The Golem is the tale that inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as well as writers such as JRR Tolkien and Terry Pratchett.
“During the life of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel – otherwise known as the Maharal – there were many stories of wonder, wit and wisdom, but one of the strangest has to be the story of the Golem.
“The community at that time was persecuted, and, during Passover, the whole Jewish quarter of Prague lived in fear of pogroms, the Blood Libel – a story that the Jews used the blood of a Christian child to bake the Passover matzos – being the excuse for such things. Emperor Rudolf II could not or would not protect the community. So the Maharal made a Golem of clay from the banks of the Vltava river: a Golem to protect the community in times of trouble: a Golem upon whose forehead was written the Hebrew word “emet,” meaning Truth: a Golem who, on a piece of parchment, has the unutterable name of the Most High upon his tongue.”
The word Golem occurs once in the Bible in Psalms 139:16, which uses the word גלמי, meaning “my unshapen form.” Sometimes in Yiddish it has come to mean clumsy or stupid.
He sleeps beneath the leaves… should you need him…
Join Shonaleigh for this magical tale from the comfort of your own home! Storytelling via Zoom.