Harav Yehuda Loew ben Betzalel, most commonly known as the Maharal of Prague or the Maharal, was born in Poznan, Poland. The exact year of his birth is unknown, but it most experts place it between 1512 and 1526. He was born on the first night of Pesach and was a descendant of David Hamelech. He grew up in an atmosphere of Torah, scholarship, and wealth. His brother, Chaim of Friedberg was a famous Rabbi and his uncle was Rabbi Yaakov ben Chaim, who was the Reichsrabbiner, or Rabbi of the Empire, in the Holy Roman Empire. His long years of study in all areas of Torah, science, and the philosophy current in his day are visible in the books he authored. At the age of 32,he married his wife, Pearl, and had six children. In 1553 he accepted the …show more content…
While he was not an avid supporter of open Kabbalah study, he wanted there to be a way for the common man to study the underlying philosophy behind the esoteric messages in Kabbalah. Since the Maharal believed that only true talmedei chachamim could understand the complex teachings found in Kabbalah, his works often boil down the teachings to much simpler philosophical arguments that are understandable even to the layman. In order to write these books, the Maharal must have possessed a deep understanding of Kabbalah. It is from this fact that the legend of “the Golem of Prague” was born. The earliest known source for this story appears in Der Jüdische Gil Blas by Friedrich Korn, a book written in 1834, over two hundred years after the Maharals death in the year 1609. During the time the Maharal was the Chief Rabbi in Prague, there were vicious pogroms and blood libels carried out against the Jews that lived in the city. According to Korn, in order to protect the Jewish population, the Maharal created a Golem, which is a monster sculpted out of clay and brought to life by through the insertion of a slip of paper bearing a Kabbalistic prayer in its mouth. The Maharal would animate the Golem every week to and it would carry out its mission of to protect the innocent Jews. The story ends with the Maharal being forced to destroy his own creation when it becomes too powerful and uncontrollable. According to some versions of the story, the Golem’s remains were stored in the attic of the Prague Synagogue, where it would be restored to life again if needed. Korn’s book was followed by a slew of others, each with slight changes. Among the books written were Gustav Philippson’s Der Golam, eine Legende, Franz Klutschak’s Der Golam des Rabbi Löw, Adam Tendlau’s Der Golem des Hoch-Rabbi-Löw, and Leopold Weisel’s Der Golem. In recent years, however, scholars have called into