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The Golem
‘Golem ... is a creature made
in an artificial way by virtue of a magic act, through the use of
holy names.. The development of the idea of the golem in
Judaism ... is remote from astrology: it is connected, rather, with
the magical exegesis of the Sefer Yetziret ( Book of Creation ) and
with the ideas of the creative power of speech and of the letters.’
‘The motif of the golem as it appears in medieval legends
originates in the talmudic legend (Sanh. 65b). In none of the
early sources is there any mention of any practical benefit to be
derived from a golem of this sort.... The creation of the
golem had not a real, but only a symbolic meaning.’
The Jewish Encyclopedia p. 36 - 37 |
