The purpose of this research is to examine the origins, evolving interpretation, and crystallization into the psyche of Jewish thought of the Golem, conceptualized as humanoid in physical feature and having functional mental capabilities, including, apparently, the capacity (though not necessarily and always the inclination) to follow the directions of its creator. The plan of the research will be to set forth a working definition of the Golem in the context of its late-medieval origins and more modern conceptions, and then to discuss the interpretive historiography of the Golem, as well as secularist, rabbinical, and mystical strands of thought that have developed around the concept.
In order to define Golem, which is identified specifically with Jewish mystical tradition, Goldsmith traces the term back to the Hebrew word golem, meaning "shapeless matter, ignorant person, dummy," and in Yiddish often used as an insult. However, the foundation of the golem myth is said to reside in Jewish mysticism, specifically its preoccupation with the "mystery of Creation, contained in the so-called Book of Creation, or Sefer Yezirah, and encoded in the "22 letters of the [Hebrew] alphabet and in the various names of God which can be combined from them. God Himself was supposed to have used them in creating the world" (Singer 6). The Golem figure itself is a giant figure that is created out of earthen clay that is infused with motion and sensibility according as the alphabet letters and names for God are incorporated into its design.
Goldsmith cites three distinctive features of the Golem: its hugeness; its "special power, a tellurian [from the earth] force, which enables him to have a vision of the future of mankind" (16); and the Golem as symbol of man's attempt to compete with God by creating life artificially. The third feature has been implicated in such artifacts as Frankenstein's monster. Winkler speculates (19) that Mary Shelley was a...