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The '''Dybbuk Box''' is an apparent wine cabinet which is said to cause bad luck and strange phenomena. The box was offered for sale on eBay in February 2004, and became somewhat of an Internet ''cause celebre'' and made international news. |
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The '''Dybbuk Box''' (or Dibbuk Box) is the commonly-used name of a wine cabinet which is supposedly haunted by a Dybbuk; a jewish spirit. The box acheived recognition after it was auctioned on eBay with an accompanying horror story. |
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The original eBay seller of the Dybbuk box relates the following story as to how they ended up in possession of the item: |
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The legend of the box dates back to just after the end of World War II when a Polish Holocaust survived allegedly bought it in Spain.<ref name="thirteen">{{cite news|author = |title = Mystery of possessed box at caves|quote = |publisher = Cheddar Valley Gazette|date = June 10, 2010|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref> The survivor died in 2001 and the box was bought at auction by a furniture restorer.<ref name="Jewish">{{cite news|author = Max Gross|title = A Box Full of Bad Luck: Haunted Wine Cabinet Goes to Highest Bidder|quote = |publisher = [[The Forward]]|date = February 13, 2004|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref> The survivor's granddaughter told the buyer that the box had been kept in her grandmother's sewing room and was never opened as a dybbuk - an evil spirit from Jewish folklore - lived inside. The furniture restorer offered to give the box back to the granddaughter, who became hysterical and refused to take it.<ref name="Jewish"/> |
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<i><blockquote>During September of 2001, I attended an estate sale in Portland Oregon. The items liquidated at this sale were from the estate of a woman who had passed away at the age of 103. A grand-daughter of the woman told me that her grandmother had been born in Poland where she grew up, married, raised a family, and lived until she was sent to a nazi concentration camp during World War II. She was the only member of her family who survived the camp. Her parents, brothers, a sister, husband, and two sons and a daughter were all killed. She survived the camp by escaping with some other prisoners and somehow making her way to Spain where she lived until the end of the war. I was told that she acquired the small wine cabinet listed here in Spain and it was one of only three items that she brought with her when she immigrated to the United States. The other two items were a steamer trunk, and a sewing box. |
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I purchased the wine cabinet, along with the sewing box and some other furniture at the estate sale. After the sale, I was approached by the womans granddaughter who said, I see you got the dibbuk box. She was referring to the wine cabinet. I asked her what a dibbuk box was, and she told me that when she was growing up, her grandmother always kept the wine cabinet in her sewing room. It was always locked, and set in a place that was out of reach. The grandmother always called it the dibbuk box. When the girl asked her grandmother what was inside, her grandmother spit three times through her fingers said, A dibbuk, and keselim. The grandmother went on to tell the girl that the wine cabinet was never, ever, to be opened.</blockquote></i> |
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On opening the box the buyer found that it contained two 1920s pennies, a lock of blonde hair, a lock of brown hair and a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word Shalom. <ref name="Jewish"/> |
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Further investigation by the current owner of the box is said to have revealed that the 103-year-old woman's name was Havela, and her and other family members in pre-WWII Poland had been holding séances hoping to talk to the dead. It is thought they had reached a true spirit who became a regular 'visitor' to their séance group. As the spirit became more and more influential, and perhaps more sinister, the group decided the best way to get rid of it was to bring it to this world and trap it. They did this, with the Dybbuk Box being purchased at a later date as a custom storage unit for the spirit. |
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Numerous owners of the box have reported that strange phenomenon accompany it. Iosif Neitzke, the last person to auction the box on eBay, claimed that the box caused lights to burn out in his house and his hair to fall out.<ref name="Jewish"/> The furniture restorer claimed that the box gave his mother a stroke and his business to experience problems. Every owner of the box has reported that a smell of ammonia and nightmares involving an old hag accompany the box. <ref name="Jewish"/> |
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The original eBay seller related that after they first purchased the box from the estate sale, strange and terrible things regularly occurred in the vicinity of the box. An employee was scared witless by a poltergeist-like phenomenon which smashed lights and swore profusely. Upon returning to the premises, the owner described an ammonia-like smell ("cat urine"). The seller's mother allegedly had a stroke just minutes after being given the box as a gift. |
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The box now belongs to Jason Haxton, a museum curator from Missouri. Unlike the previous owners, Haxton does not believe the story behind the box. He has been quoted as saying: "I'm not even sure that there's a spirit attached to it."<ref name="Jewish"/> |
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The box is said to have been sold in June 2003, with the details mentioned above provided. The buyer describes hunting down the original definition of 'Dybbuk', which they found meant: "1. (Jewish folklore) a demon that enters the body of a living person and controls that body's behavior. Synonyms: dybbuk. 2. Evil Spirits, that cause mental illness, rage and changes of personality. " |
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==Design== |
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The box was offered for sale on eBay again just seven months after purchase, and this time it became a minor Internet phenomenon, with many websites linking to it and some news outlets even covering the sale (the eBay sell page clocked up over 57,000 hits). The Dybbuk Box sold on February 9, 2004 for $US280.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/25/entertainment/ca-gornstein25</ref><ref>http://www.hotspotsz.com/The_Dybbuk_Box_(Article-4130).html</ref> |
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The cabinet has the Shema carved into the side of it.<ref name="Jewish"/> It's dimensions are 12.5". x 7.5" x 16.25"<ref name="Jewish"/> |
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The word on the stone in the box is the Hebrew word ''shalom'', which means "peace." |
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==In Popular Culture== |
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In 2012 a movie will be filmed about the Dybbuk box.<ref>http://cinema.theiapolis.com/movie-011Z/dibbuk-box/</ref><ref>http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=14534</ref><ref>http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/18567</ref><ref>http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/10/22/ole-bornedal-set-to-direct-ghost-houses-dibbuk-box-thriller/</ref> |
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The box has inspired numerous shows including The Thirteenth Box cave tour, led by [[Jez Starr]] in [[Cheddar Gorge]]<ref name="thirteen"/> where audience members claimed to have taken a picture of the Dybbuk. <ref name=>{{cite news|author = |title = Demon 'haunts show audience member'|quote = |publisher = Bridgwater Times|date = October 21, 2010|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name=>{{cite news|author = |title = Magician's shock after demon 'haunts carer' following show|quote = |publisher = Cheddar Valley Gazette|date = October 21, 2010|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref> |
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The box is also the subject of a new movie by [[Ghost House Pictures]]. <ref name="Variety">{{cite news|author = CATHY DUNKLEY and NICOLE LaPORTE|title = Horror unit will unlock new 'Box'|quote = |publisher = [[Daily Variety]]|date = October 26, 2004|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name=>{{cite news|author = Nicole LaPorte|title = Brand New World for Scribes|quote = |publisher = [[Variety]]|date = October 30, 2006|url = |accessdate = October 31, 2010}}</ref> The script will be written by [[Stephen Susco]] and will be based off of the [[LA Times]] article by [[Leslie Gornstein]], which told the story of the Dybbuk box after the first eBay auction.<ref name="Variety"/> |
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The box's story has also been featured on [[Mysterious Universe]]. |
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== References == |
== References == |
Revision as of 01:00, 31 October 2010
The Dybbuk Box (or Dibbuk Box) is the commonly-used name of a wine cabinet which is supposedly haunted by a Dybbuk; a jewish spirit. The box acheived recognition after it was auctioned on eBay with an accompanying horror story.
Legend and History
The legend of the box dates back to just after the end of World War II when a Polish Holocaust survived allegedly bought it in Spain.[1] The survivor died in 2001 and the box was bought at auction by a furniture restorer.[2] The survivor's granddaughter told the buyer that the box had been kept in her grandmother's sewing room and was never opened as a dybbuk - an evil spirit from Jewish folklore - lived inside. The furniture restorer offered to give the box back to the granddaughter, who became hysterical and refused to take it.[2]
On opening the box the buyer found that it contained two 1920s pennies, a lock of blonde hair, a lock of brown hair and a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word Shalom. [2]
Numerous owners of the box have reported that strange phenomenon accompany it. Iosif Neitzke, the last person to auction the box on eBay, claimed that the box caused lights to burn out in his house and his hair to fall out.[2] The furniture restorer claimed that the box gave his mother a stroke and his business to experience problems. Every owner of the box has reported that a smell of ammonia and nightmares involving an old hag accompany the box. [2]
The box now belongs to Jason Haxton, a museum curator from Missouri. Unlike the previous owners, Haxton does not believe the story behind the box. He has been quoted as saying: "I'm not even sure that there's a spirit attached to it."[2]
Design
The cabinet has the Shema carved into the side of it.[2] It's dimensions are 12.5". x 7.5" x 16.25"[2]
In Popular Culture
The box has inspired numerous shows including The Thirteenth Box cave tour, led by Jez Starr in Cheddar Gorge[1] where audience members claimed to have taken a picture of the Dybbuk. [3][4]
The box is also the subject of a new movie by Ghost House Pictures. [5][6] The script will be written by Stephen Susco and will be based off of the LA Times article by Leslie Gornstein, which told the story of the Dybbuk box after the first eBay auction.[5]
The box's story has also been featured on Mysterious Universe.
References
- ^ a b "Mystery of possessed box at caves". Cheddar Valley Gazette. June 10, 2010.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Max Gross (February 13, 2004). "A Box Full of Bad Luck: Haunted Wine Cabinet Goes to Highest Bidder". The Forward.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ "Demon 'haunts show audience member'". Bridgwater Times. October 21, 2010.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ "Magician's shock after demon 'haunts carer' following show". Cheddar Valley Gazette. October 21, 2010.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ a b CATHY DUNKLEY and NICOLE LaPORTE (October 26, 2004). "Horror unit will unlock new 'Box'". Daily Variety.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Nicole LaPorte (October 30, 2006). "Brand New World for Scribes". Variety.
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help)
External links
- Mirror of eBay Dybbuk Box page
- Dybbuk Box website