Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism

by J.H. Chajes

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.

Genres: Jewish, Judaism, Nonfiction, Religion, History, Judaica, Esoterica

Hardcover

First published July 3, 2003

Reviews

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early in J.H. Chajes' "Between Worlds," he cites scholar Joshua Trachtenberg. Dr. Trachtenberg, who wrote "The Devil and the Jews," is a brilliant writer, a scholar whose depth of knowledge never keeps him from achieving great clarity in his writing. J.H. Chajes is a capable scholar, and his subject is a worthy one, but he struggles to find a tone and to successfully communicate the history and ideas at his command.

"Between Worlds," treats demonology, exorcism, and other beliefs in supernatural and esoteric phenomena as they were shaped and practiced upon contact with both Christian and Muslim cultures in the Levant and Europe in the Middle Ages (mostly). All of the chapters were fascinating. Only one or two were truly coherent.

The best part of the book was the appendix in which case histories/records of exorcisms were documented by rabbinical authorities trying to dislodge Dybbuks (malicious spirits) from the bodies of the possessed. These cases are as detailed as court records, and some of them are quite humorous. The tales of cows pleading to be eaten by those who keep kosher so that they might be reincarnated as Jews was an especially favorite anecdote. But, suffice it to say that if the best part of your book is the appendix, something went wrong somewhere.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important addition to Jewish historical religious studies, this one focuses on magic, dybbuks, spirit possessions, exorcisms/exorcists throughout history and into the early modern period. Completely fascinating, solid writing on parallels to Islam and Christianity at the time. Unlike so many scholarly works (and this doubles as a sourcebook), Chajes' writing is fluid and accessible. Highlights are the appendix (author's own translations from original of a number of spirit possession accounts-generally from the position of the exorcist), and the section on women's religiosity/use of possession which touches on medieval use of beneficial channeling of sages to elevate one's status as an itinerant preacher. For sure fringe in topic, and for sure recommended.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a most informative book. Those who are looking for academic but accessible treatments of the topic of possession will find this book a treasure trove. I initially read it because it discussed the topic of dybbuks, something many books about demonic creatures don't do. In tracing the history of dybbuks, however, Chajes also provides many useful insights into Catholic ideas of exorcism. The rite was often performed as a spectacle—an advertisement, if you will, of what Catholics had to offer. For this reason exorcism became more elaborate during the period of the Reformation.

Jewish treatments were somewhat different. Jewish exorcism involved the idea of reincarnation and that a human being could be possessed by a good ghost or a bad ghost. Or a demon. The method of exorcism was similar but different from that of Catholicism. For example, Jewish exorcists were permitted to talk the the possessing spirit conversationally. Also of interest was the fact that in the early period it was considered fine to use a Muslim or Christian exorcist if need be. All three faiths recognized that the other two could legitimately cast out demons.

This is a fascinating and informative study. For those who are interested I discuss it a bit further on my blog, Sects and Violence in the Ancient World. Whether or not you read the blog post, I encourage you to read the book.