The Dybbuk (1937)

Leon Liebgold: Chanan ben Nisan

Quotes 

• Chanan ben Nisan : All those spells, all that harrowing of the flesh, as the fasts, I have won again. Now all I need are the two barrels of gold.

• Sender Brynicer ben Henie : You've given up on the Talmud and turned to Kabbalah instead. Why?

  Chanan ben Nisan : The Talmud is cold and dry. So are the commentaries. But the Kabbalah pulls the soul free of the earth. It uplifts man into the highest spheres.

  Sender Brynicer ben Henie : There's great danger in reaching for such heights, for one can easily fall into the abyss.

• Lea - Sender's daughter : Everyone's asleep and here we are talking. Maybe it's a sin.

  Chanan ben Nisan : A sin? Why is that?

• Chanan ben Nisan : Which sin is the most powerful of all, the hardest to conquer? Is it not in fact the sin of lust for a woman? Isn't it?

  Khonen's Friend : Yes.

  Chanan ben Nisan : And if this sin is cleansed in a great flame, the greatest uncleanliness turns into highest holiness. It becomes "The Song of Songs!"

• Khonen's Friend : You are speaking sin! Khonen, Khonen, you're playing into Satan's hands.

  Chanan ben Nisan : So what if I am? In every sin there is holiness.

  Khonen's Friend : Holiness in sin? How is that possible?

  Chanan ben Nisan : All of God's creation has within it a spark of holiness.

  Khonen's Friend : Sin is the creation of the other side, not of God.

  Chanan ben Nisan : And who created the other side? Also God! And once you say it's a side of God, it must be holy too!