A few years ago I made a year-long comic about ancient Egyptian mummies celebrating American holidays. This year, I’m working on a diary comic featuring me talking with a Jewish golem, mostly about my family history. For those who are not familiar with what a golem is or where they come from (hint: it’s not “Gollum” from Lord of the Rings), here’s the basic story:
In 16th-century Prague, the Jewish community faced danger and false accusations. Rabbi Judah Loew, a learned and holy man, shaped a giant from river clay to protect his people. He brought it to life by writing Emet—truth—on its head, and the Golem guarded the ghetto day and night. One weekend, Rabbi Loew forgot to put the Golem to sleep for the Sabbath, and it began to run amok. To stop it, he erased the first letter of Emet, leaving th sword Met—dead—on the golem’s head and it collapsed back into clay. Legend says its body was hidden in the attic of the Old New Synagogue, waiting in silence if it is ever needed again.
This idea came about last year when I made two posts about Golems Reading the News (post 1, post 2). It wasn’t fun because the golem — and I — kept getting angry. So after a friend asked me “why doesn’t the golem do anything besides read the news?” I decided to see what else Yosef and I could do together!
And now, my family history comic begins.
To be continued…
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