The Dybbuk of Jewish Folklore: Background information when reading Long Island Compromise

Taffy Brodesser-Akner's Long Island Compromise follows the Fletcher family, with their Jewish identity acting as one of the central themes. When someone in the family faces a mishap, they allude to a "dybbuk" as the driving factor. A "dybbuk," or "dibbuk," in Jewish folklore is an evil spirit that takes possession of a person's body, and it leaves only once its goal has been accomplished or it has been exorcised. The term is a shortened version of the Hebrew phrase "dibbuk me-ru'aḥ ra'ah," which means "a cleavage of an evil spirit."

The first mention of a dybbuk in Long Island Compromise is in the context of a machinery malfunction at the family's factory. An unexplainable accident involving a series of cables snapping is referred to as "a dybbuk in the works."

The author explains, "the phrase was a cross-contamination of [Carl's father's] factory work and the terrible fables told in the Jewish ghettos that either warded off or provoked unexplainable happenstance like an ...