The Golem

of Prague

Lesson Question:
What does the legend of
the golem tell us about
the community it was
created in?
Each table has the brief summary of a piece of folklore.

Discuss:
Is your story a legend or a myth?
With reference to the definitions noted, why do you believe
this?

Elect two group speakers, One to read your extract out loud,
and another to explain why you believe the story is either a
legend or a myth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nq5fCnm3Yc
 The Golem of Prague
Timeline.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

D) Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II sought the C) Rabbi Loew tried his best. He realised his
extermination of the Jewish quarter of Prague people needed a protector. and gained the
answer in a dream

A) The Rabbi and two of his sculpted a massive

E) Rabbi Loew gave the golem on duty – to
human-like figure known as a golem. It was
protect the people of the Jewish Quarter
animated through Kabbalistic ritual.

B) Rabbi Loew gave the golem on duty – to

F) After the golem indiscriminately attacked
protect the people of the Jewish Quarter.
people and destroyed property, Rabbi Loew
However, he forgot to deactivate the golem
deactivated the golem for good.
during the sabbath.
 Creative Response
We are going to turn the legend of the Golem of Prague into a short story of three paragraphs, similar to
the stories we read at the beginning of the lesson.

The next slide contains sentence starters and questions you should answer while writing the paragraph.
However, you are writing a story not just answering the questions.

You may use your own ideas rather than following the slide providing you have three paragraphs that
follow a Beginning-Middle-End structure.
 “During the 16th Century…”
• What did the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II seek to do?
Beginning • What accusations were made against the Jewish people of Prague?
• What did these accusations lead to?
• What action did Rabbi Loew take?

“Rabbi Loew and two of his disciples the banks of the Voltava river…”
• What did they collect?
Middle • What did they do with these materials?
• What ritual did Rabbi Loew preform on the golem?
• What mission did the Rabbi give the golem?

“For a while the Golem was successful in protecting the Jewish people of Prague…”
• What advantages did the golem have over a human?
End • What lead to the golem losing control?
• What did the golem do during its rampage?
• How did Rabbi Loew stop the golem?
 Lesson Question:
What does the legend of the golem tell
us about the community it was created
in?
• Why do you think the Jewish community in
Prague created the legend?

• Why do you Jewish people continue to tell the

story?