The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague

by Yudl Rosenberg

Book Overview

The first English translation, from the original Hebrew, of the golem stories by Yudl Rosenberg, who gives Golem a name (Yossele), expands his humanity, and changes forever the dynamic of the legend

This collection of interrelated stories about a sixteenth-century Prague rabbi and the golem he created became an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1909. So widely popular and influential was Yudl Rosenberg's book, it is no exaggeration...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300143206
• ISBN13: 9780300143201
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Clasic of Jewish Folklore

This is a translation from the original manuscript written by Yudl Rosenberg in 1909. It was a response to the terrible blood libels which had gained credence in the 1890s and was leading to greater attacks on Jews. Rosenberg relies on age-old Hassidic hagiography and folklore to create this folk tale of Rabbi Liva and his creation through kabbalah of the Golem, a manlike creature made from dust and ashes, that Rabbi Liva uses to perform great miracles and to save the innocent and punish the evil. He uses the Golem to frustrate the evil designs of the spiteful and malicious anti-Semite Father Tadeus. A young Jewish girl is kidnapped and forcibly converted to Christianity before being rescued by the Golem, and forgeries of the blood libel are disproved through the Golem's deeds and the evildoers aiming to frame the Jews unmasked. The tragedy of a brother (who was swapped at birth) and sister marrying each other, is averted, amidst much supernatural and metaphysical phenomena. This is a tale of Jewish folklore, fantasy and kabbalah and is both glorious and intriguing. It is also a commentary, on the fate of the Jews through the ages.

A Very Uplifting Experience

I would consider the Golem of Prague to be an extremely uplifting book. While the device of using "magic" in a plot has its downsides, for example, not being realistic, it opens up a whole new realm of creativity to solve a problem. How many times even when one is a child, one wishes one could solve a problem if they had a strong all-powerful friend. This doesn't mean having a genie to satisfy greed, but to obtain justice. Obtaining justice in an often unjust world is a very poignant problem, not only because many of the descendants of people talked about in these books died in the Nazi Holocaust. More to the point, injustice occurs both in our lives and around us. The Golem was a literary device to solve these injustices to the Jews in the matter of the infamous Blood Libel. The Golem indeed had much more human characteristics than ever before. This book is well worth a read as a distinguished piece of world literature. Also recommended is the translators preface by Curt Leviant.

the protector of truth (emet)

"The Golem and the Wonderous Deeds...."has been translated for the first time into English directly from the Hebrew. It is simply a wonderful book all around. It has wonderful, concise introduction about the golem and tracks it through literary and biblical history. The book reads smoothly and has a very Sherlock Holmes' feel to it as the Maharal has to clear the Jews of Prague from the constant false accusations of killing gentiles for their blood to mix into the matzhos for Passover. The characters are 3-dimensional for a collection of folk tales and the author creates a balance of portraying the Jews and gentiles in the text. Not all the gentiles are bad, as one would expect. It would be easy for the Jews here to become bitter because of their constant persecution, but there is fairness with the police, judges, etc...The Jews here seek truth, justice and peace. The Golem portrayed here is different than the Golem that appears previously in literature and the bible. It is the Golem we've come to know, but as the translator/editor has said, it is this Golem of only the last 100 years that sticks in our heads, though we think it's longer. So in conclusion,this book reads in an enjoyable, measured fashion. It is also wonderful that it has been brought back to life for the Non-Hebrew & Yiddish reading audience who can now enjoy it as it was originally written by Rosenberg.