Golem and His Goat

2008   18.5″w, 22″h   collage

Here, a golem is accompanied by his goat, both made from the techno landscape. In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being created entirely from clay or mud. The most famous golem was created by the saintly rabbi, the Maharal of Prague, Judah Loew ben Bezalel, who, using magical powers derived from the Kabbalah, miraculously brought to life a clay giant to help him watch over the Jews of sixteenth-century Prague and protect them from anti-Semitism. Using the same imagery for the landscape and the Golem is a purposeful blending by Foer to reinforce the narrative of the golem’s formation from the earth.

• Hand colouring
• Hebrew text
• Maps