Leah gradually came to her
senses. "A kind of unearthly force seized me and carried me
far, far away," she tells her nurse. "Is it true that the
souls of those who died before their time return to earth in
new incarnations," she says, "But it also happens that the
straying soul takes possession of the body of a living
person, assimilates this soul, and fulfills there his
destiny. Such a spirit is called a Dybbuk."
The Messenger disappears. But his words have pierced Leah's
heart....
"You are not my bridegroom!" she cries out. And from her
very heart there bursts forth in Hanan's voice the Song of
Songs.
"A 'Dybbuk' has taken
possession of her!" cried the Messenger...
|
"Who groans?" asks Leah,
coming to her senses. For answer is heard the melody of Song
of Songs. "I hear your voice, but your face I do not see,
Who are you?" she asks. "I have forgotten; but the memory of
me lives in your heart." "Ah, it is you! I come to you, my
bridegroom!"
The Song of Songs is heard from both. With the strength of
her love, Leah breaks through the magic circle, with which
Rabbi Azriel had surrounded her. Her soul unites with the
soul of Hanan, and her body falls dead.
At the end of the play, "The
curtain falls to the sound of the same melody: 'For what
cause, did the soul descend from the loftiest height into
the nethermost abyss?'" |