Get On My Bookshelf!

Hey, you guys learned about Dibbuk Boxes in Hebrew school, right? You know... haunted Jewish wineboxes. (Well, we didn't call it a haunted Jewish winebox in Hebrew school. We called it a haunted 'usish' winebox, but whatevs.) The Dibbuk Box contains mysterious tschotshkes and a couple bottles of liquor your parents got as housewarming presents in 1977.

And every time it's opened it it will fuck. shit. up.   ptoo ptoo ptoo.

OK, you remember all the words to Hatikvah and you don't remember your Dibbuk Box lessons? For shame. Good thing I'll be reviewing that shizz for the Forward.

A series of eerie events slowly unfolds when a wine cabinet sells at an estate sale in Oregon. It is soon sold and resold on eBay’s Internet auction, and each new owner becomes desperate to get rid of the box along with the health problems, accidents, or death they claim came with it.     Jason Haxton, the curator of a medical museum in a small Missouri town, learns of the mysterious cabinet and is intrigued by it as an artifact to be studied and researched. He places a bid on eBay and soon finds himself the proud owner of the dibbuk box. But as he carefully investigates and records everything he can about this unusual item said to be possessed by a Jewish spirit, Haxton discovers far more than he bargained for. In this true account, a dark story comes to light—a story that began at the time of the Holocaust and seems to have come full circle.

And here's something I won't be reviewing on account of it being edited by two of my favorite professors of all things Yid-ish, Joel Berkowitz and Barbara Henry, so I'm a little biased.  But take it from an impartial observer, you should read Inventing the Modern Yiddish Stage: Essays in Drama, Performance, and Show Business and/or assign it for your Jewish studies classes. Pre-order now!!!