The Golem (Leivick)
Encyclopedia
The Golem 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 same legends had provided the ground for Gustav Meyrink
's 1915 novel of the same name
.
In both cases, 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 "The Man With the Cross", and 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". (Landis, 1972, 221)
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.
A stage version of The Golem based on Leivick's poem has recently been published by the American playwright Howard Rubenstein
and premiered at the Penn Theatre, San Diego.
H. Leivick
H. Leivick was a Yiddish language writer, known for his 1921 "dramatic poem in eight scenes" The Golem...
. The story is a reworking of a legend of Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The MaHaRaL, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi in the city of...
, known as the Maharal, a great rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. In the legend, he animates a golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
, a being crafted from inanimate material. The same legends had provided the ground for Gustav Meyrink
Gustav Meyrink
Gustav Meyrink was the pseudonym of Gustav Meyer, an Austrian author, storyteller, dramatist, translator, and banker, most famous for his novel The Golem.-Childhood:...
's 1915 novel of the same name
The Golem (Meyrink)
The Golem is a novel written by Gustav Meyrink in 1914.First published in serial form as Der Golem in 1913-14 in the periodical Die weissen Blätter, The Golem was published in book form in 1915 by Kurt Wolff, Leipzig. The Golem was Meyrink's first novel...
.
In both cases, there is an admixture of material of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
origin and probably influence from Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
. Leivick's version includes several messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
figures including "The Man With the Cross", and 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". (Landis, 1972, 221)
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.
A stage version of The Golem based on Leivick's poem has recently been published by the American playwright Howard Rubenstein
Howard Rubenstein (physician)
Howard Rubenstein is an American physician, playwright and translator of classical Greek drama.- Life and works :Rubenstein was born in Chicago and attended Lake View High School. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Carleton College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi and won the...
and premiered at the Penn Theatre, San Diego.