The Golem and the Jewish Superhero

Sources:
Golem- David Wisniewski, 1996
The Golem- Elie Wiesel, 1983
The Golem Redux: From Prague to Post-Holocaust Fiction- Elizabeth Baer, 2012
Stories of Your Life and Others- Ted Chiang, 2002
El Golem- Jorge Luis Borges, 1964 (Translated by Frank Thomas Smith)
Der Golem: Wie er in die Welt kam- Paul Wegener, 1920
The X-Files, Season 4 Episode 15: Kaddish, 1997
Hans Poelzig: The Design of Mystical Film Architecture- Despina Maria Ilinca Iorga, 2014
The Role of the Golem in the Making of Frankenstein- Stephen Bertman, 2015
The Golem Legend: Byron Sherwin, 1985

Other Media Used: The Iron Giant, Inglorious Basterds, Minecraft, Dark Souls, The Complete Pokerap (Brian David Gilbert, Polygon), Frankenstein (1931), Final Fantasy X-2, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Shadow of the Colossus, Susano’s Training Theme (Okami), Premonition of Revival (Shadow of the Colossus)

Violin Pieces by Alexander Shonert include:
Rosinkalech Mit Mandlen
Klezmerka
Al Taster
Ravel’s Kaddish

Other Music Provided by Epidemic Sound- Artists used include Silver Maple, Mike Franklyn, Alexandra Woodward, Trabant 33, Ciaran Delany, Rupert Sachs, and Jon Algar

Description from Elie Wiesel’s The Golem

[ciaranfraser]

Shoutout to the incredible tonal whiplash between "Who will tell us what God felt, looking at his Rabbi in Prague?" and "The golem really goes sicko mode."

[razbuten]

the way you don't miss a beat when your cat jumps next to you is incredible

[remainprofane]

Imagine witnessing a pile of clay being bestowed life and the first conscious thought it has is “you sure, bro?”

[XhanAnimations]

The golem pleading to stay alive with the "I've done everything you've asked of me" just hit so hard and the book just expects you to move on after that page like So powerful and so abrupt

[altromonte]

Fun fact: you can stop a golem by removing the first letter of the word "emeth" written on its forehead, so the word "meth" is left and the golem gets arrested by the DEA

[SaaitanK]

"Father, was this wise to do?"

Frankenstein's monster liked this.

[cjapplebaum]

Picture this: I'm a Jewish writer and linguist, sitting at my desk wearing a Superman t-shirt. My friend sends me this video, and I start listening, thinking it'll be a nice, interesting podcast-esque thing to listen to while I send some emails. Thirty minutes later, I've sent no emails, and I'm crying at my desk. This video is everything I love most in the world, wrapped up into one beautiful package explaining why I love it so much. Thanks.

[ajf]

i'm a religious studies scholar and genuinely wrote down "post-holocaust golem theology" to look into yesterday and was so excited to see this on my feed! what a wonderful breakdown of the history of the golem and it's implications and interpretations today. thanks again jacob!

[lizc]

"Father will I remember this?" Holy hell dude, thanks for the existential crisis.

[Gorg]

"The Jews in the story are just... Not having a good time"
This is one of ten lines I'd use to describe all of human history.

[MrPooleish]

Kal El might not have "Truth" written on his brow, but "Hope" is written on his chest

[hihohe]

Theres a part that Jacob doesnt narrate in the story that really makes me tear up

at 10:06

"Please!" Golem cried. "Please let me live! I did all that you asked of me! Life is so... Precious... to me!" With that, he collapsed into clay.

I want to believe Rabbi Loew had to recite Kaddish, for he truly believed he had destroyed his own child...

[AjeyPandey]

The lines
“Father, was this wise to do?”
“We’ll find out!”

Remains immensely funny to me

[Krantz_]

i cried for the golem story. "father, will i remember this?". heart wrenching

[cyberbrunk]

There's something so striking to me in the way the golem is naive and gentle, but also so profoundly aware of the weight its existence carries.

[MrAnder]

"Bad vibes are on the horizon for the Jews" sums up all of Jewish history.

[CossackGene]

Me: *weeping*
Jacob: "This video was sponsored by skillshare . . ."

[sprachlichforvirret]

"Please!" Golem cried. "Please let me live! I did all that you asked of me! Life is so . . . precious . . . to me!"
Why yes, I am actually crying. As someone who has struggled with wanting to be unalive, just reading the line 'life is so precious to me' really struck a nerve. Thank you for telling and filming and uploading this story!

[multigrandmarquis]

The beginning of the Golem story is making me imagine a noir-style detective story with the Golem at the center. A huge clay man in a sweeping trench coat and a fedora with a glowing golden "emet" written on it, solving mysteries and punching Nazis.

[BlindRubioJameson]

“The golem really goes sicko mode”
-Jacob Geller, 2021