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Special
Interest Page
Golem
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Children's Literature Page
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The
illustrations used below clearly demonstrate a wide range of interpretations
of the legends of the golem. Try to examine these books to see how each
artist selects specific incidents in the tale to illustrate. Note that
even the golem in each story is visually distinct and color and line
varies radically.
This
illustration is from Wisniewski, David. Golem. New York:
Clarion, 1996.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
The
story of the Golem serves as a cautionary tale about the limits
of human power. It has inspired the work of composers and authors;
there is evidence of its influence in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.
The tale may even prove prophetic-as the fields of computer science,
robotics, and gene manipulation advance, technological Golems
may arise in our culture. But the Golem has perhaps its greatest
resonance in folklore. Considering the Jewish people's long history
of conflict and suffering, it is no surprise that the legend of
the Golem, in which massive physical strength defeats overwhelming
persecution, remains one of the most powerful traditional stories.
. . .
The Inquisition, a special court created by the Roman Catholic
Church to punish heretics, pursued the Jews throughout the Middle
Ages. In modern times, prejudice against them reached its peak
in the Holocaust, the Nazi murder campaign that killed six million
Jews, a third of the world's Jewish population, in the years 1939-45.
Out of this unspeakable disaster grew the impetus to establish
a Jewish state. The nation of Israel was founded in 1948. Historian
Jay Gonen observed in his Pschohistory of Zionism that,
like the Golem, Israel was created to protect the physical safety
of Jews through the use of physical power. In this allegorical
fashion, Golem still lives.
From:
David Wisniewski. Golem. Author Notes page.
This
illustration is from Rogasky, Barbara. The Golem. Illus.
by Trina Schart Hyman. New York: Holiday House, 1996.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
The use of the Blood Libel against the Jews is one of the terrible
facts of history. It is, and has always been a lie. Jews are forbidden
to consume blood in any form. Here, from Leviticus in the Bible,
are God's instructions: "No soul of you shall eat blood, neither
shall any stranger that visits among you that hunts and catches
any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the
creature's blood, and cover it with dust." Religious Jews have
followed this to the very letter through all the centuries since.
But the lie would not die. Some scholars think that even the Ancient
Romans believed it. Through the ages, there have been priests,
Jewish converts to Christianity who came to hate Judaism, many
among the common people, even kings who have believed that Jews
killed children or pure women in order to use their blood in the
mazo or even to drink it in their wine.
The Nazis of Germany used the lie to help in their murder of 6
million of Europe's Jews during the Holocaust of 1933-45.
. . .
Did the actual Rabbi Judah Loew create a golem? No, he did not.
Scholars talk a lot about why the story attached itself to him,
but the most they can come up with are two theories. The story
takes place during a period when Blood Libel stories had become
fairly common, and many Jews were killed or jailed because of
it. The two most fanous versions of the legend, Yudl Rosenberg's
and Chayim Bloch's, appeared in the early twntieth century, when
once again Blood Libel stories were resulting in murderous pograms.
The story of the golem was thus created to give Jews hope of a
protector, especially to help defend them against the terrible
consequences of a ghastl lie.
But these are only theories. No one knows why Rabbi Judah Loew
and the Golem have been joined in the tale.
From
"Author Notes," pages 90-91 of Rogasky, Barbara. The Golem.
This
illustration is from Selznick, Brian. The Robot King. New
York: Laura Gerlinger Book/HarperCollins, 1995.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
"Don't
worry, Ezra, there's nothing to be afraid of, nothing at all.
He won't bite you, I promise."
She forced open a space between two pieces of metal and slipped
the music box into place like a surgeon. She covered and tied
everything back over it. "There!" she cried triumphantly. "We're
finished. You can open your eyes now. Are your okay?"
Ezra nodded.
She straightened the crooked bow tie and pulled the velvet sleeves
so they were even, She checked the china plate knees to make sure
they were still on straight, "Even if the world was filled with
robots," she said, "he would still be king." Lucy looked
at her brother. "Ezra, say hello to the Robot King!"
Of course Ezra did not say anything. He didn't move.
And the Robot King remained perfectly still.
Perfectly.
And silent.
But suddenly the broken music box started playing by itself! The
children grabbed each other and stepped back. With a great heave,
the Robot King's chest began to rise and fall, and his fingers
started moving and he shivered to his toes and BOOM! He opened
his eyes!
Lucy screamed as the attic burst with light. The Robot King's
electric body threw off golden sparks that filled the air like
fireworks.
"Oh!" cried Lucy. "He's alive, Ezra! He's alive!"
From:
pages 19-21 in The Robot King. by Brian Selznick.
This
illustration is from McDermott, Beverly Brodsky. The Golem: A
Jewish Legend. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, 1976.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
While
living in the south of France, Ms.McDermott saw the German film
The Golem made in the 1920s, and was inspired to do the
story as a picture book. Her research and its development took
almost two years, during which she studied the symbols of the
Hebrew alphabet and their corresponding magical qualities according
to the Jewish mystics-the Cabbalists. About the actual work
on the paintings, Ms. McDermott says, "As I explored the mysteries
of the Golem an evolution took place. At first, he resembled
something human. Then he was transformed. His textured body
became a powerful presence lurking in dark corners, spilling
out of my paintings. In the end he shatters into pieces of clay-color
and returns to the earth. All that remains is the symbol of
silence." The illustrations are executed in gouache, water,
dye, and ink on watercolor paper.
From
McDermott, Beverly Brodsky. The Golem: A Jewish Legend.
Notes of verso of title page.
This
illustration is taken from: Singer, Isaac Bashevis. The Golem,
Illus. by Uri Shulevitz. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1982.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
This
book is an ALA Notable Book, a School Library Journal Best
Book of the Year, a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's
Book of theYear and a New York Times Outstanding Book of
the Year. Note the illustrations are in black and white except for
the jacket cover.
This
illustration is taken from: Podwal, Mark. Golem: A Giant Made
of Mud. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1995.
The full image is K. Please click on this thumbnail to download
the complete image. Clicking on the backbutton on the full image
page will bring you back to this page.
Of
the many versions of the golem legend in Jewish folklore, the
most famous is the one about Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, who
lived in Prague during the sixteenth century. History records
that in 1592 Rabbi Loew, renowned as a brilliant scholar and
mystic, was invited to an audience with Emperor Rudolf II. The
emperor was fascinated with alchemy and the occult. This meeting
served as the inspiration for many legends and stories, including
the one in this book.
From:
Mark Podwal. Golem: A Giant Made of Mud. verso of the title
page.
ALTERNATIVE
VERSIONS OF THE GOLEM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Anthony, Piers. Golem in the Gears. New York: Ballantine, 1986.
Cooper, Roscoe. The Diary of Victor Frankenstein. Illus. by Timothy
Basil Ering. New York: DK/Ink, 1997.
Gantz, David. Davey's Hanukkah Golem. New York: Jewish Publishing
Society, 1991.
Ish-Kishor, Sulamith. A Boy of Old Prague. New York: Pantheon,
1963.
Ish-Kishor, Sulamith. The Master of Miracle: A New Novel of the Golem.
Illus. by Arnold Lobel. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
Levitin, Sonia. The Golem and the Dragon Girl. New York: Fawcett
Book Group, 1994.
McDermott, Beverly Brodsky. The Golem: A Jewish Legend..Philadelphia,
PA: Lippincott, 1976.
McDermott, Beverly Brodsky. The Golem. Filmstrip. Weston Woods
Studios. Weston, CT: The Studios, 1979. 1 filmstrip (61 fr.) : col.
; 35 mm. + 1 sound cassette (10min.) + 1 booklet.
Podwal, Mark H. Golem : A Giant Made of Mud. New York: Greenwillow
Books, 1995.
Rogasky, Barbara. The Golem: A Version. Illus. by Trina Schart
Hyman. New York: Holiday House, 1996.
Rosen, Michael. The Golem of Old Prague. Illus. by Val Biro.
London: Andre Deutsch, 1990.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis. The Golem. Illus. by Uri Shulevitz. New
York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1982.
Sis, Peter. Three Golden Keys. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
Stroud, Jonathan. The Golem's Eye. Book II Bartimaeus Trilogy. Miramax, 2004.
Ruggill, Peter. The Return of the Golem: A Chanukah Story. New
York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1979.
Wisniewski, David. Golem. New York: Clarion, 1996.
Wiesel, Elie. The Golem: The Story of a Legend. Illus. by Mark
Podwal. Translated by Anne Borchardt. New York: Summit Books, 1983.
Created
June 2, 1997 and is continuously revised
SCILS,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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