This week marked the run of the Hillel Theater Group's production of The Dybbuk, a play that explores traditions found in Hasidic Judaism and delves into the mystical world of the unknown. Much of the dialogue throughout the show refers to historic events in Jewish culture and ethics of Judaism, and the central action takes place within a synagogue and nearby graveyard. Although the show raises many interesting questions of ethics and morality, the production seemed to struggle to make a show about Hasidic Jews from another era accessible to a secular, contemporary audience.The plot centers around the thwarted romance between Leah (Rachel Garbus '13) and Hannan (Jacob Chatinover '12). Leah's father, Sender (Jeff Horowitz '10), has repeatedly attempted to marry her off, but each time the bridegroom's family has failed to live up to his extremely high standards. While several rabbinical students are sitting around a table in the synagogue discussing Jewish parables, Sender is busy trying to betroth his daughter for a fourth time. The students are theorizing when a mysterious figure, known only as the Messenger (Maayan Bar-Yam '12), arrives and engages them in debate. Bar-Yam's portrayal of the Messenger is very intriguing, but one is left wondering what his role is in the series of events that transpire, a question that is left hanging throughout the play. At times, the Messenger interacts with all of the characters, while at other times he is seen or heard only by Leah, leaving the audience in confusion as to whether he is some type of other-worldly spirit or a real person.

One difficulty with the production is the challenge involved in following the long-winded, detailed discussions in which the characters frequently engage. Although these discussions of morals make one think, they tend to be preachy and seem more like abstract philosophical questions thrown into the mix at random than relevant questions of ethics. The story is quite discursive, leading us down several routes only to abandon them later in search of the love story between Leah and Hannan.

Leah and her grandmother go to the synagogue to pray for the soul of Leah's mother, and Leah is happy to find Hannan studying biblical texts there. The two shyly exchange looks as she approaches him only to be drawn away by her grandmother. Soon after the women depart, Sender returns to the synagogue with the good news that he has finally betrothed his daughter. Hannan, distraught by this news, soliloquizes over his inability to understand kabbalah. However, after an epiphany, he immediately falls down dead, his body lying in front of the Torah ark.

In the next scene, Leah is preparing for her wedding day and is bothered by something she cannot identify. She dances with a group of wedding guests, but the exertion overwhelms her and she starts to feel faint. Confusingly, many of the female characters are played by males costumed in very comedic, "feminine" outfits, or with physical characteristics such as hunched backs and crutches. These depictions seem awkward and out of place. It is not clear why the director made these choices.

Increasingly agitated and exhausted, Leah faints, and the authorities determine that she is possessed by a dybbuk, or a "wandering soul." Her father and grandmother immediately bring her to Rabbi Azrael, beautifully played by Dan Forman '10, and he begins to perform an exorcism. With the help of Rabbi Samson (Sam Fowler '13), it is discovered that the dybbuk is the lost soul of Hannan and that he has possessed Leah's body in order to prevent her from marrying anyone because of a promise made by their parents before they were born. Hannan feels that he is Leah's soul mate because of this pre-destined promise and refuses to give her up to someone else. The ghost of Hannan's father is summoned and he claims that he and Sender had agreed to marry their children to each other long ago, before the children were born. He accuses Sender of breaking this promise, and Sender confirms the claim, although he tries to justify his actions.

Although the truth has come to the surface, Hannan's father's ghost does not accept the rabbi's pleas to ask Hannan to leave Leah's body. While the rabbi wants to proceed with Leah's wedding to her new bridegroom and believes he can vanquish the dybbuk, Leah and Hannan prove him wrong by uniting under a marital canopy carried by four spirits dressed in white. The show ends on an ambiguous note, leaving the audience to decide whether Leah has killed herself in order to be reunited with Hannan or whether she is still alive and they have been reunited in a purely spiritual sense.

Garbus plays a possessed Leah brilliantly, maintaining a sense of realism and invoking compassion for her character in an otherwise unbelievable story. Although several actors imbue their roles with great passion, the production did not capture the essence of mysticism which plays such an integral part in the Hasidic experience. We are left wondering and disturbed. Although questions of rabbinical authority are raised many times, in the end it is the dybbuk, or perhaps the power of love, that triumphs over all.

Editor's Note: Jacob Chatinover is a member of the Justice Copy staff.