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Don't be a Golem

Don’t Be a Golem

Among serious historians — Jewish and non-Jewish, frum and non-frum — the famous story of the Golem of Prague is universally regarded as a legend with no pre-19th-century evidence. Neither the Maharal nor his talmidim ever mention such an event, and no contemporary source records it.

1. The First Appearance: A Novel by a Maskil

The earliest known reference to a “Golem of Prague” appears not in any Jewish manuscript, but in 1837, in a fictional novel by the Maskil, Berthold Auerbach, Spinoza: Ein Historischer Roman. In a satirical depiction of Spinoza’s חרם, Auerbach has Spinoza declare that he does not believe in the Golem of Prague — and in the novel, this disbelief is presented as the reason for his חרם.

Auerbach’s intent was transparent: to mock frum Yidden by portraying them as people who place someone in חרם for rejecting fairy tales. These few lines are the first recorded mention of a Prague Golem in history.

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2. R. Yidel Rosenberg, a bestselling novelist

The legend gained traction only decades later through R. Yidel Rosenberg z”l, a respected Rav in Łódź and Warsaw who later served in Toronto and Montreal. Rosenberg was a תלמיד חכם — he translated the זהר into לשון קדש — but he also wrote popular Yiddish novels*.

Rosenberg claimed to have discovered manuscripts written by R. Yitzchak Katz zt”l, the Maharal’s son-in-law, in the “Great Library of Metz.” This library, however, never existed. One of these alleged manuscripts described the creation of the Golem in elaborate detail.

In 1908/1909, Rosenberg published this “manuscript” as נפלאות מהר"ל, and it was this ספר — not any earlier tradition — that popularized the Golem story among Jews and eventually among non-Jews.

To bolster credibility, Rosenberg asserted that the נודע ביהודה believed in the Golem and even invented a dramatic tale of the Noda B’Yehuda climbing into the attic to view the deactivated Golem**. No such story appears anywhere in the writings of the נודע ביהודה or his descendants.

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3. The Immediate Pushback: R. Mendel Eckstein (1909)

Within a year of Rosenberg’s publication, R. Mendel Eckstein z”l released a ספר titled ספר יצירה, in which he systematically refuted Rosenberg’s work and labeled it a fabrication. He presented 25 proofs demonstrating that the manuscript could not be authentic — including halachic contradictions and historical impossibilities.

One of his most compelling proofs:

The manuscript refers to a talmid named “Tosfos Yom Tov.” But in the era of R. Yitzchak Katz, no such sefer existed, and R. Yom Tov Lipman Heller was not known by that title.

The name “Tosfos Yom Tov” became common only after his פירוש was printed — long after the Maharal’s lifetime. It is impossible that R. Yitzchak Katz would have used that term.

Eckstein also noted halachic impossibilities in Rosenberg’s description of how the Golem was created and decommissioned — procedures inconsistent with the actual Sefer Yetzirah tradition.

Notes

* His grandson, Mordechai Richler, was one of the most famous Canadian novelists.

** The Rebbe Rayatz Zt"l (Frierdiker Lubavitcher Rebbe) climbed up the attic.
He never claimed to have seen the Golem there, but some Chasidim claim that he did.

יעמוד מי שירצה

יעמוד מי שירצה

The רמ״א (O.C. 428:6) writes that the minhag is not to call up someone by name for the עלייה of the תוכחה, but rather to summon “יעמוד מי שירצה” — whoever wishes to take it.

There is a מחלוקת between the מחצית השקל and the משנה ברורה in ביאור הלכה regarding how the גבאי should practically call up the עולה.

The מחצית השקל

According to the מחצית השקל, the גבאי indeed announces publicly: “יעמוד מי שירצה” — an open call inviting any volunteer to accept the עלייה.

יעמוד מי שירצה

The ביאור הלכה

The ביאור הלכה, however, strongly disagrees. He writes that he dislikes it when people introduce new practices that “do not sound correct,” adding, “וגם אין נוהגין כן – לחדש ענין כזה.” Therefore, he interprets the רמ״א differently: the גבאי should privately locate someone willing to take the עלייה, and then call him up by name.

The ביאור הלכה concedes that this פשט is a דוחק in the simple wording of the רמ״א, but he prefers it to what he considers an invented formula.

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It appears that the חפץ חיים was unaware that in most of Western and Central Europe — particularly the Oberland communities of Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia — the longstanding, established minhag was precisely to call out publicly: "יעמוד מי שירצה.”

Had the חפץ חיים known this, likely he would not have written that such a practice is unknown and should not be introduced. Rather, he would have acknowledged the widespread minhag and agreed with the מחצית השקל that the correct procedure is indeed to announce:

יעמוד מי שירצה.

מנהגי קריאת התוכחה

מנהגי קריאת התוכחה

There is a מנהג not to stand facing the בעל קריאה — in front of the בימה — when he leins the תוכחה.

A second מנהג is that the עולה before the תוכחה leaves the בימה immediately after his Aliyah, without waiting for the conclusion of the next Aliyah.

In many shuls throughout the year, when the Gabai wishes to give an Aliyah to the בעל קריאה, he does not call out “יעמוד פלוני בן פלוני”, since the בעל קריאה is already standing at the בימה. Instead, he simply signals to him to take the next Aliyah.

From here developed the מנהג that the בעל קריאה receives the Aliyah of the תוכחה — because, practically, there is no need to call him up.

Originally, however, the Minhag was quite different: it was written explicitly in the contract that the שמש must take the Aliyah of the תוכחה.

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The רמ״א writes that for this Aliyah one should call up “יעמוד מי שירצה” — without mentioning a name — meaning: whoever is willing to accept this Aliyah.

The מקור חיים writes that “מי שירצה” is a חיוב to be עולה on the first day of ראש השנה & שבועות. Many mistakenly think that anyone who wants becomes a חיוב. This doesn't make any sense. But he is referring to the person who was willing to be עולה; the תוכחה he is being compensated for by receiving a עלייה on the first day of ראש השנה and on the first day of שבועות. on the first Yom Tov that follows. the תוכחה

* אגרא דפרקא, דרכי תשובה, מנחת אלעזר

** מהרי״ל

Don't worry-be happy

The תוכחה

Over a thousand years ago ר' אברהם ב"ר חייא* wrote that he is not impressed by those who are sad and worried when reading the תוכחה. For this reason, they rush through with the reading of  the תוכחה.

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All the predictions of the תוכחה happened in the past. There is no need to worry because it won't happen again. Only good times lay ahead.

(Wishful thinking)

*קדמון early ראשון

Honey, Its A Date

Parshas Hashavua

כי תבא

ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה

The Chasam Sofer’s Apology

The Chasam Sofer once feared that he had inadvertently offended the Yismach Moshe, R’ Moshe Teitelbaum zt”l, by speaking too sharply about certain Chassidic practices. Wishing to appease him, the Chasam Sofer sent a remarkable letter of apology.

He begins with a question:

חז"ל teach that the דבש listed among the שבעת המינים refers specifically to date honey. But how did they know this?

After all, on the פסוק of “כל שאור וכל דבש לא תקטירו”, Rashi explains that nectar from any fruit is called דבש.

כל מתיקת פרי קרוי דבש

If so, why assume that the שבעת המינים “honey” is from dates rather than from figs, grapes, or any other fruit?

The Chasam Sofer answers with a subtle play on words and a gentle compliment:

At ביכורים the Torah says “מראשית” — which חז"ל also interpret as “the finest,” “the best.”

חז"ל therefore knew that the sweetest, most superior honey comes from a Teitelbaum — that is, from dates.

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Apology Not Accepted

Five months later, on י״ג שבט, the Chasam Sofer expressed clear frustration that the Yismach Moshe still had not replied to his earlier letter of reconciliation.

The Chasam Sofer felt uneasy responding to a שאלה from the city of Uhel, where the Yismach Moshe served as Rav. He feared answering the שאלה.

In explaining his hesitation, the Chasam Sofer notes that the Yismach Moshe possessed a strong, forceful personality, a man of firm convictions. He adds that the Yismach Moshe was known to be:

קפיד טובא על דבר פחות מזה

— capable of taking offense even over matters far smaller than this —

and then concludes with the striking expression:

“ומה לי לצרה הזאת”

פרשת כי תבא

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