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The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague »

Book cover image of The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague by Yudl Rosenberg

Authors: Yudl Rosenberg, Curt Leviant
ISBN-13: 9780300122046, ISBN-10: 0300122047
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Yale University Press
Date Published: May 2007
Edition: (Non-applicable)

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Author Biography: Yudl Rosenberg

Curt Leviant is the prizewinning author or translator of more than two dozen books, including six critically acclaimed novels. His translations from the Yiddish include Isaac Bashevis Singer’s More Stories from My Father’s Court and five volumes of Sholom Aleichem collections. He has won the Wallant Award for his fiction and several national and international writing fellowships.

Book Synopsis

This collection of interrelated stories about a sixteenth-century Prague rabbi and the golem he created became an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1909. So widely popular and influential was Yudl Rosenberg’s book, it is no exaggeration to claim that the author transformed the centuries-old understanding of the creature of clay and single-handedly created the myth of the golem as protector of the Jewish people during times of persecution.

In addition to translating Rosenberg’s classic golem story into English for the first time, Curt Leviant also offers an introduction in which he sets Rosenberg’s writing in historical context and discusses the golem legend before and after Rosenberg’s contributions. Generous annotations are provided for the curious reader.
The book is full of adventures, surprises, romance, suspense, mysticism, Jewish pride, and storytelling at its best. The Chief Rabbi of Prague, known as the Maharal, brings the golem Yossele to life to help the Jews fight false accusations of ritual murder—the infamous blood libel. More human, more capable, and more reliable as a protector than any golem imagined before, Rosenberg’s Golem irrevocably changed one of the most widely influential icons of Jewish folklore.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments....................xi
Introduction....................xiii
Notice....................3
1 Publisher's Preface....................5
2 Bill of Sale....................8
3 The History of the Great Gaon, the Holy, Supernal Maharal of Prague, May the Memory of that Righteous, Saintly Man Be a Blessing for Life in the World to Come....................10
4 The Maharal's Battle Against the Blood Libel....................13
5 The Maharal's Suggestion to Have a Disputation with the Priests....................15
6 The Disputation....................17
7 "A Man Who Excels at His Work Shall Attend upon Kings." This Is the Maharal....................31
8 How the Maharal Created the Golem....................34
9 How Yossele the Golem Carried Water for Passover....................39
10 How Yossele the Golem Caught Fish for Rosh Hashana....................41
11 For What Purposes the Maharal Used the Golem....................44
12 The Maharal's First Miracle with the Golem....................46
13 The Astonishing Tale of the Healer's Daughter....................50
14 The Wondrous and Famous Story Known as "The Daughter's Misfortune"....................67
15 A Very Amazing Tale About a Blood Libel by the Priest Thaddeus Which Caused His Final Downfall and His Banishment from Prague....................95
16 The Marvelous Story of the Wonder of Wonders That the Maharal Revealed to the Two Berls Whose Two Children Were Switched by a Midwife....................113
17 The Astounding Story of the Torah that Fell to the Floor on Yom Kippur....................127
18 The Attack on Yossele theGolem....................130
19 An Awesome Tale About the Ruin near Prague....................138
20 A Wondrous Tale About Duke Bartholomew....................143
21 The Last Blood Libel in Prague During the Maharal's Lifetime....................156
22 How the Maharal Brought About the End of the Golem....................182
23 The Maharal's Remarks Concerning the Golem....................187
24 A Miraculous Event Pertaining to the Maharal's Engagement....................196
Notes....................199

Subjects

Biography Religious Biography Judaism - Biography
Biography All Biography Peoples & Cultures - Biography
Biography All Biography Religious Biography
Christianity Judaism & Judaica Jewish Folklore
Christianity Judaism & Judaica Judaism - Biography
Christianity Judaism & Judaica Mysticism & Kabbalah - Judaism
Christianity Religious Biography Judaism - Biography
Christianity All Religion General & Miscellaneous Religion
Judaism & Judaica Jewish Folklore Golem
Judaism & Judaica Jewish Folklore Legends, Jewish
Judaism & Judaica Judaism - Biography Judah Loew ben Bezalel (ca. 1525 - 1609)
Judaism & Judaica Mysticism & Kabbalah - Judaism Golem
Nonfiction Social Sciences Folklore & Mythology
Nonfiction Social Sciences Jewish Studies
Religion Books Judaism & Judaica Jewish Folklore
Religion Books Judaism & Judaica Judaism - Biography
Religion Books Judaism & Judaica Mysticism & Kabbalah - Judaism
Religion Books Religious Biography Judaism - Biography
Religion Books All Religion General & Miscellaneous Religion
Science & Nature Social Sciences Folklore & Mythology
Science & Nature Social Sciences Jewish Studies
Social Sciences Folklore & Mythology Jewish Folklore
Social Sciences Jewish Studies Jewish - Biography
Christianity Christianity Religious Biography
Christianity Christianity All Religion
Nonfiction Biography Religious Biography
Nonfiction Biography All Biography
Nonfiction Religion Religious Biography
Nonfiction Religion All Religion
Religion Books Christianity Religious Biography
Religion Books Christianity All Religion