The Golem of Prague

A warning from the early modern Jewish myth

In the 15th century, or so the legend goes, Rabbi Löw of Prague, sometimes called the Maharal of Prague, sought to protect the Jewish people from the abuse of Gentiles in the city. He went down to the Vltava river, collected mud, and using his special powers, created a golem — an eight-foot-tall mud man, whose name derives from the ancient Hebrew word m…