winning book Tree of Souls collected the essential myths of Jewish tradition, Leaves from the Garden of Eden collects one hundred essential Jewish tales. As imaginative as the Arabian Nights, these stories invoke enchanted worlds, demonic realms, and mystical experiences. The four most popular types of Jewish tales are gathered here--fairy tales, folktales, supernatural tales, and mystical tales--taking readers on heavenly journeys, lifelong quests, and descents to the underworld. There is a dybbuk lurking in a well, a book that comes to life, and a world where Lilith, the Queen of Demons, seduces the unsuspecting. Here too are Jewish versions of many of the best-known tales, including "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Rapunzel." Schwartz's retelling of one of these stories, "The Finger," inspired Tim Burton's film Corpse Bride.

The Dybbuk and the Yiddish Imagination

The Dybbuk and the Yiddish Imagination PDF Author: Joachim Neugroschel
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815628729
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
he most famous play in the Yiddish repertoire, S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk has been made into two films and three operas and has been staged all over the world. As an extraordinary product of the Yiddish imagination, however, its literary and religious roots have never been thoroughly explored. With a new translation of Ansky’s play that conveys its brilliant supernatural poetry, this anthology comprises thirty highly diverse literary masterpieces dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Beginning with the first Yiddish tale about a possession (1602), these works influenced Ansky or formed a cultural and spiritual network that shows us how the era and tradition precipitated the drama. The result is a literary mosaic that shows a vast array of styles, from the earthy simplicity of homespun folk tales to the delicacy and elegance of polished literary expression. Joachim Neugroschel brings together a wide variety of stories, verse narratives, and even modern melodrama—many never before translated into English.

Dramatic Revisions of Myths, Fairy Tales and Legends

Dramatic Revisions of Myths, Fairy Tales and Legends PDF Author: Verna A. Foster
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786465123
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
These new essays explore the ways in which contemporary dramatists have retold or otherwise made use of myths, fairy tales and legends from a variety of cultures, including Greek, West African, North American, Japanese, and various parts of Europe. The dramatists discussed range from well-established playwrights such as Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, and Timberlake Wertenbaker to new theatrical stars such as Sarah Ruhl and Tarell Alvin McCraney. The book contributes to the current discussion of adaptation theory by examining the different ways, and for what purposes, plays revise mythic stories and characters. The essays contribute to studies of literary uses of myth by focusing on how recent dramatists have used myths, fairy tales and legends to address contemporary concerns, especially changing representations of women and the politics of gender relations but also topics such as damage to the environment and political violence.

The Jewish Story Finder

The Jewish Story Finder PDF Author: Sharon Barcan Elswit
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786448237
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
Storytelling, as oral tradition and in writing, has long played a central role in Jewish society. Family, educators, and clergy employ stories to transmit Jewish culture, traditions, and values. This comprehensive bibliography identifies 668 Jewish folktales by title and subject, summarizing plot lines for easy access to the right story for any occasion. Some centuries old and others freshly imagined, the tales include animal fables, supernatural yarns, and anecdotes for festivals and holidays. Themes include justice, community, cause and effect, and mitzvahs, or good deeds. This second edition nearly doubles the number of stories and expands the guide's global reach, with new pieces from Turkey, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Chile. Subject cross-references and a glossary complete the volume, a living tool for understanding the ever-evolving world of Jewish folklore.

Understanding Tony Kushner

Understanding Tony Kushner PDF Author: James Fisher
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 9781570037498
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Surveys the writings of the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Angels in America' and co-author of the Oscar-nominated screenplay for the film 'Munich'. This book guides readers through Kushner's influences and creations to map the importance of his work in postmodern literary and cultural landscapes.

Pioneers

Pioneers PDF Author: S. A. An-Sky
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253012147
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
“A unique work of art” that captures “the experiences of an important generation of Russian Jews. . . . and an important document of its time.” —Gabriella Safran, author of Wandering Soul: The Dybbuk’s Creator, S. An-Sky S. An-Sky’s novel dramatizes the dilemmas of Jewish young people in late Tsarist Russia as they strive to throw off their traditional religious upbringing to adopt a secular and modern identity. The action unfolds in the town of M. in the Pale of Settlement, where an engaging cast of characters wrestles with cultural and social issues. Their exploits culminate in helping a young Jewish woman evade an arranged marriage and a young Russian woman leave home so she can pursue her studies at a European university. This startling novel reveals the tensions and triumphs of coming of age in a revolutionary time. “An-Sky brilliantly captures a week in the life of young Jewish intellectuals fleeing their tiny villages to find the possibility of personal growth in larger towns where the enlightenment has begun to work its way.” —Jewish Book Council “Michael R. Katz’s translation renders another Russian literary gem into fluid and lively English. . . . The publication of Pioneers in English . . . appears at an auspicious moment, for readers today may be more receptive than ever to narratives that convey the richness, complexity, and diversity of Jewish life in times of dynamic and decisive change.” —Marginalia