The Golem by Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The Golem" by Isaac Bashevis Singer is a retelling of a classic Jewish folklore narrative that explores themes of ambition, responsibility, and ethical dilemmas. Originally published in Yiddish in 1969 and later translated into English, the story centers on Rabbi Leib, who is tasked with bringing a clay giant, or golem, to life in order to defend the Jewish community from false accusations. The golem, named "Joseph" in this version, is brought to life to exonerate a Jewish banker wrongfully accused of murder.
The narrative unfolds with Joseph successfully disrupting the banker’s trial by revealing the true circumstances of the alleged victim's disappearance. However, as the story progresses, Rabbi Leib grapples with the consequences of bringing the golem to life and ultimately faces a moral quandary about his creation. The dynamics shift as the golem's purpose becomes muddled, leading to chaos and unexpected developments, including Joseph's unintended transformation into a more human-like figure.
The story culminates in a dramatic conclusion where Rabbi Leib must make a critical decision about Joseph's fate, raising questions about control and the implications of one's creations. "The Golem" resonates not only as a tale of folklore but also as a reflection on eternal human questions, making it relevant for both adult and younger audiences. The illustrations by Uri Shulevitz in the children's edition further enhance the narrative's meditative and darkly whimsical qualities, contributing to the story's lasting significance in Jewish literature.
Subject Terms
The Golem by Isaac Bashevis Singer
First published: 1982; illustrated
Subjects: Love and romance, religion, the supernatural, and war
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy and folktale
Time of work: The sixteenth century
Recommended Ages: 10-15
Locale: Prague, Bohemia
Principal Characters:
Rabbi Judah Leib , a scholar of mysticism and magicGenendel , his charitable wifeJoseph , the golem, a clay giantMiriam , a servant girl who grows to love JosephCount Jan Bratislawski , a duplicitous nobleman
Form and Content
The Golem retells a story from Jewish folklore. Initially intended for an adult readership, The Golem first appeared in a 1969 edition of the Yiddish language periodical The Jewish Daily Forward. Author Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote all his fiction in Yiddish, only afterward publishing an English translation.
![Isaac Bashevis Singer By MDCarchives (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons jys-sp-ency-lit-269184-148306.jpg](https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/ers/sp/embedded/jys-sp-ency-lit-269184-148306.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNHX8kSepq84xNvgOLCmsE2epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS)
In the 1982 publication of The Golem as a children’s book, Uri Shulevitz’s chiaroscuro drawings capture the interplay of light and dark that conveys the story’s tone. They also illuminate the story’s medieval setting.
A classic tale of misdirected ambition, The Golem draws on legends dating back to the sixteenth century. These legends center on a clay giant, or golem, created by the historical figure Judah Loew ben Bezalel, a noted Kabbalist, or practitioner of Jewish mysticism. The golem is intended to champion the Jewish community in time of need.
Singer blends several of the legends surrounding the golem into a single narrative. He begins by introducing the reader to Rabbi Leib, humble as well as learned, and therefore suited to his sacred task. The rabbi is instructed about how to bring the golem to life and for what specific purpose: to exonerate a Jewish banker—and with him the entire Jewish community—from a charge of killing a Christian child for ritual purposes.
This first part of the narrative reaches its climax when the golem disrupts the banker’s trial by bringing the supposed victim, very much alive, into the courtroom. It is revealed that the child was locked away by her own father, Count Jan Bratislawski. The count, an inveterate gambler, vengefully accused the banker of murdering the girl after the banker refused to finance his fall deeper into debt.
The ethics of the situation become complicated in the second part of the story. Now that the golem, named “Joseph” in Singer’s version, has fulfilled his mission, Rabbi Leib decides to extinguish his life. The rabbi is dissuaded, however, by his wife, Genendel, who proposes that Joseph lift an enormous rock in their backyard, under which is believed to be buried a great treasure; the rabbi is persuaded by her argument that many could be aided by the recovered gold. This plan, although motivated by compassion, confuses the golem’s purpose, and chaos ensues.
Rabbi Leib loses control over the golem, who becomes more human and, at the same time, more dangerous, if innocently so. Finally, orders come from the emperor that Joseph is to be drafted into the army. Concerned about the unmanageable golem running amuck and the Jews being blamed, the rabbi enlists the help of Miriam, an orphan who serves his family—including Joseph, who dotes on her. Miriam agrees, reluctantly, for she herself has grown fond of Joseph. Succumbing to an all-too-human weakness, Joseph becomes drunk on the wine that Miriam supplies to him, and, in the narrative’s second climax, the rabbi is able to erase the Holy Name on his forehead, rendering him lifeless. The sense of relief that ends The Golem is disturbed, however, by the discovery one morning of Miriam’s empty bed, generating rumors ranging from suicide to a reunion with her beloved Joseph.
Critical Context
The ancient legend of the golem began appearing in novels, plays, and films beginning in the late nineteenth century. The golem was even featured in a Marvel comic book in the 1970’s. Most treatments of the legend were written for adults, until Beverly Brodsky McDermott’s picture book The Golem: A Jewish Legend appeared in 1976. The Golem: The Story of a Legend, written for children by Nobel Prize winner Elie Weisel, followed in 1982, the same year that Singer—also a Nobel Prize recipient—published his version.
All three authors generally tell the same story, with variations. The versions diverge most significantly regarding Genendel’s role in the narrative’s downturn of events. McDermott omits her participation entirely, while Weisel includes hers among other similar schemes—well-intentioned or otherwise—to misdirect the golem’s purpose. Critics seem at a loss to explain Singer’s choice here. Is Singer reflecting the traditional view of women in much Western literature since the Bible as temptress, or is he simply streamlining the narrative?
In any case, appearing twenty-some years after Singer’s first fictional work for children, The Golem continues to demonstrate Singer’s conviction that “No matter how young they are, children are concerned with so-called eternal questions.” The Golem also resembles Singer’s other writings for children in its basis in folklore. According to Singer, being rooted in folklore “alone makes children’s literature so important,” adding that without it, “literature must decline and wither away.”