Form: Short story
Year: 1974
Publication history:
- ???? : Tous les chemins mènent à l'homme (pb) , Omnibus (France) (in French "Le Dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV")
- 1974 : Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction (hc) , Harper & Row
- 1974 : Worlds Far and Near (hc) , Thomas Nelson
- 1975 : Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction (pb) , Pocket, 255 pp., ISBN 671-78789-6
- 1976 : Capricorn Games (hc) , Random House
- 1978 : Capricorn Games (hc) , Gollancz (UK), 180 pp., 02406-2
- 1978 : The Best of Robert Silverberg Volume 2 (hc) , Gregg, 2439-4
- 1979 : Capricorn Games (tpb) , Donning Starblaze, 176 pp., ISBN 0-915442-62-0
- 1979 : Capricorn Games (pb) , Pan, ISBN 0330256319
- 1979 : Le livre d'or de la science-fiction: Robert Silverberg (pb) , Pocket, 448 pp., ISBN 2-266-00597-9, 5032 (in French "Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV")
- 1986 : Beyond the Safe Zone (hc) , Donald I Fine, 472 pp., 60-8
- 1987 : Capricorn Games (pb) , Pan
- 1987 : Beyond the Safe Zone (pb) , Warner, 565 pp., ISBN 0-446-30173-6
- 1988 : Voir l'invisible (pb) , Pocket, 448 pp., ISBN 2-266-02713-1, 5032 (in French "Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV")
- 1989 : Beyond the Safe Zone (pb) , Warner, 565 pp., 30173-6
- 1995 : Beyond the Safe Zone (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 3) (tpb) , HarperCollins UK (UK), 605 pp., ISBN 0-586-21371-6
- 1995 : Beyond the Safe Zone (pb) , Grafton (UK), ISBN 0586213716
- 1998 : Voyage au bout de l'esprit (pb) , Omnibus (France), 904 pp., ISBN 2258049202 (in French "Le dybbuk de Mazel Tov IV")
- 1998 : Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction (tpb) , Jewish Lights, 240 pp., ISBN 1-58023-005-9
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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 "exorcism" 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 "possession" scientifically.
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