Overview

A classic of the Yiddish theatre. Weary of the senseless persecution of his people, the Rabbi of 16th century Prague creates a clay giant, a Golem. A strangely tormented and loving creature, the Golem is meant to be only a defender. Soon, however, he kills the tryant Tadeus and then, confused at being rejected by the Rabbi, he turns against the people of the ghetto. At last the Rabbi, who has impatiently sent away the Messiah in favor of force, realizes "you cannot make a weapon and teach it not to fight. In a scene of great tenderness, he returns his creature to dust. When this adaptation was presented in New York, Walter Kerr called it "Spellbinding. Unbearably touching in its earthiness, its candor, and its unflinching tragic sense."