| “ | Yifalchunbee! (Take Charge!) | ” |
— The Golem to Aaron Bass
in Everybody Hates Hitler | ||
A Golem is a supernatural being of clay, made and given life to obey a rabbi. It was created to protect the Jewish people in times of war or genocide, one in specific was made in the ghetto of Vitsyebsk. They are usually under the employ of Rabbis, or the descendant of the Rabbis, that reanimated them.
Characteristics
One golem was created and was under the employ of the Judah Initiative, a group of rabbis fighting a secret war against the Thules. It is sentient and is capable of speech, and is keen on voicing opinions. However, its actions are generally limited, depending on the orders of the rabbi it was bound to.
Golems are typically aggressive and brutal, built for war and protection. Despite this they will not kill without order, and are capable of understanding what is good, as seen when one acknowledged both Dean and Sam to be allies, after learning that they descended from the Men of Letters.
A golem has a bulky physique and a huge build; it is also very heavy, as every step it took creates an audible thudding sound from where it stood. It is far larger than even tall full-grown men, such as Sam Winchester.
The Scroll inside the Golem.
The golem has a scroll on its mouth where its owner would write his name. Upon doing so, the rabbi would gain complete control of the golem. If ownership over the Golem is passed on, by inheritance, to the next master (usually a relative of the previous master), but if that person fails to have his or her name written on the scroll that animates the Golem, then the Golem will still remain (somewhat) loyal to its new master, though magic can be used to usurp ownership by forcibly taking the scroll from the Golem and the caster having their name written instead. Once written, the scroll must then be returned inside of the Golem, and only then will it acknowledged its new master. When ownership of the golem is contested or when the scroll is removed, the golem is incapacitated.
Instead of blood, a golem leaves behind bits of clay when it is damaged.
Powers and Abilities
- Super strength - A Golem has enough strength to easily overpower and snap a human's neck, or rip it from the body. It can throw a full-grown man a few feet into the air, and can easily smash through walls.
- Invulnerability - A Golem is not affected by conventional human weapons such as guns or knives. It is also unaffected by magically imbued poisonous darts.
- Immortality - Not being an actual being, it doesn't age or die by conventional methods.
- Super stamina - Golems do not tire or stop unless commanded so by their rabbi.
Weaknesses
- Removal of the scroll in its mouth, as well as contesting its ownership, will incapacitate the golem until the scroll is returned.
Trivia
- The idea of a "golem," a manipulable soldier made out of magically animated mud or clay created to protect Jews during pogroms or other times of antisemitism, actually is a part of European-Jewish folklore and mythology. The earliest-known written description of a golem's creation dates from the late 1100s or early 1200s. The most famous version of the golem myth comes from 16th-Century Prague, where a Rabbi named Judah Loew ben Bezalel was fabled to have created a golem to protect Prague's Jews from pogroms. The vast majority of Jewish scholars, even strictly Orthodox ones, see the golem story as a piece of allegorical folklore and not something to be taken seriously in a religious context.
- John DeSantis, the actor that portrays the Golem also portrayed Freeman Daggett in Season 3 of Supernatural.