The answer to the question of who the Golem is, can be formulated very simply - this is a creation of clay, endowed with magical power. Most often Golems were made to take revenge on offenders. This is a leading character in Jewish mythology. However, there are many interesting legends and facts that we offer to get to know.
Who could create Golems?
The legend of the Golem says that only a rabbi, a spiritually rich and enlightened person can create it. Moreover, they should not be driven by the desire to punish their own enemies, but by the desire to protect the entire Jewish people from persecutors and oppressors. The creator’s thoughts should be absolutely pure, only in this case his clay creation will gain its superhuman power.
Origin of the word
What is a Golem will be discussed in detail below. And the word itself originates from “gel”, which in Hebrew means “raw material without processing”, “clay”. There is another version of the appearance of the word - from "shapeless".
History
The Golem originally appeared in Prague in the 16th century, when the Jewish people lived in very difficult conditions. Germans and Czechs who inhabited the Czech capital by all means oppressed it. Jews did not have the right to settle outside their ghetto; they often vegetated in poverty and crowding.
Tired of looking at the torment of his own people with pain, the High Rabbi Leo turned a prayer to heaven, seeking the intercession of an omnipotent god. And he heard the answer: he must conduct a secret ritual, create a Golem from clay and entrust him with reprisal against enemies.
The lion and his closest minions did everything that was ordered to them: they molded a figure similar to a human from clay, revived it with the help of secret knowledge. The golem looked very much like a man, but differed in several features:
- did not have the gift of speech;
- distinguished by amazing physical strength;
- had a brownish skin color.
The monster successfully destroyed the enemies holding the Jewish ghetto in fear, and served as the defender of its creators for 13 years.
Therefore, understanding who the Golem is, it can be noted that this is the protector of the Jewish people, created by the rabbi and his friends and revived by the power of magical knowledge.
Ritual
Consider exactly how the revival of the clay idol took place. His rabble minions helped Rabbi Leo:
- Son-in-law Yitzhak bin Simeon, symbolizing the fire element.
- Rabbi's disciple, Jacob bin Haimim Sasson, who embodied the element of water in a magical ritual.
The rabbi himself embodied the air, and their creation - the Golem - the element of the earth.
Previously, all participants in the ritual underwent a cleansing procedure, the essence of which did not reach us.
The golem - the mythical creature into which life was breathed, was created as follows:
- At first, continuously reading the psalms, the men fashioned a figure from clay, placing it face up.
- Then they settled at his feet, staring at his lifeless face.
- At the behest of Leo, Isaac walked around the idol seven times, moving from right to left, and uttered a secret phrase, after which the Golem turned red, the word of grief in a bright flame.
- Then the idol also walked around 7 times Jacob, who was entrusted with the pronunciation of another text, at the end of this part of the ritual, the fiery glint disappeared, and liquid flowed along the figure. Golem got nails and hair.
- Then the rabbi himself went around his creation and put parchment into his mouth. According to another version - shem, the secret name of God.
After that, the idol came to life. He was given clothes so that he was no different from a man, and explained the task of protecting the Jewish people.
Features of appearance and behavior
A golem is a humanoid idol, most often made of clay, animated by secret knowledge. Therefore, he looked like a rough copy of a man. The most famous Prague Golem received clothes and therefore was not much different from people. It was not in vain that Rabbi Leo brought him to his house and passed him off as a dumb, accidentally met on the street. This creature did not differ in external attractiveness; rather, it resembled a mutilated person for about 30 years.
According to legend, to make the figure of a clay monster should not be higher than the growth of a child of 10 years, since the Golem is growing very quickly. At the same time, he does not need food, he is able to perform any physical work.
Apart from his superpower, the clay idol did not possess any magical abilities. The fact that the Golem, coming out of obedience, begins to destroy everything in its path, testifies to the evil embedded in its very nature.
Destruction of the first Golem
For many years, Leo kept his creation under control, plunging him into sleep during his visits to the synagogue. But once the aged rabbi forgot to do this, so the monster escaped from his house and began to destroy everything in its path. A frightened Jew forever euthanized his creation, and the people again found themselves without protection.
The lifeless body of the clay protector was placed in the attic of the synagogue, and for many years no one dared to look there. However, in the 20s of the last century, a journalist, wanting to debunk a Jewish legend, managed to penetrate this place and saw that there were no traces of clay man there.
The destruction of the Golem is explained differently:
- The second version of the legend says that the "rebellion" of the giant was able to pacify, but he did his job, the persecution of the Jews stopped, so Rabbi Leo ordered the Golem to go to bed in the attic of the synagogue, where he destroyed it.
- There is a more romantic version. The golem, living among people, gradually began to gain intelligence and become aware of itself. He inflamed feelings for the beautiful Miriam, the daughter of a rabbi. The girl had fun, calling him his betrothed, and the clay man accompanied her everywhere, awkwardly crushing everything in its path. Father asked Miriam to immobilize the Golem, and he turned to dust.
Each of the explanations for Golem’s death is interesting in its own way and deserves the right to exist.
Other hypotheses
There is a slightly different version of who the Golem is. The legend tells that the “black man” (as the clay idol is sometimes called) performed the most difficult work for his creators. Having fulfilled his duty, he turned to ashes. It was first created by the Prague rabbi Maharal.
This legend has a later origin and appeared in the 17th century.
Modern views
Having examined who the Golem is, we will find out how our contemporaries relate to it. Despite the very implausible plot of the legend, many Prague Jews still believe that their people were once guarded by a clay monster. It is believed that every 33 years it revives to life and disappears again.
Varieties of Golems
The clay idol, the protector of the Jewish people, is not the only version of what the Golem is. At various times in the mystical texts there are several variations of this monster:
- Water. Created from a shaped liquid, it often has intelligence.
- Stone. The appearance is similar to a revitalized stone block.
- Fiery. He lives in volcanoes, has magical abilities.
- Earthy. It resembles a hill, prefers to settle on the plains. It is less aggressive than all the previous ones.
These types of idols are less popular than the clay giant.
Image in literature
The character Golem was often used by writers in his works:
- The Austrian Gustav Meyrink created the novel Golem, which brought him fame. The legend itself is mentioned only briefly, but the plot is based on the dreams of the protagonist, an unnamed narrator.
- A play by Arthur Kholichera with the same title was released in 1908.
- Stanislav Lem, a Polish writer and philosopher, published the story Golem 16.
- The clay man is mentioned in the work “Monday begins on Saturday” by the Strugatsky brothers.
- Umberto Eco’s novel “The Foucault Pendulum” also has a Golem figure.
This character of Jewish mythology often appears in the works of modern science fiction writers as a powerful weapon.
