Type: Legend
- “The legend goes like this. Golem, a humanoid figure that is made out of clay, came alive at certain times. The legend has it that Rabbi Lowe of Prague created the golem in the 1500’s, 1580 about. He was the chief Rabbi of Prague at the time and is still very famous. The golem was created to fight the anti-semetism that was prominent at the time, and so the Rabbi he created the humanoid figure out of clay to protect the Jewish people. If you go to Prague (like when we did) we followed my mother’s diary of her trip in 1927, and she went to the Jewish cemetery in the old Jewish section of Prague, and found Rabbi Lowe grave and put a stone on it. There is a statue of the Rabbi in the city to this day. This golem apparently inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstien. Some people even say that the remains of the golem are in the attic of the synagogue in Prague. There is even a restaurant in Prague named after the golem.”
- I obtained this piece of folklore from my grandfather Don. Don was born in 1932, and his whole life has been very active in the Jewish community. Don has also been actively Jewish his whole life, and cares deeply about his faith. Moreover, both of my grandparents have spent a significant amount of their life traveling the world, going to as many countries as possible. My grandfather first came about his legend from his mother, who visited Prague often. She would tell him about the legend, and eventually, he went there himself and learned more about the legend.
- This is a piece of Jewish folklore. Outside of the Jewish and Prague/European community, the legend would be unknown. Don’s mother came to the US from Poland, and brought the legend with her. In the United States, this legend probably is not popular/well known. But in all the European countries, the legend is in fact well known.
- I am really interested in this piece of folklore, especially how even today people still care out it. It is almost whimsical, on a light note, even though at the time the anti-Semitism was not.