If you have read the cult book of the Strugatsky brothers "Monday begins on Saturday", then, of course, remember that the NIICHAVO Institute kept seven items that once belonged to the great magician Ben Bezalel. Many perceive this character as fantastic, but Rabbi Leo Ben Bezalel existed in reality. It was he who was the creator of the famous golem - the revived clay giant.
The magician of Emperor Rudolf
Loew Ben Bezalel was born at the beginning of the 16th century in Poznan into a Jewish family, was a rabbi in Moravia for many years, and from 1597 until his death in 1609 he served as the chief rabbi of Prague. Ben Bezalel wrote many works that have happily survived the centuries and are being studied in our time.
The old-new synagogue where Rabbi Bezalel served.
Bezalel did not live in Prague for so long, but the legends about him became almost the main highlight of the Czech capital. Numerous tourists come here to walk through the places associated with Rabbi Bezalel and visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, where he is buried.
Ben Bezalel became famous not only for his scientific works, but for many cases, mostly quite mysterious. It is known that he was an adviser to Emperor Rudolf II, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.
The emperor was also an extraordinary person. In Prague, he founded one of the first Cabinet of Curiosities in the world, where he collected many books, manuscripts, paintings, coins and various artifacts. It was he who acquired the famous and mysterious Voynich Manuscript.
Rudolph welcomed scientists. Thanks to him, astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler had the opportunity to do their own research. In addition, the emperor was fond of the occult and patronized alchemists and astrologers. He dreamed of finding a philosopher's stone, and Tycho Brahe helped him in this.
In this curious company, Ben Bezalel quite successfully became his - thanks to magical abilities. Once at the parade, he managed to pacify the enraged horse Rudolph II with one word, after which he brought the rabbi even closer to him.
Once the emperor's library caught fire. And Ben Bezalel in some incredible way was able to extinguish the fire and save the priceless manuscripts.
Magic on the banks of the Vltava
However, the most famous legend about Ben Bezalel is the story of the golem, whose images and figures have now become a popular souvenir in Prague. According to the Strugatsky brothers, "Ben Bezalel successfully used a golem during palace coups: a clay monster, indifferent to bribery and invulnerable to poisons, guarded laboratories, as well as the imperial treasury."
Create a golem.
And Prague legends say that the golem was created to protect the Jews. In the 16th century, the Jewish community in Prague began to be persecuted. And then, as the legends say, Ben Bezalel decided to resort to magic. He planned to conduct a kabbalistic ritual and create a giant who would protect the Jews.
The magical performance was held at night on the banks of the Vltava River. With the participation of his assistants, the rabbi sculpted a large human-like figure out of clay. Then a special ritual was performed, and at the end the rabbi put a piece of parchment called a shem in the golem's mouth. An ancient spell was written on this sheet that can revive the inanimate.
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The rebellious giant
Golem began to live in the rabbi's house. It was an enormous creature with brown skin. He was always silent, as he had a piece of parchment in his mouth. But this did not prevent him from dealing with the enemies of the Jews: he wandered around the Jewish quarter at night, not allowing pogroms to be carried out there. During the day, he helped Ben Bezalel's wife with the housework. However, on Friday night, the rabbi would remove the parchment from the giant's mouth, and the giant would again become lifeless until Monday morning. The rabbi did this because the spirit of the golem could try to break out on holy Saturday, when, according to Jewish laws, any creature was to gain freedom.
Ben Bezalel and his creation.
But one day the rabbi forgot to remove the parchment from the giant's mouth. And the distraught golem began to destroy everything that came in its way, including people. Frightened residents of the quarter burst into the Old New Synagogue, where Rabbi Bezalel was reading Psalm 92 at that time, and demanded that he pacify the golem.
Bezalel interrupted the service and went to save the city from the enraged giant. The rabbi went to the golem and tore the parchment with the spell out of his mouth. The golem froze in place, and the rabbi returned to the synagogue and read Psalm 92 again.
After this incident, Ben Bezalel decided not to revive the golem anymore. He hid it in the attic of the synagogue, forbade the attendants to go up there, and even ordered the stairs to be broken so that no one could see and try to revive the giant.
The death of the golem
Of course, there were daredevils who tried to break the prohibition of Bezalel. In the 18th century, Rabbi Ezihiel Landau tried to break into the locked attic. The disciples were waiting for him below. The rabbi stayed in the attic of the synagogue for only a few minutes and returned shocked. He did not say what he saw, but, like Bezalel, he forbade anyone to go to the attic.
However, they say that once this rule was violated, which led to dire consequences. The roof of the synagogue leaked, and a roofer was called in to repair it. He knew all the legends about the golem, moreover, his wife was a descendant of Rabbi Ben Bezalel, and their family kept the same shem - a piece of parchment with a spell.
The golem raged.
The roofer seized the opportunity and went to the attic of the synagogue, taking the shem with him. He managed to revive the golem, but could not deal with it. The golem broke into the streets of Prague and began to destroy everything. Then a white dove flew down from heaven and tore the parchment from the monster's mouth. He fell motionless on the pavement, and immediately a very heavy rain began, eroding the clay from which the golem was made. With a torrent of rain, she returned to the bank of the Vltava, where a terrible giant was once created.
But the legend of the Golem is still alive today. Or not quite a legend? For example, on the gravestone of Ben Bezalel there is an almost worn-out inscription that says that the creator of the golem lies here.
Tomb of Ben Bezalel.
According to legend, if you leave a note with your wish on the rabbi's grave, then it will definitely come true. However, many do not risk doing this, because sometimes it is too expensive to fulfill a dream.
Tour guides will tell Russian tourists a story about their compatriot, a journalist. In the 80s of the last century, she ended up in Prague and, conquered by this fabulous city, decided that she wanted to stay there. It was an almost impossible dream - it was very difficult to break out of the USSR because of the Iron Curtain even in the countries of the socialist camp. But the woman put the note on Ben Bezalel's grave, and the journalist's dream soon came true - she was sent to work for a local magazine. But three months later, she died of transient cancer.
So you shouldn't play with higher powers and disturb the memory of the Kabbalist and Rabbi Lev Ben Bezalel. It is curious that the 92nd Psalm is still read in memory of him at the service in the Old New Synagogue twice:
Rivers raise, Lord, rivers raise their voices
their waves lift up the rivers.
But more than the noise of many waters, the strong waves of the sea, the Lord is strong in the highest …
Natalia Trubinovskaya