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HELPING JEWISH FAMILIES GROW'"

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From The Editor:
It's noon — do you know where
your children are?

Small Bites: What's black-
and-white and dehydrated all
over? It's REALLY WEIRD!

Family Album:
We love these pictures!

Man Of Dust

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

4

omewhere hidden deep in the
heart of an old synagogue in
Prague lies a mysterious clay
man, brought to life by magical spells
and incantations. It was called the
golem.
The Prague
According to
synagogue where
tradition, this
legend says the
golem ("without
golem still lives.
shape") came to
existence in the
16th century, a creation of the much-
respected Rabbi Judah Loew, known as
the Maharal of Prague. Some suggest it
was rampant anti-Semitism that forced
Rabbi Loew to turn to God, who gave
him the secret formula to bring to life a
golem. And indeed for many weeks
Rabbi Loew's golem did his duty, pro-
tecting' Jews throughout Prague. But one
day Rabbi Loew forgot one of his most
important tasks: to take back, just
before Shabbat, the magic words that
brought the creature to life.
It had to be contained, else the golem
might violate the Sabbath. When Rabbi
Loew realized his mistake, he ran out
into the street and saw the man of clay
outside the synagogue. The rabbi
caught the creature and it immediately
collapsed and fell into countless pieces.
Legend says Rabbi Loew wrapped the
pieces in an old talit and stored them in
the attic of Prague's main synagogue,
the Altneuschul, where they remain to
this day.

THE BIG STORY on page 81