"The Dybbuk of Mazel Tov IV"
by Robert Silverberg
Form: Short story
Year: 1974
ID: 262
Publication history:
- 1974: Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction, Harper & Row Hard cover book
- 1974: Worlds Far and Near, Thomas Nelson Hard cover book
- 1975: Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 671-78789-6, 255 pp.
- 1976: Capricorn Games, Random House Hard cover book
- 1978: The Best of Robert Silverberg Volume 2, Gregg Hard cover book
- 1978: Capricorn Games, Gollancz Hard cover book, 180 pp.
- 1979: Capricorn Games, Donning Starblaze Trade paperback, ISBN 0-915442-62-0, 176 pp.
- 1979: Capricorn Games, Pan Mass market paperback, ISBN 0330256319
- 1979: Le livre d'or de la science-fiction: Robert Silverberg, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 2-266-00597-9, 448 pp., in French as Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV
- 1986: Beyond the Safe Zone, Donald I Fine Hard cover book, 472 pp.
- 1987: Beyond the Safe Zone, Warner Mass market paperback, ISBN 0-446-30173-6, 565 pp.
- 1987: Capricorn Games, Pan Mass market paperback
- 1988: Voir l'invisible, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 2-266-02713-1, 448 pp., in French as Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV
- 1989: Beyond the Safe Zone, Warner Mass market paperback, 565 pp.
- 1995: Beyond the Safe Zone (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 3), HarperCollins UK Trade paperback, ISBN 0-586-21371-6, 605 pp.
- 1995: Beyond the Safe Zone, Grafton Mass market paperback, ISBN 0586213716
- 1998: Voyage au bout de l'esprit, Omnibus Mass market paperback, ISBN 2258049202, 904 pp., in French as Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV
- 1998: Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction, Jewish Lights Trade paperback, ISBN 1-58023-005-9, 240 pp.
Other resources:
[None on record]
Comments:
The planet known as New Israel, or Mazel Tov IV, was colonized by two groups of Jews (reformed and Hasidic) fleeing certain destruction on Earth. They coexist with the centaur-like natives peacefully for many years until something unexplainable happens: the spirit of a dead Jew appears in the body of a native, much like the dybbuk of Jewish folklore. The natives are not terribly surprised—this sort of thing happens to them from time to time—but their ceremony doesn't work this time. The Hasidim come to the rescue, however, and the ceremony is so successful that the natives want to convert. One of Silverberg's religious-themed stories, this one quite amusing, though not critical or condescending to any parties concerned. Also note that no effort is made to explain the scientifically.