As we have just finished celebrating the holidays of Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret, I was reflecting on how the iconic Sukkot ritual of Hoshanot is protrayed in the movie Der Dybbuk. When I first had the opportunity to watch the Der Dybbuk, I was initially struck with how proper and correct its portrayal of Jewish ritual felt to me. All of the cinematic portrayals of Judaism in American media that I was exposed to felt inauthentic. Either the writers don't really understand Jewish ritual or they are trying to simplify and explain it to their audience.
Der Dybbuk was written for an audience that was already familiar with Jewish ritual. The writers and director were able to just place a scene of Hoshanot, a Sukkot ritual that is often overshadowed in depictions of the holiday by the Sukkah and the Arba Minim, with the full confidence that their audience would understand what was happening.
The opening act of the movie introduces Nisn (chonon's father) and Sender (Leah's father) while they visit their Rebbe during the holiday of Sukkot. In the first scene of the movie both Nisn and Sender keep missing opportunities to get their Rebbe's approval for a vow they have both accepted. We, the audience do not yet know exactly what this vow entails. Sender commits to trying again the next day, which is Hoshana Rabba.
The next scene opens in the synagogue while the Chazan is reciting Hallel. We hear the Chazan chanting last verses of Psalm 115.
There are two scenes that take place within the synagogue during the opening act of the movie. The first scene contains a small portion of the Hallel. Specifically, we hear the Chazan recite:
השמים שמים ליי והארץ נתן לבני אדם
"The heavens belong to God, but the earth, he gave to mankind."
לא המתים יהללו יה ולא כל ירדי דומה
"The dead cannot praise God, nor any who go down in silence"
The inability for the dead to praise and worship God is a common motif in the Hebrew Bible. In addition to it literally meaning the dead cannot worship God, this statement comes with other implications. The dead cannot offer praise because they cannot speak. Perhaps the dead enter a domain of existence that prevents them from offer praise to God. For a viewer who is already familiar with the story of the Dybbuk, this line is ominous. The Dybbuk is a dead person who has stolen the ability to speak from a living person. In some ways this line is a prayer beseaching God to keep the dead quiet and at peace. It is also a warning that any dead person who does attempt to speak will not be doing anything righteous with that power. All this forboding information is contained within this short line.
The first verse the Chazan recites is also foreshadowing the final act of the movie. After being presented with Leah possessed by a dybbuk, Rav Azriel of Miropol holds two Din Torahs. The first Din Torah is to nullify the vow that Sender and Nisn made which is drawing Chonon and Leah's souls together. The second Din Torah is to force Chonon to leave Leah's body by putting his soul in Cherem. (Although not exactly addressing the ideology behind dybbuk trials, I recommend Historia Civilis' video on animal trials for a background on using trials to combat evil forces.) During the first Din Torah, the meshulach informs Rav Azriel that Nisn did not accept the nullification of the vow. Rav Azriel responds that if the heavenly worlds tried to maintain the vow, he would overturn their decision. In this instance he is drawing from an established tradition in Jewish theology that rabbinic courts on earth have more authority over interpreting the Torah law than God does. The verse in Psalm 115 states, "but the earth, he gave to mankind." The implication is he gave the earth to mankind to govern. This verse can be read as an affirmation of the tradition of mortal rabbinic decisions overriding divine understanding of Torah law.
Another potential reading of first verse is the spirits/souls of the dead belong in heaven and the living human beings belong on earth. Though verse literally says, "The heavens belong to God," you can broaden God to include all divine and spiritual entities. There are ideas within Jewish mysticism that understand each human soul to be a small part of God. These souls, after they are freed from their human shells upon death, must return back to heaven and should not linger on earth. If one soul does linger on earth it can cause become a dybbuk. By declearing the heavens to be the realm of the divine, this verse can also be read a plea to prevent the conditions, that can create a dybbuk, from forming.
After this short section of Hallel the scene shifts to the street outside of the synagogue. We see the meshulach figure appear outside and make his way into the synagogue. When he enters the synagogue, the congregation is up to the Hoshanas. Specifically, the Chazan is reciting אבן שתיה, which is the second round of Hoshanas that are recited on Hoshana Rabba. Each round of the Hoshanas has a theme or topic, and אבן שתיה describes the temple in Jerusalem. The section is a plea to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
While the Chazan recites the Hoshanas, Sender and Nisn discuss the details of their vow with someone who was standing next to them. This scene is where we the audience finally learn of the details of the vow and its dangerous implications. Interlaced within the dialogue describing the vow, we hear the Chazan chanting the Hoshanas.
The word הושענא, which is the refrain of the entire Hoshana ceremony, means 'please save.' The whole ceremony is meant to beseach God for salvation. The ceremony is based upon a ceremony that was performed in the temple in Jerusalem which was meant to ask God for a good rain season in the winter. The success of the crops in Palestine were reliant upon a good rain season. In exile, the prayer has expanded to ask for all manner of divine salvation and blessing. In the Jewish tradition, rain is a symbol of God's blessings in general.
The cries of 'please save' us echoing in the background of Sender and Nisn's doomed vow are a warning that the vow will require salvation. The Hoshana prayer becomes of foreboding chant for the clamity of the dybbuk that is to come.
As I mentioned above, the specific section of the Hoshanas that the Chazan recites describes the temple in Jerusalem and serves as plea to rebuild it. The symbolism of the temple as the holiest place on earth represents the holiest acts a person can do, which are love,sex, and marriage. Chonon ends up corrupting the holiness of these acts and causes a disaster.
Through Chonon's conversations with his friend Henoch, we the audience learn that Chonon has a somewhat Sabbatean ideology. He believes that holiness can be found in the most impure of places. He concludes that his love for Leah must be channeled through a Satanic lust in order for him to secure his marriage to her. When he reaches out to the Satanic forces for help, they grant his wish to be with Leah, but he becomes bound to her as a dybbuk and not through a marriage.
Marriage and love are very holy things within the Jewish tradition. The Song of Solomon, which is sung throughout the movie, is considered one of the most holy texts within the Hebrew Bible. The most holy acts are also the most dangerous and can be easily corrupted if done improperly. In the opening scene of the movie, Rav Azriel of Miropol, holds his Hasidic court. He delivers a drasha in which he explains the great risk the high priest takes when he enters the holiest chamber of the temple on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and recites the holiest name of God. If the high priest had improper intentions when performing the ceremony, he could cause great destruction. Through this speech, Rav Azriel describes the main theme of the movie, the holiest acts are both the easiest to corrupt and when corrupted have grave consequences.
When the movie juxtaposes the Hoshana about the temple in Jerusalem with Sender and Nisn's vow to marry their children, it is infroming us the audience that the holiness of the temple is representing the holiness of love, sex, and marriage. The resulting calamity of the vow will defile the temple; Chonon's sacred love for Leah will become a dangerous lust that consumes him and transforms him into a dybbuk.
I may come back to offer more thoughts about Chonon's lust itself, Leah's autonomy and relationship with Chonon, the various homosocial pairings of Sender and Nisn and Chonon and Henoch. There is also a good chance that it may take me a few years before I revisit this.
