Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid

358 Pages·1990·0.59 MB·English

by  Moshe Idel

Golem
Front Cover Photo: Golem Couple
SUNY Series in Judaica:
Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion
Michael Fishbane, Robert Goldenberg, and Arthur Green, Editors
Golem
Jewish Magical and Mystical
Traditions on the Artificial
Anthropoid
Moshe Idel
State University of New York Press
Paintings on cover and in text
by Abraham Pincas.
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1990 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York
Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
I del, Moshe, 1947-
Golem : Jewish magical and mystical traditions on the artificial
anthropoid / Moshe Idel.
p. cm.—(SUNY series in Judaica)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7914-0160-X. — ISBN 0-7914-0161-8 (pbk.)
1. Golem. 2. Mysticism—Judaism —History. I. Title.
II. Series.
BM531.134 1989 89-30042
296.1'9 -de 19 CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Abraham,
who created Golems

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction XV
Part One
Ancient Traditions
1. Ancient Parallels 3
2. Sefer Yezirah 9
3. Talmud and Midrash 27
Part Two
Medieval Elaborations
4. Tempering Magic: Geonic and Rationalistic Attitudes 47
5. Ashkenazi Hasidic Views on the Golem 54
6. The Northern France Discussions 81
7. The Golem in Ecstatic Kabbalah 96
8. R. Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi 119
9. Psychological Implications of the Golem 127
10. Theosophical Interpretations of the Golem 134
viii Contents
Part Three
Renaissance Period
11. Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Discussions
in the West 165
12. R. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero's View 196
Part Four
Early-Modern and Modern Reverberations
13. R. Eliyahu, the Master of the Name, of Helm 207
14. Golem in the Halakhah 213
15. Golem and Sex 232
16. Vicissitudes of the Golem Techniques 242
17. Golem and Hasidic Mysticism 247
18. Modern Reverberations 251
19. Golem: Imaginaire, Anomian, and Silent 259
20. Summary 269
Part Five
Appendixes
A. Golem and Zelem 285
B. Golem: Some Semantic Remarks 296
C. Was There a Macranthropos Named 'Emet? 306
Subject Index 315
Author Index 319
Acknowledgments
My interest in the topic of the Golem commenced in 1975, when I was
preparing my Ph. D. on the Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia. His original
treatment of this theme aroused my curiosity and despite the fact that I
devoted to this issue only a few pages in the thesis, I continued for years
to collect related material from manuscripts. My return to this issue in a
more concrete manner was catalyzed by an invitation from the Jewish
Museum to contribute an essay to the catalogue of an exhibition on the
Golem in 1988, organized by Mrs. Emily Bilski. The essay in that cata-
logue treated a few new texts and exposed briefly new ideas concerning
the concepts of the Golem, which are elaborated here in detail.
The need to explore an immense range of material, covering factually
almost the whole of Jewish literature renders an exhaustive treatment of
the Golem impossible. I learned about material neglected by modern
scholarship not only from the study of manuscripts; conversations with
friends and colleagues were very helpful both in detecting new material
and understanding various aspects of its content. I would like to mention
here those persons whose help contributed substantially to enrich the pres-
ent book: Professors Joseph Hacker, Yehuda Liebes, Shlomo Pines, Israel
Ta־Shma and Sara Zfatman from the Hebrew University, and Professors
Sid Z. Leiman, Menahem Schmelzer and Elliot R. Wolfson from New
York. The Institute of Microfilms of Hebrew Manuscripts of the National
and University Library in Jerusalem helped me, in numerous ways, to pe-
ruse the pertinent material.
Professor Elliot Wolfson also kindly accepted to revise the first ver-
sion. Thanks are due to Mr. William Eastman, the director of SUNY
Press, whose interest in this work facilitated its accomplishment.
ix