5. Reb Chaim Vital zt’l taught how to banish a dibuk: “Know that the most important factor is that you should strengthen your heart like a warrior without fear. Don’t be weak because then the spirit will be strong, and he will not heed your words.”
This concept leads us to the following story about the Turei Zahav. The story was told by Rebbe Moshe Kobriner zt’l, who read it in the pinkas (ledger) of a chevrah kaddishah:
A dibuk became attached to a girl, and people rushed to the Turei Zahav to ask for assistance. The Turei Zahav went to the home of this afflicted girl. As soon as he entered the room, the dibuk turned around, faced the wall, and announced, "Baruch haba Rabbeinu Hagadol baal Turei Zahav (welcome, the great Rav, author of Turei Zahav)."
People asked the dibuk, "Why do you call him 'Rabbeinu Hagadol,' and why did you turn and face the wall?" The dibuk replied, “A rasha isn’t permitted to look at the face of a tzaddik, therefore I turned around. And I know his name is Rabbeinu Hagadol baal Turei Zahav because that’s how he’s called in heaven.”
The Turei Zahav said, “If this is how I'm called in heaven, I demand that you leave this girl immediately.” The dibuk complied and left.
The girl’s parents were wealthy and wanted to reward the Turei Zahav with a large sum of money to express their gratitude, but the Turei Zahav refused to accept the gift.
The Turei Zahav wore a very old, worn-out talis. The father assumed he would accept a new talis because it's a mitzvah. So he bought him a new talis, but the Turei Zahav didn't accept that either. He explained, “I want to wear my old talis, and I want to be buried in that talis because my talis can testify before the heavenly court that I never uttered a word of tefillah without kavanah.”
