Prague’s Golem
The legend
The Old-New Synagogue in Prague (Staronová synagóga) was our last visit point as part of the Josefov exploration. Toward the end of our visit to the Jewish Quarter, we’ve already seen countless synagogues, to the point where we could have easily skip the idea of seeing another one, unless it was the most exciting of all – it was no other than the old new synagogue where the legend of the Golem was created and…buried.
They’re quite a few mentions of golems in the Jewish folklore which have been created by Rabbis and turned against their masters. The most famous of all stories is the Prague’s one. According to the story, Rabbi Yehuda Leow, the famous Maharal of Prague, created a clay puppet – “Golem” (the clay was gathered by the rabbi from the banks of the Vltava river), and was named Yossi. The Maharal made his Golem come to life by putting a scrap of paper with the Hebrew word “emet” (truth) written on it and placed it in the Golem’s mouth. As the Golem grew bigger, it became violent and started threatening and killing people. Consequently, the Maharal agreed to destroy the Golem. It was carried out by deletion of the first letter of the word “emet” from the scrap of paper in the Golem’s mouth – so that it became “met” (dead).
Legend says, that the Golem is still hidden at the synagogue’s attic, and threatening everybody who tries to bother him. Of course, my spouse was curious enough about this matter. He asked the synagogue’s guard for permission to climb the attic. No need to say, that the guard refused to permit such a thing. My spouse refused to give up. He told me that Golem is probably bored and lonely and like any being (clay or flesh…) is probably in need of human interaction. Despite being quite skeptic about the idea, I didn’t try to prevent him from standing below the synagogue’s attic and calling: “Yossi, talk to me! You must be lonely? Is it warm or cold in there? If I had the chance I would come right up there…I know you can hear me…
The Golem Strikes Back at the Old Town Square
After long, desperate and unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the Golem, we turned occasionally to Pařížská Street, which was loaded with boutiques and Art Nouveau houses from the beginning of the last century. We didn’t know yet that Pařížská Street links Josefov to Staroměstské náměstí (the Old Town Square).
My spouse was fascinated by the gorgeous colofful facades and looming churches, and started to film it with his video camera. Suddenly, I’ve heard a yawn behind me. As I turned back, my spouse was sitting on the pavement and grasping his sprained leg… I know…I know…I’m as skeptic as the next guy, but I have no doubt that it was the Golem’s revenge.
