Refusing the Dybbuk, Commanding the Dybbuk: Rabbinic Authority from the Vilna Gaon to the Ḥofetz Hayyim

This article examines the transformation of rabbinic authority in Eastern European Jewish society through the prism of dybbuk possession and exorcism. While the phenomenon of the dybbuk has often been studied in its theological, folkloristic, or psychological dimensions, this study proposes to analyze it as a site in which models of rabbinic authority were articulated, contested, and reconfigured. The analysis focuses on the contrasting responses of two central figures of the mitnagged elite: the Vilna Gaon (1720–1797) and Rabbi Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan, the Ḥofetz Ḥayyim (1838–1933). Drawing on narrative and halakhic sources, it argues that their divergent attitudes toward dybbuk exorcism cannot be explained solely in terms of belief or disbelief in the phenomenon. Rather, they reflect distinct approaches to the legitimacy of mediated engagement with the supernatural. While the Vilna Gaon refused to participate in exorcism, despite evidence that he did not categorically deny the efficacy of esoteric practices, his position is interpreted as a principled rejection of the role of the rabbinic figure as a mediator between ontological realms. By contrast, the Ḥofetz Ḥayyim allowed for the controlled incorporation of exorcistic practices, in which his authority was affirmed symbolically and extended into the supernatural domain. The article further argues that the emergence of the concept of Da’at Torah represents a subsequent stage in this development. In this model, rabbinic authority no longer requires performative validation through engagement with supernatural forces, but is instead conceived as inherently endowed with comprehensive insight extending beyond the halakhic sphere. The trajectory from the Vilna Gaon, through the Ḥofetz Ḥayyim, to Da’at Torah thus reflects a broader shift from mediated to internalized forms of authority. By situating dybbuk exorcism within this historical and conceptual framework, the study contributes to a re-evaluation of the relationship between halakhah, Kabbalah, and authority in modern Jewish thought, and highlights the role of the supernatural as a dynamic element in the construction of religious leadership.