Drawings (2)

“Golem” is a montage of pictures from various Golem tales drawn in the style of Max Beckmann’s lithographs. The three times Golem appears, I drew him in three different ways people have imagined him. The words aysch (fire), mayim (water), ruach (air), and aphar (earth) are included in the top because these are the four elements that Rabbi Loew used to create Golem. The words “Ato Bra Golem Devuk Hakhomer V’tigzar Zedim Chevel Torfe Yistoel” are included at the bottom because this is the commandment to create Golem that Rabbi Loew received. In the upper left hand side there is a scene of Rabbi Loew bringing Golem to life. In the bottom center Golem holds overflowing buckets of water with Rabbi Loew’s wife behind him gasping, which comes from the story when Rabbi Loew’s wife asks Golem to bring in water, but he doesn’t know when to stop and floods the streets. The bottom left corner is meant to represent Golem’s remains after he is melted down by the Rabbi. Above that, Golem holds out two baskets that Rabbi Loew asked him to fetch in one of the stories. The baskets contain the remains of a little girl and thirty vials of blood which are represented in the top of the picture. The sorcerer in the middle right-hand side is Thaddeus who plotted against the Jews and who murdered the little girl.

~ Ana Keck