Posts: 7837
-
Karma: 3,347
This is what the current owner (the winner of the auction I posted) has to say about the box:
I want to outline a few things. I have never met, never talked to, or never have seen the previous two owners of the box. We have no connection at all in our lives other than each buying the box through various auctions. I became aware of the Dibbuk Box through a college student that has worked with me for the past two years. The last owner before me, spent time at this staff member’s apartment, which is shared by six college men. The college student who works with me mentioned one morning in June 2003 that I might want to go on-line to see what one of his roommates had just bought through eBay. He pulled up the listing for me. Like many, the story written by the first buyer of the box struck a nerve in me – and it was just plain creepy. I remember right away I started joking about the Dibbuk and how I would like to borrow the box some time when it arrived. This joking went on for several days. When the box did arrive a 100-year-old tree fell into my home and I spent the rest of the summer removing the tree and repairing the damage. Did the box do it? Who knows, but the phrase “Don’t mock the box!� became common at work, and the box was not mentioned.
I had thought about the Dibbuk Box off and on and in late fall mentioned I would like to see the box first hand. The college student who first told me about the box said that the owner wasn’t really a roommate and that he had left some time ago to live with other people and had taken the box with him. So I thought that’s the end of that mystery.
Then, just last month of the blue, I learned from the college student that continues to work with me that the box had been put back up on eBay. Upon my questioning this student, I learned of several odd events and of his own experiences before the box was removed from the apartment. I decided to bid on the box knowing the original winning bid was $140 and I was feeling I had pretty good information from a reliable source to bid with confidence. In my mind I figured that I would set my highest bid a few dollars over double the original winning bid, and to put this bid in during the last 15 seconds of the auction. I would either win the box or not. I put out a much lower test bid on eBay Feb 3rd and it held as high bid until the day before the auction ended. Based on this low bidding activity I felt I had a safe cushion to win the Dibbuk Box and I expected the bid to be closer to the original winning price in the end… around $140 – I was very wrong. As the auction hours came closer to completion and the number of hits to the site grew to 5,000 – it had double in the last hours, I was no longer sure if I was going to get the box. In the end, I actually won the box by only $6. If the auction had run just 10 more seconds I am confident I would have lost the box to another buyer. My top price was $286 – the box realized $280 when time ran out.
Once I won the box, I immediately tried to reach the owner to pay and make the exchange immediately. This took two days. Since the box was delivered to me, I have kept the box for the most part packed and stored. It has been removed and set up twice for photographing - the day it arrived and a few days ago for the web page. I have included an image showing how it has been and how it continues to be stored.
The day after I received the box my eyes became blood shot and my right eye looked like it had been severely poked. After two weeks of no improvement I went to two separate eye specialists. Both said there was no virus or injury to cause the damage. I had a spontaneous drying of my whites. Medication is being used and has helped, but without it my eyes quickly return to the blood shot state. Again, I am not sure that this had anything to do with the box. I did have the box checked to see if there was any type of residue on the box that could cause this (like ammonia) and nothing was found.
While in storage, at a museum, those closest to the box had odd occurrences to their families and friends that caused me to believe it would be best to remove the box and store elsewhere. When I tried to deliver the box to a friend that was willing to take it, he suddenly had to go out of town. The next week I tried again and he became severely ill not able to keep warm and having a 103 degree temperature. I tried a third time and he had guests and couldn't take it. We agreed to transfer the box after the guests left, and once more he had to leave town. I finally delivered the box to him for one week and he only experienced a strange dream after the box was removed. The Jasmine smells and cat urine smells have occurred and when I read a blog that said, 'I should burn the box - my computer hard drive fried while reading this'. Several things have happened. I don't care to write them down - because it all sound nuts and could be caused because I am more aware and relating coincidence to the supernatural. I have not tried to do any research on the box pertaining to the supposed spirits. Instead my interest is in it as an artifact with a history. I am seeking to learn why the box with it s content was made, and for what purpose? And what was the creator's life story?
All information to date leads me to believe that this item has come from a family with a very, strong Jewish background. The wine cup is a Leonard Company silver-plate double jigger - an item I have found only in Oregon. The cup shows a great amount of wear and damage from use with wine. The wine box and its grape carving are circa 1950 to 1960's in a Swiss cabinetmaker's style (mistakenly called 'Black Forest'). I have worked with a Rabbi and a monument company and the marble piece could possible be made from broken headstones. The candleholder is Victorian and similar to many (with a poppy motif) that can still be found in antique malls. The candleholder has the natural wear in the black paint of being handled often using a thumb and pointing finger. Using a black light, melted wax was found dribbled on the outside door of the box. The naked eye does not see this. No biological material was found using the black light.
A Rabbi from the UK told me that the prayer on the back has the name God written with a hyphen so as to remove sacredness to a degree that the box could be destroyed without committing a sacrilegious act - something known to the Jewish sect. Jewish Museums and other Rabbis have contacted me, none seem to doubt that this is a piece of Jewish origin; however, its purpose is not known and use of something like this is not typical with the Jewish faith. I have been told this was not for Shabbat. One must remember that with the Holocaust, much history and rural rituals might have vanished with so many deaths. Authors, screenwriters and a host involved with the spiritual world, have contacted me and I have tried to answer questions as truthfully and objectively as possible. I have not made plans for the Dibbuk Box except to document its story, and the Dibbuk Box is not for sale. I will keep this site posted with what I learn of its history and purpose, which is my main interest.
My research to date leads me to believe that the aspect of the 'Nazi Concentration Camp' story is not true, but the 103-year-old Russian-Hebrew woman did indeed exist. Was this story told to act as a red herring to draw readers away from the true owner? I have discovered that the family described to have had all the misfortune does exist and is very involved with one another. Since nobody in this family seems to want to talk about their connection to the box… it is slow work. I have found some avenues that should give me definite answers soon on the box. I have not and am not doing anything to record any spiritual nature of the box. Also, I am reluctant to do anything physically with the box at this time. As a precaution, the box is being stored and kept away from people as much as possible. This seems to be the most prudent plan until more is learned about this item.
It was taken from that website. Apparently, he investigated the box to a great degree, consulting rabbi's and museums. He's learning a few things, bit its slow work.
I'm very interested in the whole thing.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dan
My brain is cold stew
