Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
panumcoveredinthetwistingbranchesofavinetree,itstwelvebunchesofgrapesrepresent-
ingthetribesofIsrael.Thesimpleinteriorismostlytakenupwiththeelaboratewrought-iron
cage enclosing the
bimah
in the centre. In 1354, Charles IV granted Jews a red flag inscribed
withaStarofDavid-thefirstsuchcommunityintheworldknowntohaveadoptedthesym-
bol. The red standard on display was a gift from Emperor Ferdinand II for helping fend off
the Swedes in 1648.
NorthofthesynagogueisoneofthemanystatuesinPraguethatwerehiddenfromtheNazis
for the duration of the war: an anguished statue of
Moses
by František Bílek.
THE GOLEM
Legends concerning the animation of unformed matter (which is what the Hebrew word
golem
means), using the mystical texts of the Kabbala, were around long before Franken-
stein started experimenting with corpses. Two hungry fifth-century rabbis may have made
the most practical golem when they sculpted a clay calf, brought it to life and then ate it,
but the most famous is undoubtedly
Rabbi Löw
's giant servant made from the mud of the
Vltava, who was brought to life when the rabbi placed a shem in its mouth, a tablet with a
magic Hebrew inscription.
Therearenumerousversionsofthetale,thoughtheearliestinvokingRabbiLöwappeared
only in the nineteenth century. In some,
Yossel
, the golem, is a figure of fun, flooding the
rabbi's kitchen rather in the manner of Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice; others portray him
as the guardian of the ghetto, helping Rabbi Löw in his struggle with the anti-Semites at
Rudolf II's court. In almost all versions, however, the golem finally runs amok. One par-
ticularly appealing tale is that the golem's rebellion was because Löw forgot to allow his
creature to rest on the Sabbath. He was conducting the service when news of its frenzy ar-
rived, and he immediately ran out to deal with it. The congregation, reluctant to continue
without him, merely repeated the verse in the psalm the rabbi had been reciting until Löw
returned. This explains the peculiarity at the
Staronová synagoga
(Old-New Synagogue)
where a line in the Sabbath service is repeated even today. In all the stories, the end finally
comeswhenLöwremovestheshemonceandforall,andcarriestheremainsofhiscreature
to the attic of the Staronová synagoga, where they have supposedly resided ever since (a
fact disputed by the pedantic journalist Egon Erwin Kisch, who climbed in to check).
The legends are amended at each telling, and have proved an enduringly popular theme
for generations of artists and writers.
PaulWegener
's German Expressionist film versions
(1914-20) and the dark psychological novel of
Gustav Meyrink
(1915) are probably two
of the most powerful treatments. Meyrink's golem lives in a room which has no windows
andnodoors,emergingtohauntthestreetsofPragueevery33years-bywhichreckoning,
it's long overdue a reappearance.
