The True Heroes

By Shira Novack
KOC Editor
Binghamton University

So, heroes, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the golem. One of these things, however, is not exactly like the others, and, no, it’s not Wonder Woman, it’s the golem. The golem in my opinion is the Jewish version of a superhero, which is created/brought to life to aid the Jewish community in its time of need. The most well-known story about the golem is the one in which the Maharal of Prague created one to defend the people of the Jewish ghetto in Prague from anti-Semitism (late 16^th century).

On the surface, the golem seems fairly awesome; it can’t be destroyed (except by specific means that reverse the process of creating it) and it does whatever it is told to do so that it can take the measures necessary to protect the Jewish people.

There is a darker side to the golem. The fact that it does only what it is told to do and that it has no will of its own, this is both the golem’s strength and its curse. The golem can go from a superhero to a violent machine, depending on what it is ordered to do. The golem is dependent on words, because whomever creates it has to tell it what to do and because the golem is both created and destroyed through words. The golem can be brought to life by inscribing the Hebrew word emet (truth) in its forehead and in some stories removing the aleph in emet destroys to golem because all that is left is met, which is the Hebrew word for death. Words are used to create the golem, but it cannot use any of its own. It is full of power and potential, but there is nothing to develop because it has no thoughts.

The golem is a heroic figure in Jewish folklore because it saves the Jewish people, but I believe that there is a distinction between being a heroic figure and a hero. The golem is brought to life with truth, but it has to be told what the truth is because it cannot think for itself. A true hero is one who can recognize what the truth is and follow through with their support of it. Perhaps the reason the golem is brought to life by inscribing the word emet on its forehead is a reminder to the one controlling the golem to act only in support of truth or to use the golem only for to preserve truth and not cause unwarranted destruction. Being a hero requires the combination of both thought and action.

One example of heroes in Judaism’s history involves people who were not even themselves Jewish. They are the Righteous Gentiles who during the Holocaust risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis. They were told by their leaders and the society surrounding them that anyone caught helping or sheltering Jews would be killed. These people knew that there was something wrong with the Nazi regime and they acted on this by saving Jews. These people were ordinary people and they had no super powers that separated them from anyone else or made them more aware of the situation. What they had was the courage to follow through on their convictions, this makes them heroes.

Heroic figures make a nice story for us to tell, but the heroes in the world are those people whose actions make the world a better place and bring light into the darkness. Perhaps there is a hero inside each of us just waiting for the right time to come forth!

[Posted 3/6/11]