Golem
A figure of clay brought to life by a rabbi in Jewish legend, best known from the story of Prague.
Also: golem of prague, maharal's golem
Golem is a Hebrew word for something unformed. The Talmud tells of Rava creating a man by means of the Book of Creation, who could not speak and was turned back to dust. Medieval Jewish mystics in Germany described rites for making a golem as a spiritual exercise, not a servant. The popular tale of the golem of Prague, made by Rabbi Judah Loew in the sixteenth century to defend the Jewish quarter from attack, was first published in 1909 and is not found in his own writings. Tradition says a word, emet, truth, on the forehead gave life, and rubbing out a letter stopped it. The golem has influenced fiction, from Frankenstein to games.