The Golem (in Hebrew: גולם) is a giant made of clay created by the Maharal of Prague.
But who is the Maharal? What is the story of the Golem? What values are associated with its legend, and what influence does it have today?
Rabbi Yehuda ben Bezalel Loew, better known as the Maharal of Prague (a contraction of the words “Morénou Harav Loew”: “Our Teacher, Rabbi Loew”), was a Talmudic scholar, unifier, and innovator in Jewish thought.
He became the rabbinical president and rabbi of Moravia in 1553, and was elected Chief Rabbi of Prague in 1597. He wrote numerous works, particularly on Jewish holidays, which are still studied today.
He possessed extensive knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences, and associated with many scientists and scholars of his time, notably Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler.
The Maharal founded the great Talmudic academy known as Klaus in Prague. The historic building of this academy was destroyed by fire eighty years after his death, but was later rebuilt and named the Klaus Synagogue, which today serves as both a synagogue and a museum.
He was also a scholar of Kabbalah, which he would use to activate the Golem.
The Maharal died in Prague in 1609. He is buried in Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery.
The History of the Golem
In16th-century Prague, the Jews, as has often been the case throughout their history, were subjected to a pogrom.
To protect the Jewish community, the Maharal of Prague then fashioned the Golem, which means “formless mass” or “embryo” in Hebrew. He brought this clay giant to life using Kabbalah, placing a parchment in its mouth inscribed with one of God’s names, and engraved the word Emeth אמת on its forehead— which means “True” or “Truth” in Hebrew—so that it would always know what it had to do: protect the Jewish community from massacres.
He did his job so well that the emperor at the time, Ferdinand of the Habsburg dynasty, came to see the Maharal to negotiate and save what remained of his army. The Maharal replied thathe simply wanted the massacres to stop and for his community to be able to live in peace.
Following this agreement, the Maharal asked the Golem for help in retying his shoelace, claiming he could not do it himself because of his advanced age. The Golem then bent down toward the Maharal’s shoe, and the Maharal erased the letter Aleph א from its forehead: the word Emeth אמת thus became the word Met מת, which means “death” in Hebrew. The Golem was thus deactivated.
However, he kept it in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue, in the Genizah (a repository for writings bearing the name of God), so that he could reactivate it if necessary.
Historical fact: During their invasion, both Hitler and Stalin ordered that the synagogue not be destroyed.
Was it out of fear of the legend?
The Golem Today and Its Symbolism in the OIS Emeth Krav Maga
The Vieille-Nouvelle Synagogue is the oldest in Europe; it was completed in 1270 and was designated a historic monument in 1995. Its attic remains off-limits to the public.
The Golem is a giant made of clay meant to protect; it is by no means a “monster.” Unfortunately, in modern folklore, its image has very often been distorted to portray it as a monster: Frankenstein’s monster is directly inspired by the legend of the Golem, and it is also frequently depicted in video games as a villain to be defeated.
An interesting parallel to the history of Israel: When Israel defends itself, the international community tends to demonize what is simply a necessary act of self-defense.
The word “Emeth” appears in theOIS Emeth Krav Maga logo because:
« Si on ne s’entraîne pas au plus près de la réalité, on risque la mort ».
In this survival system, there is no Sheker שקר (lie). During classes, we learn, among other things, to “switch”—that is , to react quickly and effectively in the event of an attack, using all our energy and channeling our “positive aggression,” which represents love for life and our loved ones. With the strength and resilience of a lioness or a lion, we then become our own Golem, protecting our loved ones from one (or more) attacker(s). We can then activate and deactivate our Golem as needed.
"If you're attacked, wake up your Golem"
News in Brief:
- Golem is also the name given to the large ambulance used by the Prague City Emergency Services.
- One of the first Israeli computers in use (after the Weizac) was called Golem.
- In northern Israel, Czechoslovakian Holocaust survivors founded a moshav (a town) in 1949 called Kerem Maharal, in honor of the Maharal of Prague.
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