Editing Golem (section)

===The Golem of Chełm===
{{See also|Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chełm}}

The oldest description of the creation of a golem by a historical figure is included in a tradition connected to [[Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm|Rabbi Eliyahu]] of [[Chełm]] (1550–1583).<ref name="idel" /><ref name="Introduction">[http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472117598-intro.pdf Introduction to "The Golem Returns"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012061347/http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472117598-intro.pdf |date=12 October 2012 }}. Retrieved 23 September 2011.</ref><ref name="magic">{{cite book|last=Trachtenberg|first=Joshua|title=Jewish Magic and Superstition|location=Philadelphia|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|year=2004|orig-year=Originally published 1939|isbn=9780812218626|page=85}}</ref><ref name="gelbin">Gelbin, C . S., [https://books.google.com/books?id=5HkzGcG9YeAC&q=Maharal ''The Golem Returns – From German Romantic Literature to Global Jewish Culture, 1808–2008''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614171217/https://books.google.com/books?id=5HkzGcG9YeAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=Maharal&f=false |date=14 June 2016 }}, University of Michigan, 2011</ref>

A [[Poland|Polish]] [[kabbalah|Kabbalist]], writing in about 1630–1650, reported the creation of a golem by Rabbi Eliyahu thusly: "And I have heard, in a certain and explicit way, from several respectable persons that one man [living] close to our time, whose name is R. Eliyahu, the master of the name, who made a creature out of matter [Heb. ''Golem''] and form [Heb. ''tzurah''] and it performed hard work for him, for a long period, and the name of ''emet'' was hanging upon his neck until he finally removed it for a certain reason, the name from his neck and it turned to dust."<ref name="idel" /> A similar account was reported by a Christian author, Christoph Arnold, in 1674.<ref name="idel"/>

Rabbi [[Jacob Emden]] (d. 1776) elaborated on the story in a book published in 1748: "As an aside, I'll mention here what I heard from my father's holy mouth regarding the Golem created by his ancestor, the Gaon R. Eliyahu Ba'al Shem of blessed memory. When the Gaon saw that the Golem was growing larger and larger, he feared that the Golem would destroy the universe. He then removed the Holy Name that was embedded on his forehead, thus causing him to disintegrate and return to dust. Nonetheless, while he was engaged in extracting the Holy Name from him, the Golem injured him, scarring him on the face."<ref>שו"ת שאילת יעב"ץ, ח"ב, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1408&pgnum=225 סי' פ"ב] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509025816/https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1408&pgnum=225 |date=2013-05-09 }}. Cf. his בירת מגדל עוז, Altona, 1748, p. 259a; מטפחת ספרים, Altona, 1768, [http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21115&st=&pgnum=90&hilite= p. 45a] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509032718/http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21115&st=&pgnum=90&hilite= |date=2013-05-09 }}; and מגילת ספר, ed. Kahana, Warsaw, 1896, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=37017&st=&pgnum=12&hilite= p. 4] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509043404/https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=37017&st=&pgnum=12&hilite= |date=2013-05-09 }}. See also שו"ת חכם צבי, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=19566&st=&pgnum=163 סי' צ"ג] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509043324/https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=19566&st=&pgnum=163 |date=2013-05-09 }}, and the references cited in שו"ת חכם צבי עם ליקוטי הערות, Jerusalem, 1998, vol. 1, p. 421 and in the periodical כפר חב"ד, number 351 (1988), p. 51. Cited by Leiman, S.Z., [http://seforim.blogspot.com/2007/02/shnayer-z-leiman-did-disciple-of.html "Did a Disciple of the Maharal Create a Golem?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111210431/http://seforim.blogspot.com/2007/02/shnayer-z-leiman-did-disciple-of.html |date=2012-01-11 }}</ref>

According to the Polish Kabbalist, "the legend was known to several persons, thus allowing us to speculate that the legend had indeed circulated for some time before it was committed to writing and, consequently, we may assume that its origins are to be traced to the generation immediately following the death of R. Eliyahu, if not earlier."<ref name="idel" /><ref>The tradition is also recorded in ה לחורבנה /תל-אביב: ארגון יוצאי חלם בישראל ובארה"ב, תשמ"א</ref>