The golem created by Rabbi Loew (photo: Premiumorange.com)

In 1580, Jews in Prague - as in many other places in Europe - Jews suffered from cruel persecutions. Violence against Jews was often the result of the "blood libel" accusation that Jews were engaged in the ritual murder of Christian children. At that time, Yehudah (Juda) Levi ben Betzalel", also known as the Maharal or more commonly called Rabbi Loew, was the leader of Prague's Jewish community. Rabbi Loew wanted to protect his people from from the suffering they experienced while they were compelled to live in the ghetto.

In a dream, the idea came to him to create a kind of protector with a human shape. As the Rabbi was a scholar and knew the secrets of alchemy, he quickly found a solution and decided to create a golem. He asked his son-in-law and his pupil to help him, and during the night of 20 March, the three of them went on the banks of the Vltava River. There, they created a large creature from clay, performed some rituals and spoke a Hebrew magic phrase. At last the rabbi wrote the word ‘emet’ (truth) on the monster’s forehead. The Golem opened its eyes; it was alive ready to follow the rabbi’s orders.

Over time, however, the Golem became increasingly more violent. It began to frighten the town's population, including the Jews it was means to protect, so the emperor begged Rabbi Loew to stop his creature. The rabbi agreed to do so if he would improve his people’s situation.

To take away the breath of life from the Golem, the rabbi erased the letter ’e’ on the monster’s forehead, leaving the word ‘met’, which means death. Soon after, laws forbidding the Jews’ persecutions for fake allegations were passed. The lifeless body of the Golem was hidden in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue, where some say it remains waiting to be awoken again. Rabbi Loew died on 17 August, 1609, and was buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague, where you can see his grave.

More information on the Jewish quarter can be found in our article on the Josefov district.