Golem

It is summer vacation in Jerusalem. Danny and his three friends are at a loose end when interesting things start to happen, and it’s all thanks to old Neumann. Neumann lives in a lovely old house in the neighborhood, and he asks the youngsters to clear up his storeroom, which is full of dusty books. Behind one of the cupboards they find a mysterious old tin box, which fires their imagination, and Neumann reveals its story. “Have you heard about the Golem of Prague?” he asks, and then he tells them the famous legend of how, 400 years ago, the Rabbi of Prague, known as the Maharal, created a man-like figure with magic powers, out of dust. But the Golem, which was supposed to obey its creator, got out of control and rampaged through the city. Finally, the Maharal managed to destroy it and he put the dust from which it was made into a tin box. Is this a legend? Not necessarily. During the Second World War, the box fell into the hands of a Czech Jewish partisan. Before he died, he gave it to Neumann who brought it with him to Israel after the war.

In Shalem’s thrilling story, the Golem comes alive again in Jerusalem. Although at first the kids swear they won’t touch the dust, they can’t resist the temptation… But they don’t know that when you mess with supernatural powers, you pay a heavy price.

An original and scary fantasy tale fashioned from one of the building blocks of Jewish culture.