Jewish literature’s monsters: horrific and humorous

Demons, malevolent spirits and mutant creations will haunt Columbia in the coming months when MU’s Ellis Library and the Columbia Public Library team up to explore “monsters of the Jewish imagination.”

Ellis Library was one of 60 public and academic libraries across the nation chosen by the American Library Association and Nextbook, a Web site on Jewish literature, to receive a $1,500 grant to host a five-part discussion series on Jewish literature. This year’s theme is “Demons, Dybbuks and Golems: Monsters of the Jewish Imagination.” The first of five books to be discussed, starting at 7 p.m. tonight in the Friends Room of Columbia Public Library, is “Satan in Goray” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, in which a man pretends to be a messiah.

“The larger part is how people can become monsters to one another,” said Rachel Brekhus, coordinator of the event. “The feeling is like a book about the Salem witch trials, paranormal and strange things going on.”

The mysticism of the program’s literature appeals to David Crespy, an MU associate professor of playwriting, who will lead all five discussions as the program’s chosen scholar. Crespy is the author of “Tekiya and Beshert” and “The Jewish Dating Cycle,” which touch on the Kabbalah, mysticism and dreams.

“I was deeply interested mostly because my own writing deals with the nonrealistic realm,” he said.

This year marks the fourth year that the American Library Association and Nextbook have teamed up to sponsor the program. Crespy and Brekhus agree the theme helps to foster diversity in a city with a small Jewish community.

“Accentuate the positive, and eliminate the negative. Americans receive so many negative messages about Israel and the Mideast crisis. It really disturbs me,” Crespy said. “I think it’s very important to celebrate the aspects of Judaism that are beautiful, human and mystical.”

The discussions are scheduled once a month through January. The other books on the program’s schedule — “The Dybbuk” by Sholom Ansky; “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka; “The Puttermesser Papers” by Cynthia Ozick; and “Angels in America” by Tony Kusner — all feature a mixture of grotesque horror and humor, Crespy said.

Each Jewish author incorporates a bit of his or her culture within each work, and for the characters in “The Dybbuk” and “The Puttermesser Papers,” that means having unfortunate encounters with a dybbuk and a golem. Much like the spirit in “The Exorcist,” the dybbuk is said to be a spirit that possesses human bodies. The golem, however, is created with the purpose of benefiting its maker, but eventually the monster grows out of control.

Crespy said his goal is to make the event about the participants, a philosophy Brekhus shares.

“The scholar is necessary to focus the discussion and provide context,” she said. “It’s really about the participants.”