In Jewish folklore, a malicious spirit or demon that possesses a living person's body, often believed to be the restless soul of a dead person.
From Yiddish dybbuk and Hebrew dibbuk, derived from the Hebrew verb davak meaning 'to adhere' or 'to cling.' The concept developed in medieval Jewish mystical literature, particularly in Kabbalistic texts describing how spirits attach themselves to the living.
The dybbuk became the central figure of one of the most famous plays of Yiddish theater—basically the Jewish world's answer to ghosts and demons, but with a specific theological twist about clinging souls.
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