A golem is a clay creature that has been magically
brought to life. The name comes from the Hebrew word “golem,” which means
something incomplete or unfinished, like an embryo.
The Talmud relates a tale of rabbis who grew
hungry while on a journey–so they created a calf out of earth and ate it for
dinner. The kabbalists (Jewish mystics) determined that the rabbis
did this magical act by means of permuting language, primarily utilizing the
formulas set forth in the Sefer
Yetzirah, or Book of Creation. Just as God speaks and creates, in the Genesis story,
so too can the mystic. (The word Abracadabra, incidentally, derives
from avra k’davra, Aramaic for “I create as I speak.”) Thus, under
the rarest of circumstances, a human being may imbue lifeless matter with that
intangible, but essential spark of life: the soul.
The kabbalists saw the creation of a golem as a kind
of alchemical task, the accomplishment of which proved the adept’s skill and
knowledge of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). In popular legend, however,
the golem became a kind of folk hero. Tales of mystical rabbis creating life
from dust abounded, particularly in the Early
Modern period, and inspired such tales as Frankenstein and
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Sometimes the golem saves the Jewish
community from persecution or death, enacting the kind of heroism or revenge
unavailable to powerless Jews. 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; 1525-1609) 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. (Legend tells that the
golem remains in the attic of the Altneushul in Prague, ready to be reactivated
if needed; this legend reappeared in Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay). Likewise in Paul Wegener’s expressionist
film The Golem (1920),
the golem is a brutish creature whose powers are all-too-easily turned to
destructive ends.
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.
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