[Rabbi Judah Loew (1513-1609) of Prague] sent for his son-in-law, Isaac ben Simson, who was a priest, and for his pupil, Jacob ben Chayim Sasson, who was a Levite, and confided to them the mysterious manner in which he hoped to be able to make the Golem.

By torch-light and amidst the chanting of Psalms, the work was begun with feverish haste.

The three men then placed themselves at its feet, so that they could gaze fully into its face.

It lay there like a dead body, without any movement.

Then, Rabbi Loew bade [Isaac] walk seven times around the clay body, from right to left, confiding to him the [charms] which he was to recite while doing this.

Then Rabbi Loew bade [Jakob] walk the same number of times, from left to right, and taught him also the formulas suitable to his element.  As he completed his task, the fire-redness was extinguished, and water flowed through the clay body; hair sprouted on its head, and nails appeared on the fingers and toes.

And the three elements, Fire, Water, and Air, brought it about that the fourth element, Earth, became living.  The Golem opened his eyes and looked, astonished, about him.

And Rabbi Loew said to him:  "Stand up!"  And he stood up.

Then they dressed him in the garments of a [sexton] and he was soon, to all appearances, an ordinary person; only the faculty of speech was lacking to him, for those words which Heaven had confided to [Rabbi Loew] did not possess the power to control those [charms] which could have endowed the Golem with speech.  And that was really an advantage.  God knows what could have happened if a Golem had been given the faculty of speech also!

The Golem as Water Carrier

The wife of Rabbi Loew could not ... understand why her husband had forbidden the use of the Golem for private purposes.  And when, just before Passover, she was short of help, she allowed herself to give the Golem orders to fill the two large water kegs which stood in the kitchen which was all prepared for the holiday.  She thought also that a service in preparation for the Passover feast did not come under the head of secular purposes.  But she had a very unpleasant experience.

But it was not found until the Golem was seen patiently obeying his orders by continuing to pour water into the kegs which had been filled a long time before.  This explained the flood and there was much laughter over the Golem's mistake.

Rabbi Loew said to his wife jestingly:  "You have certainly found an excellent water carrier for the holidays.  If you had explained to him that he should stop when the kegs were full!"

The Golem, however, entirely unconcerned by the episode, continued his work and went again to the brook to get water.  Then Rabbi Loew exclaimed, "Enough!  Enough water!" and the Golem at once put down the pails.

Since that time the people took care not to give the Golem any profane work to do!

From this time on, Rabbi Loew utilized the services of the Golem only in such cases as involved the clearing up of some threatened accusation against Judaism.  Whenever he entrusted him with a mission which was likely to be dangerous, Rabbi Loew would provide the Golem with an amulet which made him invisible....

If he learned of any evil designs, he would come quickly to Rabbi Loew and the peril that threatened would be averted in time....

The Golem Runs Amok

As mentioned before, Rabbi Loew made it a custom, every Friday afternoon, to assign for the Golem a sort of programme for the day's work, for on the Sabbath he spoke to him only in extremely urgent cases.  Generally, Rabbi Loew used to order him to do nothing else on Sabbath but be on guard and serve as a watcher.

One Friday afternoon, Rabbi Loew forgot to give him the order for the next day, and the Golem had nothing to do.

The day had barely drawn to a close and the people were gettting ready for the ushering in of the Sabbath, when the Golem, like one mad, began running about in the Jewish section of the city, threatening to destroy everything.  The want of employment made him awkward and wild.  When the people saw this, they ran from him and cried:  "Joseph Golem has gone mad!"

The people were greatly terrified, and a report of the panic soon reached the Altneu Synagogue where Rabbi Loew was praying.

The Sabbath had already been ushered in through the Song for the Sabbath day.  What could be done?  Rabbi Loew reflected on the evil consequences that might follow if the Golem should be running about thus uncontrolled.  But to restore him to peace would be a profanation of the Sabbath.

In his confusion, he forgot that it was a question of danger to human life and that in such cases the law permits, nay, commands the profanation of the Sabbath in order that the people exposed to danger might be saved.

Rabbi Loew rushed out and, without seeing the Golem, called out into space:  "Joseph, stop where you are!"

And the people saw the Golem at the place where he happened to find himself that moment, remain standing, like a post.  In a single instant, he had overcome the violence of his fury.

Rabbi Loew was soon informed where the Golem stood, and he betook himself to him.  He whispered into his ear:  "Go home and to bed."  And the Golem obeyed him as willingly as a child.

Then Rabbi Loew went back to the House of Prayer and ordered that the Sabbath Song be repeated.

After that Friday, Rabbi Loew never again forgot to give the Golem orders for the Sabbath on a Friday afternoon.

To his confidential friends he said:  "The Golem could have laid waste all Prague, if I had not calmed him down in time."

The Golem Is Destroyed

After a long time had passed when the community was no longer molested by blood accusations, Rabbi Loew sent for his son-in-law, Rabbi [Isaac ben Simson], the Priest, and his disciple, Jacob Sasson, the Levite -- those who had participated in the creation of the Golem, -- and he said to them:  "Now the Golem has become superfluous, for a blood impeachment can by this time no longer occur in any country.  This wrong needs no longer be feared.  We will therefore destroy the Golem."

It was on Lag-B'Omer of the year 5353 (1593).  Rabbi Loew ordered the Golem not to sleep that night in the Rabbinical house, but to take his bed over to the garret of the Altneu Synagogue and to sleep there.  That was done in private, as it was about midnight.

A genizah, or storeroom ("cemetery") for preserving worn-out and non-sacred texts. This genizah was found in 2001 in the attic of a synagogue in the town of Neveklov, south of Prague.

When two o'clock came that night, there arrived at Rabbi Loew's house, his son-in-law Rabbi [Isaac ben Simson], the Priest, and his disciple, Jacob Sasson the Levite, and Rabbi Loew put the question to them as to whether a dead body, like the Golem, would constitute an object of impurity like unto any other dead body....  The question was significant, because, if the answer were "yes," the Priest would not have been able to participate in the act of destroying the Golem.

Rabbi Loew decided that this case was different, and that the Priest was able to participate in the destruction of the work.

They ascended to the garret of the Altneu Synagogue, the assistant, Abraham Chayim, walking in advance with two burning candles.

The three men began their work of destruction, the annihilation of the Golem.

Fundamentally, they did everything in the reverse order to that followed in creating the Golem.  If at the creation, they had stood at the feet of the Golem, opposite his head, they now stood at his head opposite his feet.  Similarly, the words from the Book of Creation were read backwards.

After this task was accomplished, the Golem was transformed again into a clod of clay, what he was before life was instilled into him.

Rabbi Loew called the sexton Abraham Chayim, took the candles from him and ordered him to undress the Golem to his shirt.

He was then covered with old prayer robes and remains of Hebrew books, which, according to the Jewish custom, were stored in the garret of the synagogue.

Abraham Chayim burned the Golem's clothing, inconspicuously, following the order of Rabbi Loew.

In the morning, news spread in the Jewish ghetto that Joseph Golem had disappeared from the town during the night.  Only a few individuals, "men of a higher station," knew the truth.

Rabbi Loew had it announced in all Synagogues and Houses of Prayer that it was strictly forbidden for anybody to mount to the garret of the Altneu Synagogue.  Furthermore, the remains of torn prayer books and other sacred things were no longer to be stored there.

Where Lie the Remains of the Golem?

The following legend was, until now, almost unknown.  According to it, the remains of the Golem do not lie, as is popularly believed, in the garret of the Altneu Synagogue, but on the gallows-hill outside the city.  The legend upon which this conclusion is based is as follows:

The sexton, Abraham Chayim, had long been going about with the idea of imitating Rabbi Loew and making a Golem of his own.  He had been present on the bank of the Moldau River when the Rabbi had made the Golem and had taken note of the [Name] which had given the Golem the breath of life.  He too would, by the use of this Name, create such a man.  His son-in-law, Ascher Balbierer, who spent much time poring over the Kabbala could, if need be, help in the execution of the plan.  Now that the Golem lay lifeless, the will to awaken him and put him to uses of his own surged up strongly in the breast of Abraham Chayim.

One night he was on the point of mounting to the garret in order to look upon the Golem.  But he was terrified and his heart became weak.  He initiated his brother-in-law, Abraham ben Secharja, the sexton of the Pinkas Synagogue (2), into the secret.  On the following night both men climbed up to the garret of the Altneu Synagogue (1), took hold of the lump of clay which had at one time been the Golem, and carried it over to the nearby Pinkas Synagogue where they concealed it behind the [reading desk].  To Ascher Balbierer, the son-in-law of Abraham Chayim, was assigned the task of finding out the [Name] with the help of which the Golem could be called to life.  When Ascher after several days stated that he believed that he had come upon the mystic alphabetical formula in the [Book of Creation], the three men carried the Golem, in the dead of night, from the synagogue in the Pinkas Gasse through various solitary streets and alleys, into the cellar of a house in the Zeikerl, also known as Zigeuner Gasse (3), which partly belonged to Ascher and in which he lived.  Down in the cellar, they tried one night after another to follow the process of Rabbi Loew and his disciples, according to the remembrance of Abraham Chayim.  But these attempts were all absolutely without result.

Adapted detail from a street map of Prague (1858) showing locations of events described in the text.  Use the "Old Bridge" to assist you in comparing this map with the illustration below.

At about this time, there broke out in Prague an epidemic in the course of which twelve hundred persons died.  Two of the five children of Ascher Balbierer were also snatched away, although there was no case of the plague in any other house in that street.  The wife of Ascher had from the beginning strenuously resisted the bringing of the Golem into her house because she feared that in case the action were discovered, her father would lose his position as sexton in the Altneu Synagogue, while her husband and her uncle would be punished for violating the command of the rabbinical council against anyone going up to the garret in which the remains of the Golem had been placed.  Besides that, she noticed with considerable concern that, because of his nocturnal exertions, her husband had neglected his business.  Now that the children were stricken, she cried that the misfortune had visited them because the Golem had been brought to the house, and when the children died her protestations could not be resisted.

After the two corpses had been washed and placed in their coffins, one of them was taken out of his and placed together with the other.  The remains of the Golem were then placed in the empty coffin.  A wagon was hired and the coffins were taken at nightfall to the cemetery for victims of the plague, outside of the city.  Here Abraham Chayim and Abraham Secharja took the coffin with the Golem in it and carried it up to the Gallows Hill which lies one mile and two hundred yards from the Ne[u]staedter Gate (4) on the Vienna state road, and placed it on that side of the hill which is turned toward the city.  That was on the evening of the 5th of Adar.

Detail from an illustration (1562) showing the Altstadt (Old City) of Prague as it appeared in Rabbi Loew's lifetime.  The Jewish quarter is located to the left of the bridge tower.  Note what appears to be a gibbet (right center) in the field outside the city walls.

Rabbi Loew's Utterances on the Golem

There is no trace of good or bad instinct in the Golem, and all his actions are only like those of an automatic machine, that fulfills the will of its creator.

The Golem had to remain dumb, because, as an incomplete creation, he was unworthy that ... the light of God dwell within him.  He was inhabited only by [sensory being] and [spirit].

There could be lent to the Golem only a small portion of intelligence, [knowledge].  The other two intelligences, [wisdom] and [judgment], he could not be supplied with at all, because, as said above, there was no [light of God] in his being.

The Golem had to be created without any sex-instinct; for, if he had had that instinct, no woman would have been safe from him.

The Golem was never ill, for he was immune from every impulse to do evil.

Man is allowed to choose between his own impulses, the "good" and the "evil" ... and therefore cannot afford to perceive those hidden things that lie outside of palpable reality.  But the Golem, who, as said above, had no impulse, could, like the animals and birds, demons and spirits, see all hidden things.

The prohibition not to ascend to the garret of the Altneu Synagogue does not apply to the successor and the subsequent successors of Rabbi Loew to the Rabbinical seat.  These may only look at the destroyed work, the Golem-image, but must not handle it in any way or attempt to bring it to life again.

The Golem could not be counted in a Minyan.

The [Book of Creation] makes no direct mention in words of the creation of a Golem or of any other living being.  Only from the letters one must be able to collect the hidden rays concealed in them, through which it is possible to give life to a lifeless body.  But in order to be able to do that, one must be not only a learned man, but also a righteous man, a Zadik....