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Why The Nazis Avoided
A Prague Synagogue
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
the Golem as a symbolic being; during the 15th
century, it came to be regarded as real.
The Golem, usually created out of clay, came
to life when one uttered a combination of the holy
names of God. It has been a popular subject in
Jewish literature. One of the earliest works fea-
turing the Golem was The Miraculous Deeds of
Rabbi Loew with the Golem, published after the
1890 blood libels in Russia. Here, the Golem serves
as a defender of the Jewish community of Prague
against the anti-Semitic mob motivated by false
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Ca: What was the Golem?
• The Golem was a mythical man formed
A • through magic. The Talmud mentions
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accusations that Jews used the blood of Christ-
ian children to make matzah.
The most famous book about the Golem was
Der Golem, by Gustav Meyrink, published in 1915
in Bavaria Featuring eerie, haunting lithographs,
Der Golem was the inspiration for several silent
films and an opera.
One legend has it that a Golem was stored in
the attic of the Altneuschul synagogue in Prague.
Among those who heard this story were the Nazis,
who apparently took the myth quite seriously.
Though they destroyed much of Jewish Czecho-
slovakia, the Nazis left the Altneuschul alone.
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IZI: What is the role of the "Shabbos goy"?
• The term refers to a gentile who, because
• he is not obligated to observe the laws of
Shabbat, can perform activities like turning on a
light, which is forbidden to Jews.
Contrary to popular opinion, however, one is
not allowed to specifically ask a gentile to perform
one of these deeds. Instead, one is supposed to
make a suggestion, such as, "It's really dark in
here. I wish I had some light," that would lead
him to the act.
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The services of a gen-
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Because of the Jew-
ish emphasis on the
sanctity of life, one is
allowed to do anything —
from phoning a doctor to driving
someone to the hospital — on Shabbat
if it means saving someone from death.
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• The Neturei Kar-
• ta (Aramaic for
"Guardians of the City")
are a group of extreme,
right-wing Orthodox Jews
whose number totals be-
tween 5,000 and 10,000.
Most live in New York and
Israel.
Members of the Neturei
Karta believe there can be
no independent Jewish
state until God decrees it.
Hence, they do not recognize
the legitimacy of the State
of Israel. They do not regard
themselves as citizens of Is-
rael, do not vote and do not
recognize the courts and any
laws of the state. They are
so opposed to political Zion-
ism that some have been
known to cooperate with Is-
rael's enemies.
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Who are the Neturei Karta, and why are
they opposed to Zionism?
The Neturei Karta origi-
nally was affiliated with the
Agudat Israel, the Union of
Orthodox Jews, but it resigned
in 1935 when the Aguda did
not voice support for an hide-
pendent Orthodox communi-
ty, separate from the Zionists,
in Jerusalem. (The Aguda to-
day recognizes the State of Is-
rael).
One of the most interesting
figures in the movement was
Amram Blau (1894-1976),
head of the Jerusalem group,
who founded the anti-Zionist
Chevrat Chayyim, which lat-
er became the Neturei Karta.
The late Mr. Blau in 1965 took
the spotlight for another rea-
son: he married Ruth Ben-
David, a convert from
Catholicism.
44: Why aren't Jews cremated?
• Most rabbis oppose cremation on grounds
A. • that it constitutes a desecration of the
human body, which Jewish law forbids.
In fact, the rabbis blamed a three-year famine
in the time of King David on the decision by res-
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idents ofJabesh-Gilead to burn Saul's corpse.
A number of Jews today also find the idea of
burning Jewish bodies, in view of the Nazi death-
camp crematoriums, especially offensive.
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