Page - 115 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Deconstructing Gilgul, Finding Identity | 115www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 105–121 at every awakening”.59 thus, in addition to his dybbuk Bucky also receives mis- sion-specific soul sparks that renew the dybbuk on each instance. even though he goes AWOL after a mission in America in the 1970s, Bucky is incapable of remembering his past life on his own.60 he therefore needs the help of a tsaddik – which fittingly is Captain America – to remember his previous life, regain his personality and thus find the tikkun of his soul.61 in a second series Brubaker has Bucky undergo his ordeal again: on a mission against other remaining sleeper agents of the Cold War, who were once trained by Bucky, he is pinned against one of these sleepers, who even forces him temporarily to renew his dybbuk and become the original Winter soldier again.62 Again, the movies differ from the comics. Not only does it remain open whether Bucky had died and is then revived, but additionally he does not fall into the hands of the russians and work as a Communist agent. instead he is rescued by Nazi organization hydra and reprogrammed by Dr. Zola to serve as its “fist”.63 he is, however, also dybbuked. Unlike in the comics, Bucky had not acquired a negative disposition for that dybbuk in his previous life – he is basi- cally a good person, and thus hydra’s double agent Pierce has to deceive him about the character of his missions: he tells Bucky that his “work has been a gift to mankind”64 and that the goal of hydra is “to give the world the freedom it deserves”.65 Also unlike in the comics, Bucky experiences flashbacks from his previous life all by himself.66 his mind, however, is wiped, and at the end of the second movie, Captain America must once more act as a tsaddik for Bucky, helping him to start remembering who he really was and is. that process is con- tinued in the third movie, where Bucky regains his complete memory and fights alongside Captain America in a mission to counter the revival of hydra’s sleeper agents – the movie thus reproduces parts of the second cycle of Brubaker’s stories about the Winter Soldier and again modifies elements. Bucky thus seeks redemption for his actions as an assassin for hydra. fiNDiNG iDeNtity One theme that is not explicitly treated but nevertheless forms in effect a sub- conscious gravitational center for the concept of gilgul is that of identity. find- ing the true self connects, for example, the links in the chains of reincarnation 59 Captain America 11/2005, 13. 60 Captain America 11/2005, 14–16. 61 Captain America 14/2006. 62 Winter soldier 1–14/2011–2013. 63 The Return of the First Avenger (2014), 1:25:00; 1:37:00. 64 The Return of the First Avenger (2014), 1:28:57. 65 The Return of the First Avenger (2014), 1:29:27. 66 The Return of the First Avenger (2014), 1:37:44.