LEGEND OF THE GOLEM OF PRAGE
According to Czech legend, in 1580 Rabbi Yehudah Loew Ben Bezalel of Prague and two of his colleagues created a life-sized Golem, which they succeeded in animating by inserting in its mouth a slip of parchment bearing the word "shem", which is a kabbalistic interpretation of God's divine name. Under Loew's control, the creature performed menial laboring tasks that required great strength but little intellect. Every Friday evening, since the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday, the Rabbi would take out the parchment from the Golem's mouth, thus rendering it inanimate again, so that it would not perturb their impending day of rest.
One Friday, however, the Rabbi forgot to take out the parchment from the Golem's mouth, and while he was busy performing the Sabbath service the creature ran amok in a rash of destruction. As soon as the Rabbi found out what was going on, he left the service in search of his creation. When at last he found it, he succeeded in pulling the parchment out of the rampant Golem's mouth, and while it was again inanimate he and his colleagues carried it away. They concealed its powerful form inside the attic of Prague's Old-New Synagogue.
From that day on, the Rabbi forbade everyone from entering the building and even removed the stairs leading up to the attic.
Eventually, most people forgot about the Golem, but even today no one is allowed inside this particular synagogue's attic, although free access is granted to those in the Czech Republic's other Jewish temples. Could someone — or something — strange be hidden in the Old-New Synagogue's mysterious attic?
SEE IF YOU CAN FIND HIM & GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN ... LETS SEE HOW MANY WE CAN GET.
Leave a Comment
Prague
email me
add as friend
on May 6, 2004
Comments for cjuliette about Prague