Reading Notes: Jewish fairy tales Part B

A Sculpture of a man-like Golem (Wikimedia Commons)

    The story that stuck out the most to me in section B of Jewish fairy tales was The Rabbi's Bogey-Man. Alternatively, you could use the name I will forever use in my head Jewish Frakenstein. I love the story of Frankenstein. The ideas of what humanity is and the questions of morality that Mary Shelly proposes in that story are great. Those same questions are asked in this short fairy tale.

    The basic plot of The Rabbi's Bogey-Man is as follows. A local rabbi is too smart for his own good. The other townspeople are afraid of him because he practices chemistry and they see it as him practicing witchcraft. The rabbi can't find any help because everyone is afraid of him. "Fine then. If it's a magician they want, it's a magician they'll get." he says. The rabbi then builds a woman and brings her to life with the secret name of God. It's great to start with but the rabbi quickly learns that if he doesn't take the secret name out of the golem, it will get up to mischief at night. One day, while playing with some kids, the golem accidentally sets fire to a few houses and burns up with them. The king has the rabbi arrested. The rabbi claims he didn't commit a sin because he didn't create a living being. The name of God gives it its power. To prove it, he builds a new man for the king and powers it with the name of God. The king admits that the rabbi is fine but demands the golem. The rabbi says only he can have the secret name of God. The king agrees and lets him go. The rabbi takes the golem home and sets it back to doing chores. Eventually, the golem begins to speak and rebel. One day, the rabbi is told that the golem is trying to break down the synagogue doors. When confronted by the rabbi, the golem states that he will destroy the sacred texts so that the rabbi has no more power over him. Then, he will build an army of golems and kill all the Jewish people. The rabbi rips the name of god from the golem so fast that it falls to pieces.

    Like most good stories, this story seems to have a double meaning or lesson. On the one hand, we have the moral question of creating life and consciousness. What happens when we create a living being simply to be our slave? Well, most fiction would suggest very bad things. This situation almost always results in rebellion and resentment. You can't give something or someone free thought and prevent it from expressing itself. I think for my story it may be interesting to tell this from a modern perspective with AI. On the other hand, we have the idea that just God's secret name has enough power to bring a hunk of wood to life. How powerful this God must be if just his name can give that much power. It's a seemingly typical biblical message of BEHOLD THE POWER OF GOD! If you abuse this power, there are consequences. I think it may also be interesting to think of this as demonstrating simply the power of a word. A single word can grant life to this being. Think about what your words do each day. It's a bit of an abstract interpretation but it's there. It may be interesting to incorporate a linchpin like object into my story like the name of god here in this story.

Bibliography. The Rabbi's Bogey-Man from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919)