Who is golem

The legend states that the deactivated golem was stored in the attic of Prague's Old New Synagogue , the Emperor understanding that it could be brought back to life at any time if he broke his promise. The Jewish museum in Prague had a special exhibit on Rabbi Loew and the golem in Some variations of the legend say that the golem became uncontrolably violent, turning on its creator or killing Gentiles and Jews indiscriminately.

Some versions say that the golem became dangerous after it fell in love with a woman who rejected it. Leivick wrote a Yiddish language " dramatic poem in eight sections " about the Golem in He later produced his own English translation of it which appeared in Elie Wiesel produced a children's book based on the golem legend. A character named Gollum features in J. The character does not, however, strongly resemble the legendary golem in any significant way and it is uncertain whether or not Tolkien intended there to be any connection.

Judaism Explore. Recent blog posts Forum. According to one story, to make a golem come alive, one would shape it out of soil, and then walk or dance around it saying combination of letters from the alphabet and the secret name of God.

To "kill" the golem, its creators would walk in the opposite direction saying and making the order of the words backwards.

Other sources say once the golem had been physically made one needed to write the letters aleph , mem , tav, which is emet and means "truth," on the golem's forehead and the golem would come alive. Erase the aleph and you are left with mem and tav , which is met , meaning "death.

Another way to bring a golem to life was to write God's name on parchment and stick it on the golem's arm or in his mouth. One would remove it to stop the golem. Often in Ashkenazi Hasidic lore, the golem would come to life and serve his creators by doing tasks assigned to him. It was said that he created a golem out of clay to protect the Jewish community from Blood Libel and to help out doing physical labor, since golems are very strong.

Another version says it was close to Easter, in the spring of and a Jew-hating priest was trying to incite the Christians against the Jews. So the golem protected the community during the Easter season.

Both versions recall the golem running amok and threatening innocent lives, so Rabbi Loew removed the Divine Name, rendering the golem lifeless.

A separate account has the golem going mad and running away. Several sources attribute the story to Rabbi Elijah of Chelm, saying Rabbi Loew, one of the most outstanding Jewish scholars of the sixteenth century who wrote numerous books on Jewish law, philosophy, and morality, would have actually opposed the creation of a golem.

The golem has been a popular figure in the arts in the past few centuries with both Jews and non-Jews. In the early 20th century, several plays, novels, movies, musicals and even a ballet were based on the golem. There is also a character named Golem in J. Tolkien's classic series The Lord of the Rings.

Today, there is even a golem museum in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. Sometimes, someone who is large but intellectually slow is called a golem. Other civilizations, such as the ancient Greeks, have similar concepts.

Sources : Wigoder, Geoffrey , Ed. The New Jewish Encyclopedia. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library.

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Often, however, Jewish folktales about the golem tell what happens when things go awry — when the power of life-force goes astray, often with tragic results. The classic narrative of the golem tells of how Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague known as the Maharal ; creates a golem to defend the Jewish community from anti-Semitic attacks. But eventually, the golem grows fearsome and violent, and Rabbi Loew is forced to destroy it. This is, of course, a perfect encapsulation of the same anxiety that underlies so much of the mystical speculation about demons, dybbuks, ghosts, and golems : The power of life is so strong, that it brings both promise and terror.

Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.