Jul 17 2008
Golem
The Golem of Prague
This statue of the Golem of Prague is situated at the entrance to the city’s Jewish sector. Golem is really one of the most famous “personalities”, who have ever lived in Prague walked through the city’s streets. According to legend, Rabbi Yehuda Loew ben Bezalel created a GOLEM, a robot using his magical powers and combining the four elements (fire and water represented by his assistants), air (Rabbi himself) and earth (Golem made out of earthenware) to vitalize a lifeless sculpture made out of clay from the banks of the Vltava River in Prague at the Altneuschul Synagogue and gave life to by placing sacred writings in his mouth to serve the Jewish community. At that time of emperor Rudolph II ruled and the Jews had to be protected from Anti-Semitic attacks and that’s why Golem was created with the necessary powers to carry out the task. He could protect jews very well, but as Golem grew bigger he became more violent and Rabbi Loew was promised by emperor that the violence against the Jews would stop if the Golem was destroyed and he had to agree and destroy Golem. Maharal lives on in his writings in the Torah world that is an enduring source of wisdom and inspiration. On the statue you can see that Golem didn’t look like robot, he looked like normal humans.