The Golem (Leivick)

For other works by this title, see The Golem (disambiguation).

דער גולם
Aharon Meskin as the Golem, Habima Theatre (1927)
Written byH. Leivick
Original languageYiddish
GenreDramatic poem

The Golem (original Yiddish title דער גולם, Der Goylem) is a 1921 "dramatic poem in eight scenes" by H. Leivick. The story is a reworking of a legend of Judah Loew ben Bezalel, known as the Maharal, a great rabbi of Prague. In the legend, he animates a golem, a being crafted from inanimate material. The story is strongly focused on the plight of the golem, animated against his will and wrestling with his particular form of the human condition, and, secondarily, of the rabbi, a "creator whose creation does not respond in accordance with his plan."[1]

Leivick referred to this work as a "dramatic poem" rather than a "play." As originally written, it was unstageable, requiring, for example, that flames flicker out of their own accord and that actors be visibly knocked about (and even bloodied) by invisible forces; furthermore, the full piece would probably take at least four hours to stage, perhaps longer. However, stageable versions were soon developed, and the play became a standard of Yiddish theater. The Golem is written in blank verse.[2]

As in Gustav Meyrink's 1915 novel of the same name, there is an admixture of material of Christian origin and probably influence from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Leivick's version includes several messiah figures, including a young beggar (representative of the Jewish messiah to come), "The Man With the Cross," and the golem himself.

  1. ^ Landis, Joseph C.; An-Ski, S.; Asch, Sholem; Leivick, H., eds. (1986). Three great Jewish plays (in English and Yiddish). New York, NY: Applause Theatre Book Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936839-04-2.
  2. ^ Neugroschel, Joachim, ed. (2006). The Golem: a new translation of the classic play and selected short stories (1. publ ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-05088-2.