AGE: 10-14
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.
REVIEWS
At last, a thrilling
book for kids, but even as an adult I enjoyed it very much … Nicely and
flowingly written, and it envelopes the reader right up to the end of the
story.
Gadi Eidelheit, Shvua Hasefer