Jewish Book Club discussion

This is the place to discuss Summer of My German Soldier.

Since it's a classic hailing from 1973, you may have read in the past and already have impressions to share. Fine to jump in and get the ball rolling. Just avoid spoilers at this early point -- thanks.

Enjoy!

This is one of my favourite books. Every life we touch touches ours in return.

I had not read this in the past but I really enjoyed it. I will be recommending this one to my bookclub. Even though it was written in 1973 it is still relevant.

A comment.
The protagonist Patty mentions robots twice in the book. I was surprised by the use in a book set in the 40s war time and so I looked up robots on-line. Robots were first mentioned in 1921 by Czech playwrite Karel Capek in R.U.R.. I also found this "The ancient Hebrews wrote about a person made out of dirt and clay called a golem. The golem was created to help with menial labor."https://mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/med.... I just thought that was interesting so thought I would share.

Kristel wrote: "A comment.
The protagonist Patty mentions robots twice in the book. I was surprised by the use in a book set in the 40s war time and so I looked up robots on-line. Robots were first mentioned in 1..."

Kristel,
I was also surprised to see "robot" in the book.
Im so glad you looked up the info behind it. Good info- Thank you.
Here is some info regarding a "golem" as it pertains to judaism in modern day. In many respects , its purpose is similar. Have you read The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker? I "think" the book won award and has a sequel "The Hidden Palace".

"In Jewish tradition, the golem is most widely known as an artificial creature created by magic, often to serve its creator. Especially well known are the idols and images to which the ancients claimed to have given the power of speech. Among the Greeks and the Arabs these activities are sometimes connected with astrological speculations related to the possibility of “drawing the spirituality of the stars” to lower beings".

The word “golem” appears only once in the Bible (Psalms139:16). In Hebrew, “golem” stands for “shapeless mass.” The Talmud uses the word as “unformed” or “imperfect” and according to Talmudic legend, Adam is called “golem,” meaning “body without a soul” (Sanhedrin 38b) for the first 12 hours of his existence. The golem appears in other places in the Talmud as well. One legend says the prophet Jeremiah made a golem However, some mystics believe the creation of a golem has symbolic meaning only, like a spiritual experience following a religious rite.

The Sefer Yezirah (“Book of Creation”), often referred to as a guide to magical usage by some Western European Jews in the Middle Ages, contains instructions on how to make a golem. Several rabbis, in their commentaries on Sefer Yezirah have produced different understandings of the directions on how to make a golem. Most versions include shaping the golem into a figure resembling a human being and using God’s name to bring him to life, since God is the ultimate creator of life.

According to one story, to make a golem come alive, one would shape it out of soil, and then walk or dance around it saying combination of letters from the alphabet and the secret name of God. To “kill” the golem, its creators would walk in the opposite direction saying and making the order of the words backwards.

Other sources say once the golem had been physically made one needed to write the letters aleph, mem, tav, which is emet and means “truth,” on the golem’s forehead and the golem would come alive. Erase the aleph and you are left with mem and tav, which is met, meaning “death.”

Another way to bring a golem to life was to write God’s name on parchment and stick it on the golem’s arm or in his mouth. One would remove it to stop the golem.

Often in Ashkenazi Hasidic lore, the golem would come to life and serve his creators by doing tasks assigned to him. The most well-known story of the golem is connected to Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague (1513-1609). It was said that he created a golem out of clay to protect the Jewish community from Blood Libel and to help out doing physical labor, since golems are extraordinarily strong- recall the golem running amok and threatening innocent lives, so Rabbi Loew removed the Divine Name, rendering the golem lifeless. Several sources attribute the story to Rabbi Elijah of Chelm, saying Rabbi Loew, one of the most outstanding Jewish scholars of the sixteenth century who authored numerous books on Jewish law, philosophy, and morality, would have actually opposed the creation of a golem.

The golem has been a popular figure in the arts in the past few centuries with both Jews and non-Jews. In the early 20th century, several plays, novels, movies, musicals and even a ballet were based on the golem. The most famous works where golems appear are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (where the word “robot” comes from), Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Golem and The X-Files. Today, there is even a golem museum in the Jewish Quarter of Prague.


Sources: Wigoder, Geoffrey, Ed. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia.

I did read The Golem and the Jinni and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting the info on the Golem. I knew a little bit but that added a lot more info. I have to say I am unaware of the Golem in Frankenstein,

Another story that has the Golem in it is Snow in August by Pete Hamill. It takes place in 1947 Brooklyn, though it has many features that refer back to folk tales.

Also a golem in The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick. It's the first story. I liked it best.