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The Golem of Prague in Recent Rabbinic Literature,The Letter of The The Golem of Prague in Recent Rabbinic Literature The Golem of Prague in Recent Rabbinic Literature by: Shnayer Z. Leiman a rabbinic journal of repute – an – המאור In a recent issue of anonymous notice appeared on the Golem of Prague.1 Apparently, a rabbi in Brooklyn had publicly denied the authenticity of the Maharal’s Golem, claiming that R. Yudel Rosenberg (d. Piotrkow, 1909) – was the first) נפלאות מהר"ל in his – (1935 to suggest that the Maharal had created a Golem. According to the rabbi based his claim, in part, on ,המאור the account in the fact that no early Jewish book records that the Maharal had created a Golem. In response to the denial, the anonymous notice lists 6 “proofs” that the Maharal of Prague, in fact, created a Golem. Here, we list the 6 “proofs” in translation (in bold font) and briefly discuss the weight they should be accorded in the ongoing discussion of whether or not the Maharal created a Golem. 1. How could anyone imagine that a [Jewish] book written then [i.e., in the 16th century] could include a description of how Jews brought about the deaths of numerous Christians? At that time, the notorious censors censored even more fundamental Jewish teachings. Fear of the Christian authorities characterized every move the Jews made, from the youngest to the oldest. The argument is presented as a justification for the lack of an early account of the Maharal and the Golem. Only in the 20th century could the full story appear in print, as it Apparently, the author of the .נפלאות מהר"ל appears in The volume does .נפלאות מהר"ל anonymous notice has never read not depict how “Jews brought about the deaths of numerous Christians.” If the reference here is to the punishment meted out by the Golem to the Christian perpetrators of the blood never depicts the Golem as bringing about נפלאות מהר"ל ,libel the death of anyone, whether Christian or Jew. If the נפלאות מהר"ל ,reference here is to the blood libel itself describes only how Christian criminals plotted against Jews (by means of the blood libel) and subsequently needed to be brought to justice by the Christians themselves. Nowhere are Jews described as bringing about the deaths of numerous Christians. This argument, of course, does not prove that the Maharal created a Golem in the 16th century. 2. The Maharal’s creation of the Golem is alluded to on his epitaph, in the line that reads: “It is not possible to relate.” More proof than this in not necessary. The full line on the epitaph reads as follows: “For him, praise best remains silent, for in any event it is not possible to relate the full impact of his many good deeds.”2 ד"ה סמא דכולא ,See Psalm 65:2 and cf. Rashi to b. Megillah 18a .Nothing is said – or hinted – here about a Golem .משתוקא Alas, more proof than this is necessary indeed. ,נפלאות מהר"ל If this was an invention of the author of .3 how come a storm was not raised up against him when he published his book a century ago? Although one solitary voice was raised up against him, the majority of Gedolei Yisrael greeted his book with esteem, especially since its author was the noted and respected Gaon, author of numerous works, Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg. First, it should be noted that R. Yudel Rosenberg did not invent the notion that the Maharal of Prague had created a Golem. Evidence for the Maharal’s Golem dates back to 1836 (before R. Yudel Rosenberg was born).3 If the rabbi in Brooklyn claimed otherwise, he was mistaken. Thus, the claim in 1909 that the Maharal of Prague had created a Golem occasioned little or no surprise. Second, R. Yudel Rosenberg ascribed the book to R. Yitzchok b. R. Shimshon Katz, the son-in-law and contemporary of the Maharal. R. Yudel described in great detail how he had managed to come into possession of this rare manuscript.4 There was no immediate reason to suspect that this was a literary hoax, especially coming from the hand of R. Yudel Rosenberg. Third, had the book contained pejorative material about the Maharal, a storm would surely have been raised against it. Instead, the book presented the Maharal as a master kabbalist, who created the Golem in order to stave off the notorious blood libel accusations against the Jews. Why should anyone have protested against this heroic image of the Maharal? In any event, even if one concedes that “the majority of Gedolei Yisrael greeted his book with esteem” (a dubious claim that cannot be proven), it surely does not “prove” that the Maharal created a Golem. A book published in 1909 is hardly proof that the Maharal created a Golem in the 16th century. 4. Chabad Hasidim relate in detail how R. Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn visited the attic of the Altneu shul in Prague and saw what he saw. He wasn’t the first to do so – as reported by various elders – in the last 400 years. Indeed, a long list of the names of the famous and not-so- famous who visited the attic of the Altneu shul can easily be drawn up. That the sainted Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, visited the attic of the Altneu shul is established fact. It is recorded in contemporary documents, i.e, in the Sichos and Letters of his successor, the Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson.5 Exactly what the Rebbe saw in the attic is less certain. According to one account, when asked, R. Yosef Yitzchok chose not to respond.6 According to another account, he reported that he saw ”what remained of him,” i.e., of the Golem.7 For Lubavitchers, this may be unassailable proof that the Maharal created a Golem, and perhaps that is as it should be. But for historians, dust – or even a bodily form – seen in an attic early in the 20th century hardly constitutes proof that the Maharal created a Golem in the 16th century. As a matter of fact, it should be noted that extensive renovation took place in the attic of the Altneu shul in 1883. No evidence of the Golem was discovered then.8 A film crew visited and filmed the attic in 1984. No evidence of the Golem was discovered then.9 5. No one disputes the fact that the Maharal put an end to the blood libel accusations that the Jews had suffered for generations. And even this was not fully spelled out in the Can someone explain how the Maharal .[נפלאות מהר"ל ,.book [i.e accomplished this? The rhetorical question at the end of the fifth “proof” presupposes the existence of the Golem. Only by means of the Golem was the Maharal able to counter the blood libel accusations. No one disputes that the Maharal put an end to the blood libel accusations? Quite the contrary, no one has ever discovered a shred of evidence that links the Maharal to staving off a blood libel accusation! Nowhere in his writings, nowhere in the writings of his contemporaries (Jewish and non- Jewish) and disciples, is there a word about the Maharal’s involvement in staving off a blood libel accusation. That he put an end to the blood libel accusation is historically untrue. While the blood libel charge became less frequent in the Hapsburg lands after the 16th century, it hardly disappeared.10 From the 16th through the 18th centuries, the blood libel accusation largely shifted to Eastern Europe. In Poland alone, between 1547 and 1787, there were 81 recorded cases of blood libel accusation against the Jews.11 The Beilis case is a sad reminder that the blood libel accusation continued into the 20th century as well.12 Needless to say, this argument hardly proves that the Maharal created a Golem in the 16th century. to 18 Elul,13 a citation from a מליצי אש I saw in .6 manuscript copy of a letter by the Maharal from the year 5343 [=1583] addressed to R. Yaakov Ginzburg, describing how he [the Maharal] was directed by Heaven to create a Golem in order to save the Jewish people. See there for details. The manuscript referred to here is a notorious 20th century forgery of a letter ascribed to the Maharal, itself based upon .The Munkatcher Rebbe, R .נפלאות מהר"ל R. Yudel Rosenberg’s Hayyim Eleazar Shapira (d. 1937), apparently was the first of many to expose this forgery.14 II R. Hayyim Levi added 4 new ,המאור In a subsequent issue of “proofs” that the Maharal created a Golem.15 A brief summary of each of the new “proofs” is followed by an even briefer discussion of the weight they should be accorded in the ongoing discussion of whether or not the Maharal created a Golem. cites a responsum from שם הגדוליםin his 16 חיד"א The .1 -who in turn cites a letter by R. Naftoli Ha חכם צבי,the 17 Kohen of Frankfurt,18 who mentions his ancestor the Maharal adds that he חיד"א who made use of the Holy Spirit.” The“ heard an awesome story about the Maharal and a revelation he had which led to a private conversation between the Maharal and the King of Bohemia. Not a word about the Golem of Prague appears in any of these sources. Indeed, where we can examine the available evidence it ,(חיד"א in the case of the awesome story heard by the) apparently had nothing to do with a Golem.19 of Yeshivat Hakhmei משגיח ,R.
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