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Jul 13, 2021 · Steeped in Jewish folklore, the basic story of the golem typically follows a given path: a highly intelligent, learned person — usually a rabbi — creates a being out of clay to serve the Jewish community. That being is then given a sort of quasi-life after a person carves or otherwise installs a mystical phrase like the secret name of God ...
- Sarah Crocker
- History of Golems
- Legend of Rabbi Löew
- Feminism and Golems
- Golems in Contemporary Literature
- Sources
The earliest reference to golems is in the book of Psalms in the Old Testamentof the Judeo-Christian Bible, 139:16, written in the 4th/5th century BCE. That verse is a reference to the creation of the first man, Adam, who was the original golem: a man made from the earth. "Adamah" means "one taken from the earth" in Hebrew. In many Bronze Age mytho...
The primary golem legend cited is that of Rabbi Yude-Leyb ben-Betsalel, the Maharal ("Teacher") of Prague (1525–1609), popularly called Rabbi Löew. In 1580, Rabbi Löew and his congregation experienced great struggle and persecution. Their situation became truly dire when a rumor that Jewish Passover matzos were made with the blood of Christians was...
A feminist take on the golem myth wonders if the concept of golems is a veiled code for the role of women in Jewish culture. The primary function of golems is to save Jewish people from danger, but some golems assist with homemaking duties like lighting stoves on the Sabbath and fetching water. The word golemmeans "unformed substance," and is tradi...
Many contemporary writers have found the golem to be a rich source of narrative potential in literature and film. Writers such as Elie Wiesel (The Golem), Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), and Terry Pratchett (Feet of Clay) have told stories about golems. The Hulk, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, is an example of a myt...
Anolik, Ruth Bienstock. "Reviving the Golem: Cultural Negotiations in Ozick's " Studies in American Jewish Literature (1981–) 19 (2000): 37–48. Print.the Puttermesser Papers and Piercy's He, She an...Honigsberg, David M. "Rava's Golem." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts7.2/3 (26/27) (1995): 137–45. Print.Krause, Maureen T. "Introduction: 'Bereshit Bara Elohim:' A Survey of the Genesis and Evolution of the Golem." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts7.2/3 (26/27) (1995): 113–36. Print.Rubin, Charles T. "The Golem and the Limits of Artifice." The New Atlantis39 (2013): 56–72. Print.A golem ( / ˈɡoʊləm / GOH-ləm; Hebrew: גּוֹלֶם, romanized : gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague.
The Jewish Interpretation of the Golem. This, however, refers only to the universal or the common golem. For Judaism, the legend has a wholly other meaning. In Jewish hands, the golem legend is not a horror story, and the cautionary elements in it are subsidiary to a larger theme. The golem was no Frankenstein, let alone a Faustian stand-in ...
- Benjamin Kerstein
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May 20, 2024 · The Golem is roused, as the world was created, through language, through the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. ... (1914) were among many to tell the story of the Golem that is best known today ...
Golem (right) in the German film Der Golem (1920) golem, in Jewish folklore, an image endowed with life. The term is used in the Bible (Psalms 139:16) and in Talmudic literature to refer to an embryonic or incomplete substance. It assumed its present connotation in the Middle Ages, when many legends arose of wise men who could bring effigies to ...
In Hebrew, “golem” stands for “shapeless mass.”. The Talmud uses the word as “unformed” or “imperfect” and according to Talmudic legend, Adam is called “golem,” meaning “body without a soul” (Sanhedrin 38b) for the first 12 hours of his existence. The golem appears in other places in the Talmud as well. One legend says ...
