#maharal of prague

[hyperpotamianarch]

All right, so I have news for anyone who's interested in my Jewsade/Jewish dæmonism stuff! After not doing anything with it since I've hit a wall with no idea on how to actually write it, I am now considering using Maharal of Prague as a framing device that could connect the story to the main characters of His Dark Materials. Maharal is most well known for having rumored to have created a Golem - it's actually the most famous Golem story to exist - but he was more interesting a person than that. He was well studies in Philosophy and Kabbalah, as well as Astronomy and various other sciences. He was born in Poland about 30 years after the Alhambra decree in Spain, meaning he was a baby/young child at the time the supposed Jewsade may have occured. He was known to have conversed with Emperor Rudolph II later in life. In addition, his teachings later influenced the Chassidut movement.

I'm not really explaining his significance well, but he is an important figure who had the Golem legend grow around his character and fights against Blood Libels centuries after his death. And the fact that the Alethiometer was supposedly invented in Prague at around the time of his death helps.

You see, my idea of it currently is something along the lines of: Lyra, in the midst of studying the Alethiometer, finds some vague references to an early scholar named Long Loew. There is only one note from him which is very interesting, but there's very little about who he was and what are other stuff he said. After researching she finds a book that explains a bit more about him, which might be the heart of the story. That, or she'll slowly uncover hints and the story will progress in two parallel lines - one telling of the life of Rabbi Yehuda Loew of Prague and his struggles with the rising power of the Magisterium and another about Lyra uncovering his life and learning about the current state of Judaism under the Magisterium-dominated Europe. It will likely include some throwaway lines about the Jewsade and its outcome and about shifts in centers of Judaism. Some spotlight might also be given to Rabbi Mordechai Yaffeh (but only because I like him. He doesn't seem to have interacted with Maharal much even though he also served as the Rabbi of Prague for some time while Maharal was living in another city) and to some of Mahahral's students. There will also have to be some talk about the Shulchan Aruch and such books, but that's another thing.

Part of the idea here is also to remind people that Jews were involved in scientific development, to a degree. Some famous rabbis had exchanges with famous Astronomers. Due to how a Christian-dominated world generally works, though, you're unlikely to find discoveries made by Jewish scholars around the 16th-17th centuries. At least so I think, I'm far from an expert on that topic. Either way, I think this kind of story might lend itself easier to write. It does lose the angle of focusing on Sepharadi Jews, but I'm hardly qualified for that anyway. I think Maharal's type of philosophy might work very well with dæmons and the Alethiometer, though I do need to study it more (which I guess makes the fact one of my distant great uncles was a scholar of Maharal very convenient). I do still need to read the Secret Commonwealth to understand adult Lyra better and see how such a story might work - for example, might Pantalaimon go alone to the Jewish quarter of Prague when Lyra is unwilling to? What would each of them find out? What could really drive Lyra to check out one particular scholar? So, that's the bad news: after having a hard time starting to read the Secret Commonwealth, any progress that might be done is postponed until after I read it. I do intend to try and do it quickly, though.

So, yeah. I intend trying to talk about Jewish life in Lyra's world through the eyes of an old Jewish Rabbi, Philosopher and Kabbalah student, or maybe two or three of those. I will need to thouroughly research their history, but that's going to be fun (hopefully). Plus, I'm descended from Maharal! So this is kind of uncovering family history!

Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!

[challahbeloved]

rabbi loew mention in the “a discovery of witches” show!!

[postcard-from-the-past]

Tomb of Judah Loew ben Bezalel, also known as Rabbi Loew, the Maharal of Prague, in the Jewish Cemetery of Prague, Czechia

Czech vintage postcard

[mariacallous]

For the first time since World War II, one of Prague’s most historic synagogues has held a Jewish worship service.

Kol Nidre, the introductory service of Yom Kippur, took place in the Klausen Synagogue on Friday night, ending a hiatus that lasted more than 80 years and encompassed both the murder and suppression of Czech Jewry.

Originally erected in 1573 and rebuilt after a fire in 1694, the Klausen Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Prague’s Jewish Quarter and once served as a central hub of Jewish life. It’s known as the home of several prominent rabbis and thinkers, from Judah Loew — a 16th-century Talmudic scholar also known as the Maharal of Prague — to Baruch Jeitteles, a scholar associated with the Jewish Enlightenment movement of the 18th and 19th centuries.

But for more than 80 years after the Holocaust decimated Czech Jews, the Klausen Synagogue held no services.

That was until Friday evening, when about 200 people poured in for a service led by Rabbi David Maxa, who represents Czechia’s community of Progressive or Reform Jews. That community was joined by guests and Jewish tourists from around the world for Yom Kippur, according to Maxa. He saw the moment as a sign of Jewish life resurging in Prague.

“It’s quite remarkable that there is a Yom Kippur service in five historic synagogues in Prague,” Maxa told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Under German occupation in World War II, the Klausen Synagogue was used as a storage facility. Although the Nazis and their collaborators killed about 263,000 Jews who lived in the former Czechoslovak Republic, they took an interest in collecting Jewish art and artifacts that they deemed valuable enough to preserve. The Jewish Museum in Prague was allowed to continue storing those objects, and the synagogue became part of the museum’s depository.

After the war, there were not enough survivors to refill services in the synagogues of Prague. The country became a Soviet satellite in 1948, starting a long era in which Jews were often persecuted and surveilled for following any religious practices. The last Soviet census of 1989 registered only 2,700 Jews living in Czech lands.

“During Communist times, it was very difficult to relate to Jewish identity,” said Maxa. “People who visited any kind of synagogue were followed by the secret police, and only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 did it become possible for people to visit synagogues without the feeling of being followed and put on a list.”

After the end of communism, some synagogues returned to use by the few Jews who still identified as such. Two of the six synagogues that still stand in the Jewish Quarter now are in regular use as houses of worship.

But the Klausen Synagogue, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1982, remained part of the Jewish Museum, hosting exhibitions about Jewish festivals, early Hebrew manuscripts and Jewish customs and traditions.

Museum director Pavla Niklová said returning the synagogue to use for Yom Kippur happened almost by accident. Maxa was asking if she knew about a space large enough to host his growing congregation, Ec Chajim, for the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — its own space, which opened four years ago about a 20-minute walk away, could not accommodate the crowds expected for Yom Kippur.

Since the museum had just taken down its exhibition in the Klausen Synagogue after 28 years, she had an answer. The clean, empty space was ready to be refilled with Jewish life.

Visiting the synagogue just before Yom Kippur, Niklová said she was awed to see the building returned to its original purpose. She hopes that it will continue to be used for large services.

“I felt like the synagogue started breathing again,” she told JTA. “I believe it was a good move to take down the old exhibit, and now we can start anew.”

For many in Prague’s Jewish community, which is largely secular, Yom Kippur is the single most important service of the year. Even Jewish families that suppressed religious practices under Communism often passed on the memory of Yom Kippur, said Maxa.

Maxa founded Prague’s Progressive Jewish community in 2019, responding to a growing number of people who sought to explore their Jewish roots. The community currently has 200 members and adds about five more every month.

“Often, I meet people who simply want to learn about the culture, tradition and religion of their grandparents,” said Maxa. “They say, my grandmother and grandfather were Shoah survivors — can I come and learn more about Judaism? We offer a wide range of activities, including of course regular services, but also educational courses to help these people reconnect with the tradition.”

Maxa, who himself grew up in Prague with little connection to his Jewish roots, wants to revive some of the rituals that threaded through Prague’s pre-war Jewish world — including a tradition of organ accompaniment in the city’s synagogues. On Friday, Jewish organist Ralph Selig performed during his service.

Like many of his congregants, Maxa’s family history intertwines with the losses of the last century. His father came from Prague and survived the Holocaust. He does not know if his father visited the Klausen Synagogue, but he knows it was a familiar part of his world.

“It means a lot for me that the tradition was not exterminated, and that this is coming back, even to a place where no services were held since World War II,” he said.

[etz-ashashiyot]

Hope you're doing alright. Recently in Pathfinder, the term "golem" has been removed in reference to certain monsters and replaced with other terms like Effigy in order to avoid cultural appropriation. I was curious about the original source material and in my search found that the Golem of Prague can be allegorical for a bunch of things, notably the hazards of aggressive resistance to bigotry. I found it enlightening and tragic, given the current bloodthirst on display so often.

I am gripping my sanity with both hands like the reins of a half-trained mule, thanks for asking! /hj

As for the golem, the Jewish Virtual Library says:

Often in Ashkenazi Hasidic lore, the golem would come to life and serve his creators by doing tasks assigned to him. The most well-known story of the golem is connected to Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague (1513-1609). 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 extraordinarily strong. Another version says it was close to Easter, in the spring of 1580 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.

Indeed, an interesting lens through which to view current events — and equally so, that the exact message varies greatly based on whose story you tell. 🙂

[ropuszysko]

HUNTIK EPISODE 3

as an amateur yiddishist who is visiting prague rn

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

MY CREDENTIALS:

as you may have know already, i am an amateur polish yiddishist with a great interest in judaism in general. i speak some yiddish and have some expertise in ashkenazi culture. i am however not jewish and i dont speak hebrew (besides knowing the alphabeth)

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

We all know that Rainbow treats history very loosely and unconsistencies aren't a surprise to anyone, really, but I thought this would be fun. I watched the Golem episode in Polish a few years back and in English just yesterday, so this is what I am basing this post on. Enjoy!

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

1. The Legend Itself

The legend itself is retold pretty accurately, although it is shortened. More details are: the rabbi's full name actually was Yehuda Löw ben Bezalel, which means Yehuda Löw the son of Bezalel. He was a well-known cabbalist, mathematician, rabbi, teacher, etc., also known as Maharal. The Golem was placed in the attic of the Old New Synagogue(Staronová synagoga), after it got out of control of the rabbi and went on a murderous rampage. Now, there are two options of what was written either on his forehead or on a piece of parchment put in his mouth to animate it. It was either indeed truth (emet, אמת) or it could also be Adam (אדמ), "a man" in Hebrew. To deactivate it, the rabbi erased the first letter א (you read Hebrew from right to left) to make it either "met", which means death or "dam", which means blood.

2. The cemetery

There is not a lot I can say about the cemetery. In the show it says is the Prague Central Cemetery, which... doesn't exist xD. For real. There is no such thing, especially in the jewish contexy.  There's one jewish cemetery in the centre of the city and it's the old jewish cemetery (starý židovský hřbitov)(not to be confused with the old jewish in Žižkov district, which is a different thing in a different part of the town). Maharal was buried in the Old Cemetery in the Josefov  district, in the centre of the city. There's not a lot I can say, because creative liberty was clearly taken. Both in the show and the actual one look just like your generic jewish cemetery. All I can say is that the entrance looks very different. There are three gates to the cemetery, which are much narrower and sll of them are attached to synagogues.

3. The Grave

What can I say about the grave? Just look at it, it's completely different. The only detail, that I can actually point out, that actually annoyed me, is that the matzevah (tombstobe )is usually placed in front of the grave, not in the back of the grave. And this is the detail, that even considering the creative liberty, doesn't make sense. Also not to be that guy, but I think that actual matzevah looks much more interesting and I kind of wish they used the actual one. Also the papers you can see are so-called "kvitelech", piece of paper with prayers or pleas, usually for help written on them to the rabbi, to Maharal.

4. The word Sophie writes

The word Sophie writes here allegedly is emet, truth. Except it's not xD. Not only she writes it from the wrong side, like you write in latin alphabet, but also some of those symbols don't even exist. I cannot really write them. If I had to guess it would be LLLILONA and a symbol that doesn't exist. Or maybe the are Ks instead of Ls. It resembles katakana more than Hebrew alphabet. There's my handwriting comparison on the left, which my Hebrew handwriting isn't very good, but it's there.

5. The place they find the Golem

The place they find the Golem is interesting to say the least. In the show it says it's in the alchemist road, which... You guessed it, doesn't exist. There is the Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička), where alchemists were rumored to live, however it ha nothing to do with rabbi Yehuda Löw. Most of the jewish life of Prague was focused in Josefov, which is at the other side of the river. And obviously there is no synagogue in the Golden Lane.

I've seen most of the synagogues, that are in Prague today. The one shown in a show is pretty destitute and there's no such synagogue in Prague right now. None of those that are, resembles the one shown in a show. Technically it should be the Old News Synagogue, because that's where the legend says  the Golem was locked. However! The Old News Synagogue is much smaller, like much, much smaller. If I had to pick the closest one I'd said is the Maisel Synagogue, just by the sheer size of, it but it looks pretty different. Maybe Klausen Synagogue, also,by the size of it, but again, the architecture's different. I'd say the Pinkas synagogue looks the closest, but it's again waaay smaller and there's a bima in the middle. So I think Iginio Straffi just made up his own synagogue. I will be posting photos in a reblog, because there's a limit per post.

6. The Golem itself

It's the same story as with the tombstone. It's so different, that there is no point in actually comparing them. Just have a look.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Some Kwamiswap names I have:

Pig!Marinette: Babe Bakin

Dog!Max: Cynocephalus

Goat!Adrien: Fauntasy

Eagle!Kim: Golden Eagle

Goat!Luka: Panpiper

Snake!Sabrina: Basilisk

Fox!Kim: Shenanigan (Apparently the word comes from the Irish expression "sionnachuighim", meaning "I play the fox")

Ladybug!Juleka: Vermillytron

Peacock!Nathaniel: Maharal (from the story of the Golem of Prague)

Monkey!Nino: Howler

Oh I love them!

[eretzyisrael]

EIGHT DAYS A WEEK

The name of this week’s parsha is Shemini, meaning “the 8th.” Following seven days of inauguration, Aaron and his sons begin their work of officiating as Kohanim (priests) on the 8th day. Fire issues forth from God to consume the offerings on the altar, and the Divine Presence comes to dwell in the mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the desert. What is the significance of the number 8 in Judaism? The Maharal of Prague (d. 1609) teaches that the number 7 represents the natural world. There are seven colors in the rainbow and seven days of the week. But the number 8 represents that which is above nature, such as fire from God appearing in the sanctuary. A baby boy enters the eternal covenant of Abraham on the 8th day of his life, forging a supernatural bond with his Creator. Chanukah is an 8 day holiday because only a Higher Power could inspire the Maccabees to battle a much larger army, and make one day’s worth of oil last 8 days.  Eight represents miracles because only God can subvert the order of the natural world - but we have a role to play too. When we follow God’s laws all week - like Aaron and the Kohanim do - we partner with our Creator and that’s when miracles can happen!

[greywritesrandom]

Legends and Lore - 27 {Monster}

Golems

In the shadows of Jewish folklore, the Golem emerges as a creature of both awe and dread—a silent, hulking automaton forged from the earth itself. These clay figures, animated through ancient rituals and mystical inscriptions, are an early form of what might be considered magical robots. Their purpose can swing between guardian and terrorizer, depending on the circumstances and the hand that moulds them.

The most legendary of these clay constructs is the Golem of Prague, a figure shrouded in both historical and mystical fog. Created in the 16th century by Rabbi Judah Loew, also known as the Maharal, this Golem was conjured to protect the Jewish ghetto of Prague from anti-Semitic attacks and the wrath of the Holy Roman Empire. According to legend, the Golem was inscribed with the Hebrew word "EMET" (truth) on its forehead, which imbued it with life and purpose. As long as the word remained, the Golem was a powerful protector. 

However, the story takes a darker turn. When the Golem’s creator became concerned about the creature's growing strength and uncontrollable nature, he erased the first letter of the inscription, transforming "EMET" into "MET" (death). This act of desperation rendered the Golem lifeless once more, but not without consequences. The legend holds that the Golem’s massive, clay body was hidden away in the attic of the Old New Synagogue in Prague, where it remains to this day, a silent sentinel awaiting its master’s command.

Golems have since transcended their origins to become symbols of the dangers of unchecked power and the complexities of creation. They evoke a sense of eerie unease, embodying the intersection of human ingenuity and the unknown forces that lie beyond our control. In stories and folklore, these creatures serve as cautionary reminders of the perils inherent in trying to play god and the unintended consequences of tampering with forces greater than oneself.

With their origins steeped in both sacred rituals and the darker whispers of the supernatural, Golems continue to captivate the imagination, straddling the line between protector and menace. Their stories remain a chilling testament to the power of creation and the fragility of control.

[witchofanguish]

The Golem From Prague

NARRATOR: The era: the sixteenth century. The place: Prague. The Jewish community is in grave danger. Gentiles sow discord and spread blood libel. But worry not- the Maharal of Prague labors in his laboratory for a solution that will save the Jewish people.

MAHARAL: Keep praying, Zalman! When Shabbat finally comes, the Creator of the World Himself (CHECK THIS) will raise the Golem from its slumber and bring it to life, and it will protect us from the gentiles!

MAHARAL: The time has arrived! Zalman!

ZALMAN: No, Rebbe!

MAHARAL: Pull the lever!

<Zalman pulls the lever, the Golem rises>

MAHARAL: Hurrah!

ZALMAN: Hurrah!

MAHARAL: Hurrah!

ZALMAN: Movement! (this is a pun on הידד-היזז)

MAHARAL: The Golem lives!

ZALMAN: It lives!

MAHARAL: It lives!

ZALMAN: It lives!

GOLEM: Good morning.

MAHARAL: Good morning! How are you feeling? Slept well?

GOLEM: Fine, I guess... a bit occupied. (not sure about this one at all lol)

MAHARAL: The Holy One, Blessed is He brought you to life so that you could protect us, the chosen people!

GOLEM: Chosen for what?

MAHARAL: For riots, pogroms, (that's two words for pogroms) blood libel, rape, murder... but don't worry. God keeps guard over us.

GOLEM: I'll tell you the truth, it doesn't sound like he loves you that much.

MAHARAL: We're the chosen people.

GOLEM: Chosen for suffering maybe! <laughs>

MAHARAL: Heretic!

ZALMAN: Heretic!

MAHARAL: Heretic!

ZALMAN: Heretic!

MAHARAL: The Golem rises up against its creator!

GOLEM: But I'm not-

MAHARAL: Kill it!

GOLEM: Hold on a sec, daddy- (informal version of dad, not sure if that's the right connotation)

<Zalman smashes Golem over the head with a frying pan>

GOLEM: Ouch.

MAHARAL: Say it strongly! (as one would to a child, I imagine to rebuke?)

<Maharal smashes Golem with a hammer>

GOLEM: Ooh-ah.

<scene change>

MAHARAL: This is it, Zalman! We have a new and improved Golem with fifty percent less intelligence! Pull the lever, Zalman!

ZALMAN: Yes, Rebbe!

<Zalman pulls the lever, Golem rises once more>

ZALMAN: It lives!

MAHARAL: It lives! The Golem lives!

GOLEM: Golem lives.

MAHARAL: Onward, Golem! Go out and protect us from the gentiles!

GOLEM: What are gentiles?

MAHARAL: All those babblers who think God likes them more!

GOLEM: Ah, Golem understands. Only Jews have conclusive evidence that God likes them more, yes?

MAHARAL: Certainly! It's written in the Tanach.

GOLEM: The gentiles don't have the Tanach!

MAHARAL: They... they do have some holy books, but they're very stupid, very very stupid.

GOLEM: Ah. If that's so, Golem thinks that it's impossible to know which book is silly, which book is true, and which book is complete nonsense. (the specific phrase used at the end is 'kishkush balabush.' I'm not sure if that's a childish phrase or not.)

MAHARAL: Ugh! Ugh! Heretic!

ZALMAN: Heretic!

MAHARAL: Heretic!

ZALMAN: Heretic!

MAHARAL: Kill it, Zalman!

<various comedic hitting the Golem over the head etc etc, next scene>

GOLEM: So why is it forbidden to to cook a goat in its mother's milk and permitted to fry schnitzel in its mother's egg?

MAHARAL: OOOOH!

<smashed over the head again>

GOLEM: So when women speak it's not a forbidden sexual act (erva/ערווה) but when they sing it is? (it took me like ten minutes to figure this one out, never got what they were talking about the other hundred times I've watched this because of how obscurely it's phrased and because I forgot this is a specific offense lol)

<smashed>

GOLEM: But if I enjoy it, I didn't let it out in vain.

ZALMAN: ...there's something to that.

<Maharal smashes Zalman over the head, then the Golem a bunch of times. next scene opens with Golem rising without a head>

MAHARAL: No mistake! This is the chosen Golem! One hundred percent muscle, zero percent intelligence. It's only missing one last thing.

ZALMAN: What's missing?

MAHARAL: What's missing?? The kippah, Zalman!

[hyperpotamianarch]

Golem

All right. So, I wrote a piece on the topic in the past in the 17th Shard forum, this is going to be slightly revised and hopefully deeper.

TL;DR: Golems as represented in modern media are slightly inaccuate, as the original Jewish folklore indicates they should look human and be incapable of speech. Also, their name means, more or less, "half-made". Long elaboration follows.

Anyway, Golem. You've probably heard of the concept in the past: a man made of clay, artificially animated via mystical means, from Jewish folklore. Today, I am here to talk a little about the history of this concept and term, and state some personal opinions on its represantation in modern Fantasy literature. So, let's begin!

The most famous Golem in folklore is likely the Golem of Prague. It is fabled to have been created by the Jewish rabbi Yehudah Loew (more commonly known as Maharal) to defend the local Jewish community from blood libels during the 16th century. Without getting into too much details, the Golem officially served as an aid in the local synagogue (more or less), was deaf and mute and dealt with blood libels mmostly using brute force to bring in witnesses, generally. I might be basing it too much on my great-grandfather's retelling, though. Either way, at some point due to a malfunction Maharal was forced to turn it off and leave it in the attic of the Altneuschul in Prague.

At least, that how the stories go. Stories, I might add, that were only popularized by the 19th century, long after Maharal has died. It is, though, one of the most famous Golem stories - so much so that it got readapted multiple times by Jews and Gentiles alike, and serves as one of the tourist attractions in Prague (or so I'm told). It is not the origin of this specific mythical creature, though.

You see, going back all the way to the Talmud, we find in the tractate of Sanhedrin, 65B:

"Rava created a man, and sent him before Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira would speak to him but he would not reply. He said to him: You were created by one of the members of the group [one of the Sages]. Return to your dust." (translation from Sefaria)

Meaning, essentially, that creating what we now call a Golem was known back in that time. The creature is not called a Golem in the Talmud, though. The method of creation is sort of unspecified, but the next line mentions using the Book of Creation - Sefer Yetzirah - to create living beings (in that case, livestock), so one might assume the creation of a man is the same. Surprisingly enough, Sefer Yetzirah is still a known book of Kabalah. While it doesn't (to the best of my knowledge) contain detailed instructions o how to create humans, it does tell you about how G-d created the universe.

Two further points of note in the story will be how the nature of the Golem is discovered through it's seeming inability to reply, and how in the moment Rabbi Zeira finds out what he is - he kills the Golem.

That last point is one of the arguments being used by the 17th century rabbi ḥacham Tzvi Ashkenazi in his resposa book, regarding whether or not a Golem could be counted for a Minyan - a group of ten men that is required for certain Jewish prayers. The question is, essentially, does a Golem count as a person? Rabbi Zeira killing one is relevant, because murder is obviously not fine in Judaism, so since he did that - perhaps it's because a Golem does not count as a human. I don't really remember if this argument is what decided the final conclusion, but I'm pretty sure the answer ended up being that a Golem isn't elligible for a Minyan.

Who asked ḥacham Tzvi this question? ... Is something you might ask, had I given you the time. The answer is... well... no one. While Jewish responsa literature is usually based on real life Halachic questions and answers, sometimes there are rabbis who invent questions. This one specifically is likely related to what ḥacham Tzvi says about his grandfather, Rabbi Eliyahu of Chelm - that he created a Golem.

Now, a couple of things: a. You may be interested to learn that this particular piece of resposa became surprisingly relevant with the advent of artificial insemination, proving that even the weirdest of questions can be meaningful. b. This is more or less, among reports of Golems, the one closest to its supposed original time. This is why you might see people consider the Golem of Chelm a more reliable story than the Golem of Prague. c. While ḥacham Tzvi doesn't give any details, the regular story of the Chelmic Golem is that it never stopped growing for some reason and that's why Rabbi Eliyahu had to turn it off. d. ḥacham Tzvi never referred to the created man as a Golem.

So, now that we're caught up on two major folktales about Golems, why are they even called that? What does the name mean?

Well, apparently the term was used for this kind of artificially created humans since the 18th century, if you believe Wikipedia. The word itself, though, appears in the Mishnah in the tractate of Avot, 5:10, where it's used as the opposite of a wise man. There, we are given 7 defining traits for a wise man - mostly simple requirements of polite conversation. Those traits include: not talking before some wiser than you, not interrupting while your friend is speaking, not being too quick to answer, asking and answering in accordance to context, replying to things by order, admitting when you don't know something and admitting to the truth. A Golem is a person who does the exact opposite.

When I first thought of that, I thought that it might be a good idea to popularize "Golem" as a term for the Internet Troll, who tends to, indeed, be the opposite of the above. feel free to use it like that if you want - and please let me know if I'm acting like a Golem, I would like to know to correct myself when I require correcting. Anyway, when you look at it this way it almost sounds like an insult: this man created by other humans is the polar opposite of being wise. And maybe it is, but I'm not sure this is the whole reason for using this name for a Golem.

All right, maybe I've been dragging it like this for long enough. So, ina an attempt to avoid too much theatrics, I'll just say that in Hebrew the word Golem sometimes is used to mean "an unfinished tool", or "half made", and one could claim that this is something the fool and the Created Man have in common: both are not quite finished, one mentally and the other spiritually. The Created man is incomplete spiritually because he lacks a soul, something only G-d can give. This is also why a Golem can't speak, since this divine soul is the source of Human speech, as per the Onkelos translation for Genesis 2, 7: "and it became in Adam into a speaking spirit" (rough personal translation from Aramaic).

So, here's the point: according to all of the above, you might realize that a. a Golem should be incapable of speech, and b. it kind of should look more human than a lump of clay. Obviously, it doesn't matter in modern culture, where there is already a clear image of what a Golem is - even if it's a little inaccurate. Still, I enjoy being somewhat pedantic over stuff. I have read a couple of books with Golems in them, and I don't think many of them were actually loyal enough to the source of the myth. That doesn't make them bad, but I'd like something more accurate for once. Unsong might be a good example for a work that did it somewhat right - but I'm currently stuck in the middle of it and unsure whether I'll continue for different reasons, so that is that.

In Hyperpotamia, such as it is, Golems might be used as guards. The more Internet-Trolly kind are, sadly, citizens - they do go against the grain, afer all - but are not much well liked. Ad yes, this is a weak attempt at creating a gag for my blog. Feels a little forced, to be honest - we'll see if it works.

Thank you for reading, and have a pleasant day!

[benevolentbirdgal]

What makes a golem a golem? I see a lot of media that calls any sort of construct or manmade being a golem but I feel like that’s not right? I see a lot of people see Frankenstein’s monster is a golem for example.

Great question that I'm probably going to end up answering in like four different directions!

Also, sorry for the delay, I saw this, thought wow, this deserves a thoughtful response, and then got busy for two weeks with travel and family stuff!

Okay, so usual disclaimers that I am not the holder of the One True Jewish Opinion and that folklore can be wibbly, but here's my basic take on what makes a golem a golem.

There are a few positions I'm going to explore here on "what is a Golem" -

The most literal/traditional definition from pre-20th century writings.

The most inclusive - Every Constructed Man Is A Golem and/or if someone calls it a Golem it must be one.

The appropriation-observation - That Mech Isn't A Golem, But It's A Problem That It's Pretending To Be.

Also: Full Disclosure: My personal opinion is definitely somewhere in the "Golem means a specific thing, but it gets misappropriated a lot and that's bad" range.

In the most literal & traditional sense, a Golem is a formerly inanimate anthropomorphic shaped clump of Something (most traditionally clay or dirt or rock) brought to life by the magic of the Hebrew alphabet. Golems also lack free will - whatever you tell them to do, they do, and generally they are portrayed as very literal in how they interpret instructions. They are also, in the earliest examples, mute.

Golem folklore goes back into at least Talmudic times (first centuries common era), with examples of Rabbi such-and-such making golems using Hebrew names or the word for truth in middle ages. Our modern conceptions are also typically heavily grounded in the writings of the Maharal of Prague (Judah Loew ben Bezalel), who lived and wrote in the 16th century. Although relatively recent, the Maharal and his golem he deactivated so it wouldn't have to work on Shabbos are the most famous at this point.

Many of these stories understood golems as both general household help and as potential protectors of the Jewish community. The Maharal in particular engaged with the latter angle.

I do not think that the most exclusive interpretation of what we call golems, at least alone is helpful for modern discourse. Having a base understanding is useful though.

Roughly, tradition tells us that a golem is a traditionally clay-based constructed humanoid figure brought to life by the power of the written Hebrew language and operates without free will and usually without speech. They are not evil, just literal AF, and need to be handled with care - both with respect to their behavior and by some accounts, how the golem itself is treated.

This is a fairly restrictive definition. The opposite view is that anything that looks like, is called as, or vibes like a golem counts. In my observation, this is usually in the interest of calling out misappropriated golems.

I basically see three problems with the "everything is a Golem" camp:

It's NOT a one-to-one, but there are other manmade alive-but-not figures that fill similar roles outside of Jewish folklore. I'm not saying that a Talon (Greek) or Shabti (Egyptian) Tupilaq (Inuit) are exact equivalent to Golems, I'm saying that if a creator from a background with a constructed person-like entity as part of their traditions creates media with constructed person-like entity we should hear the contextual horses not zebras.

If something is a golem, we need something to not be. If we wanted to be very expansive, one could even argue that household robots like Rosie from The Jetsons are Golem analogues, which would be fun to argue, but one would be wrong. Basically, I oppose "anything is this specific thing" definitions.

There are lots of pieces of media that misappropriate golems (and other Jewish folklore, but that's a song for another time), but it's important to me that we save that label for Actual Problematic Appropriation, not literally anything that could possibly count because of vibes or whatever.

I do think we should be immediately suspicious of that which is labeled by creators as Golems when the creators are not Jewish. Why is gentile creator insisting this is a thing from a community they are not part of???

I sympathize with the assessment that misappropriated golems and golem analogues abound, because they do. This brings me to my own view.

For me - I think the best ways to determine if x is a Golem or Golem-analogue, misappropriated or otherwise, is to explore the following three questions:

Does it line up to the traditional description?

Do the creators insist that it is a Golem and/or do we have reason to believe they were influenced by Golem stories?

Is there a community consensus from the culture of origin - Jewish - that this piece of media is a Golem or Golem analogue? [by far the trickiest to determine].

I think there are basically three answers you could land on: definitely a Golem, definitely not a Golem, and some middle ground of inspiration from the thing.

Since the example given was Frankenstein, I'll run that as a sample:

Eh. I see where people are coming from on this one, I do, but I don't think the evidence is damning here. We could nitpick on the physically different aspects - the lack of Hebrew inscription, people instead of dirt/clay, the electricity bringing to life, but I actually think the thematic differences are more relevant. Golems are explicitly under the control of their creator, have a (relatively) easy on/off switch, are generally intended for good purposes (household help, self-defense), and regarded as part of the household (most narratives have Golems not working on Shabbat). Although I wouldn't say Frankenstein's Monster is evil, there's a very different relationship and operation that is much more horror-y than folklore-y at the end of the day.

Shelley never straight-up said the monster was a Golem. Although Golem narratives go back much earlier, their debut to the wider world was in 1808 through the Brothers Grimm's submission to a literary journal, Journal of Hermits. In 1808 and 1812 we see clear departures from traditional Jewish narratives in the write-up's from the Grimm brothers. It's perfectly plausible she interacted with Golem or Golem-esque ideas through her intellectual circles in this way.

There is not community consensus that Frankenstein's Monster = Golem. There are definitely Jews who hold this position, but it's not a community consensus by any means.

In this case, at least for Shelley's 1816 publication (not getting into later stuff or movies), inspiration from the Brother's Grimm bastardization is probable, but ultimately I'd say not a Golem.

As per usual, OP (or anyone else) is welcome to follow-up, other Jews welcome to add stuff, goyim welcome to reblog!

[stromuprisahat]

Thoughts on nichevoya=golems?

My first answer was no, I pictured the clay man from Císařův pekař a pekařův císař, baking bread for the people...

But I looked at wiki for less fairytale-y informations and:

The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague, also known as the Maharal, who reportedly "created a golem out of clay from the banks of the Vltava River and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks and pogroms".[16][17] Depending on the version of the legend, the Jews in Prague were to be either expelled or killed under the rule of Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor. 

They're not the same, I doubt LB wrote them as such, unless she was trying to say mythical Jewish protectors were evil, but there are similarities.

They're made by powerful leader of people oppressed over a long period of time, who happen to be in greater danger than usual. They're made by unconventional, for ordinary mortals forbidden, means.

The greatest difference is golem was made out of ordinary material, brought into life by said magic, while nichevo'ya are almost completely merzost-made out of the Darkling's own being. Horrifying way to protect others.

[sapphoandvanzetti]

did the maharal of prague write this

Clay is like if dirt could be flesh.

[lennart11412]

The Ashrei prayer, primarily derived from Psalm 145, is recited by Jews three times daily. The sages of the Talmud declared that anyone who says Ashrei thrice daily will secure a place in the World to Come,1 thanks to its unique characteristics:

Each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, allowing one to praise G‑d with the entirety of speech.

The verse starting with the letter peh praises G‑d who “opens Your hand and satisfies every living thing [with] its desire.”2 Reciting this verse with proper intention is so crucial that if said without concentration, it must be repeated, similar to the Shema.

The Mystery of the Missing Letter Nun

Despite the alphabetical structure, one letter is conspicuously absent: nun. Why is there no verse beginning with nun?

Supporting Those Who Fall

In the very Talmudic discussion cited above,3 Rabbi Yochanan provides a fascinating reason for why this letter was left out: Nun stands for נפל (nofel), which means “fall,” as in the verse “The virgin of Israel has fallen (naflah) and she will rise no more,”4 which speaks of the downfall of the Jewish people.

Rabbi Nachman Bar Yitzchak explains that King David, author of this psalm, was sensitive to this fall and preemptively provided support in the following verse: “The Lord supports (סמך-somech) all those who fall . . .”

So the sages were well aware of this “omission” and attributed deep significance to it.

Interestingly, some note that the Septuagint5 (Greek translation of the Tanach) and a variant Hebrew text found among the Dead Sea Scrolls do contain a verse for the letter nun: “Trustworthy (נאמן-ne’eman) is the L-rd in all His words, and righteous is He in all his ways.”

This has led some to suggest that the verse might have been lost from the standard Hebrew text but preserved in other manuscripts.

However, many scholars point out there is no indication content-wise that anything is missing between the verses for mem and samech. Moreover, the added verse for nun is highly suspicious for a number of reasons, including:

It uses the Divine name "Elokim," whereas the rest of Psalm 145 exclusively uses the Tetragrammaton, which appears nine times in this chapter.

The ending of the added verse, “and kind in all His deeds,” is a duplicate of the ending of the tzadi verse. This would be a major anomaly, since no other verses contain duplicate endings.

These are very strong indicators that the verse was added in by some scribe who assumed it was an error, and it subsequently crept into other manuscripts, even as the sages successfully kept it out of the Mesorah.

But if we accept that the letter nun was purposely omitted because it begins a negative word, we’re left with an obvious question: Don’t all letters start both positive and negative words? Why was the nun picked out for special treatment?

The Letter That Stands Alone

This issue was addressed by Rabbi Yehuda Lowe, known as the Maharal of Prague (15126–1609).7

He begins by explaining the significance of Ashrei being constructed of all 22 Hebrew letters. The Hebrew letters are the building blocks of the entire creation and thus contain within them the secrets of creation.

And if we look carefully at the letter nun, we’ll see how “falling” is baked into its position in the Hebrew alphabet. There are exactly 27 Hebrew letters (including final letters). Nun is the 14th, with 13 letters on each side. So while each letter has a counter letter, the nun stands alone with no support.

Why No “Nun” in Ashrei? - Chabad.org

[christophe76460]

"Celui qui médit… est bon à être jeté aux chiens, comme il est dit en Exode 23:1 : "n'écoute pas un rapport mensonger" et le verset précédent dit : "jetez-le au chien".

En effet, comme nous l'avons vu plus haut, le médisant perd son statut « d'homme saint pour l'Éternel », il se profane lui-même et la bête des champs lui est dorénavant supérieure...

Étant frappé d'un terrible défaut, il est maintenant semblable à une « bête déchirée » au sujet de laquelle il est dit : « Vous la jetterez aux chiens. » (Exode 22:31).

C'est pourquoi, disent les sages, la Torah a juxtaposé le verset du colporteur/médisant avec celui de la viande déchirée jetée aux chiens.

Le Maharal de Prague apporte une autre raison complémentaire :

Les chiens se sont abstenus d'aboyer quand les enfants d'Israël sont sortis d'Égypte (exode 11:7) et si celui à qui Dieu a donné l'intelligence ne peut pas tenir sa langue [et aboie sur quiconque du peuple de Dieu], il vaut moins qu'un chien.

La prochaine fois que notre mauvais penchant nous poussera à amoindrir qui que ce soit, rappelons-nous de cet enseignement, de peur de subir le sort éternel du médisant non repentant... (Si Dieu le permet, nous en parlerons dans le prochain message).

Thomas,

Auteur des sites RencontrerDieu et LeRetourAuxRacines par la grâce du Saint béni soit-Il !

« Heureux l'homme qui trouve son plaisir dans la Torah de l'Eternel, Et qui la médite jour et nuit ! » - Psaumes 1