The Dybbukast

Episode 2 of Season 2, presented in collaboration with the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), explores The Book of Job , the biblical text which tells the story of a man who experiences great personal loss. The book has served as a source of contemplation about the nature of life and death, as inspiration for the creation of a variety of artistic works, and as a departure point for theological...

The second season of The Dybbukast begins with an episode about the life and music of Samy Elmaghribi, presented in collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Montreal. Born Salomon Amzallag to a Jewish family in Morocco in 1922, Samy became a major star in his home country and throughout North Africa performing, composing, and recording both traditional and popular music, and later became a cantor a...

Bovo-Buch is Elia Levita's 16th century Yiddish treatment of the popular Italian chivalric romance Buovo d’Antona . Chivalric romances, popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe, are narratives which celebrate courtly love and manners and most often feature the adventures of heroic knights going on quests. Bovo-Buch , which was extremely popular among Ashkenazi J...

Written in Italy in the 16th century by Jewish dramatist Leone De' Sommi Portaleone, who also wrote what is considered to be the oldest extant Hebrew-language play, the poem "In Defense of Women" touches on the role of women in drama and reveals a great deal about the cultural considerations and power dynamics of this time when women were coming to the fore on the theatrical stages of Northern Ita...

In episode seven, presented in collaboration with Lilith Magazine , we share performed readings from and explore issues intersecting with a piece of writing published in Lilith in 2020 titled “Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives.” The work takes a liturgical poem which speaks about the nature of existence and is central to the Jewish High Holidays and builds upon it, reimagining it to speak about the k...

In this episode, presented in collaboration with Lilith Magazine , we share excerpts from and explore issues intersecting with a creative non-fiction essay published in Lilith in 1994 titled “How to Hide: Instructions from a Daughter of Survivors.” The work describes how certain perspectives and life behaviors, influenced by their parents' experiences in the Holocaust, show up for the children of...

In Episode 5, we examined Henry Ford’s publication, The International Jew , and its relationship to “The Protocols.” In this bonus episode, we’re sharing a scene that explores elements of Ford’s publication from our latest theatrical work – still in development – breaking protocols. Set in the 1940s, breaking protocols explores the history behind "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" by presenting...

This special podcast episode, co-produced with The Association for Jewish Studies, explores Henry Ford’s publication of  The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem , a four volume series containing newspaper articles which were originally published from 1920-1922. These writings were based on – and included elements of – the notorious, fraudulent text “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion....

Episode four, presented in collaboration with The Contemporary Jewish Museum, explores two murder pamphlets, "The Murdered Jewess Sara Alexander: Life, Trial and Conviction of Rubenstein the Polish Jew" and "Rubenstein, or The Murdered Jewess: Being a Full and Reliable History of This Terrible Mystery of Blood.” Published in 1876, both pamphlets tell the tale of Pesach Rubenstein, a Jewish immigra...

In episode 3, we featured selections from the English translation of Blume Lempel's short story, "The Death of My Aunt," intercut with an exploration of the narrative's meanings and implications. In this bonus episode, you will hear both Ellen Cassedy's and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub's reflections on the experience of translating the story and the reading of "The Death of My Aunt" in its entirety. Learn...

Episode three, presented in collaboration with the Yiddish Book Center, investigates "The Death of My Aunt," a short story written in Yiddish by Blume Lempel and published in 1975. The story moves through time and space as a woman whose aunt has died deals with mourning the loss of this figure whose past came to life as her present grew dim. Ellen Cassedy and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, whose book Oedip...

Episode two, presented in collaboration with the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), explores  The Book of Enoch , an ancient text composed during the Hellenistic period that contains tales of barbarous giants, visions of redemption, and much more. Dr. Greg Salyer, President of PRS, takes us on a journey through the book’s structure, helping us investigate the spiritual and emotional value of ap...

In episode 1, we featured portions of essays from the 1926 religious school journal I-Tell-You as well as the short play The Little Hasmoneans  (also found in the journal) intercut with commentary by Dr. Miriam Heller Stern. We thought you might like to hear a continuous performance of the play and one of the student essays in full. Please enjoy the essay "How I Got My Name" by Henrietta B. Stein...

This first episode, presented in collaboration with Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), features selections from a children's play found in I-Tell-You, a 1926 religious school journal from Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia. The episode also includes essays from the publication written by both students and clergy. Dr. Miriam Heller Stern, National Director, Schoo...

The Dybbukast, a project of theatre dybbuk, uses interviews with artists and scholars combined with performed readings to examine and contextualize novels, mythological narratives, poems, plays, and other writings from throughout history. The Dybbukast also explores what these works reveal about the forces still at play in our contemporary world. Look for new episodes the second Friday of every mo...