Of all the Golem legends, none is as famous as the story cycle
of the Golem of Prague. There had been books, plays, and even films
depicting it, and often they included the crator of the Golem of
Prague, Rabbi Loew.
Prague was home to many Jewish scholars and mystics; Rabbi Loew
was probably the most famous. He lived a long life. 1513-1609,
and defended his people valiantly against their enemies. His
followers loved him so much they called him "The Exalted One".
Even to a holy man, or a great mystic, creating life is forbidden.
It can only be justified if many lives would be saved by doing so,
and not always even then. But Rabbi Loew was instructed to try
the horrifying task. He created his Golem with divine help,
using Kabbalistic formulas communicated to him in dreams.
Acquiring this God-given knowledge was neither simple nor easy.
The formulas were given, but deciphering themhad to be done by
the person himself. Worse, he had to use the Shem Hameforash
the true name of God, which was known only to a few holy men
in each generation, and was very dangerous to pronounce. The power
it unleashed could turn against the man who uttered it.
This myth is unusual in that it is supposed to have happened
in a specific year - 1580. There was anew danger brewing in
Prague: a notorious priest, Taddeush, planned to accuse the Jews
of a new "ritual murder". Rabbi Loew heard about it, and to avert
the horrible danger, directed a dream question to heaven to help
him save his people. He received his answer in an order that is
alphabetical in Hebrew:
Ata Bra Golem Devuk Hakhomer Ve Tigzar Zedim Chevel Torfe
Yisroel
The simple meaning was: Make a Golem of clay and you will destroy
the entire Jew-baiting company. But this was only part of the message.
The inner meaning had to be understood to be effective. Rabbi Loew
extracted the real message by using Zirufim , special
Kabbalistic formulas. And when he was done, he knew he could
accomplish the creation of a Golem.
He called two people to assist him. His son-in-law, a Kohen (a
Jewish descended from the ancient order of priests) and his pupil,
a Levite (a Jew descended from the servants of the Temple). He
explained that they needed four elements - fire, water, air and
earth. The two assistants represented the fire and water, Rabbi
Loew, air and the Golem, earth. He explained how they had to purify
themselves, because unless they were completely ready, the
Shem Hameforash would destroy them.
After a day of purification, they read various chapters from a
particularly holy book, Sefer Yezira (The Book of
Creation) and then went to the River Moldau. By torchlight, they
sculpted a giant body out of river clay. The Golem lay before them,
facing the heaven. They places themselves at his feet, looking
at the quiet face.
The Kohen walked seven times around the body, from right to left,
reciting special Zirufim. The clay turned bright red, like fire.
Then the Levite walked another seven times around the body,
from left to right, reciting some more Zirufim. The fire-like
redness disappeared, and water flowed through the body. He grew
hair and nails. Then Rabbi Loew walked once around the body,
and placed a piece of parchment in his mouth, on which was
written Shem Hameforash , the real name of God. He bowed
to the East, West, South and North, and all three of them recited
together: "And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul." The Golem opened his eyes and looked
at his creator. They dressed him and took to the synagogue, where
he could get ready to start his mission.
During the day, Golem, who was given the name Josele, worked
as a servant in Rabbi's household, as well as in the synagogue.
He looked just like a human being and was endowed with great
strength, but no gift of speech. Every Saturday, the day
of the Sabbath, Rabbi Loew removed the Shem from Golem's mouth
and with it, Golem's life.
During his time at the Rabbi's, Golem was a great help to the
Jews and saved many lives. One Sabbath, however, the Rabbi
forgot to remove the Shem from Golem's mouth, and left for
the synagogue. Golem was seized with great madness and in
the state of rage, he started making his way through the Ghetto,
breaking and destroying everything in his way. The Rabbi rushed
from the synagogue in the eleventh hour, and he quickly removed
the Shem and with it the life principle, and thus restored the
Golem into lifeless clay. The clay figure
had to be hidden in the attic of the synagogue, and no one was
permitted to enter it again until many years later. Some writers
during the nineteenth century claimed that the outline of a giant
body could still be seen there.
But while the story of Golem is a true Frankenstein-type
legend, the character of Rabbi Loew is real. This educated
man and a great thinker of his time lived between 1520 and
1609, during the reign of the eccentric Habsburg monarch
Rudolf II, who was well-known for his hobby of collecting
works of art, and flirting with astrology, alchemy, mysticism
and black magic. He is believed to have visited Rabbi Loew
in his house in the Jewish town, keen to be demonstrated
some of the Rabbi's miracles.
Rabbi Yehuda Loew studied in Prague and the Polish city of
Poznan, after which he became the chief provincial Rabbi, first
in Poznan, and then in Bohemia. A great authority on the Talmud,
as well as astrology and mathematics, he even has one of moon's
formations named after him.
We will never find out whether or not he really created Golem.
After all, he isn't the only one in history to whom the
miracle has been ascribed. But it is largely thanks to the old
legend, that thousands still visit Rabbi Loew's tombstone at
Prague's Jewish cemetery.
