
The Golem played by Paul Wegener in Der Golem (1915)
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay, and given life through magic. The key to making this magic work, according to legend, was to inscribe the Hebrew word "emet" or "aemaeth" (God's truth). The golem was originally intended to protect the Jews from oppression of the ruling Gentile class. However, golems tended to take instruction literally, and so were (unwittingly) quite destructive. By removing the first letter of "emet", the word is changed to "met", meaning death. The most famous golem stories are set in Prague.
Golem in "In This Season"[]
In December 1939, during the Chanukah feast, a golem was sent to save the three Jewish families (the Friedman, Geller and Korczak Families) of Puck, Poland from the fate which the Nazis had in store for them. Berel Friedman named the golem Emes, after the inscription on his head.
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