—In Medieval Times:
In the Middle Ages arose the belief in the possibility of infusing life into a clay or wooden figure of a human being, which figure was termed "golem" by writers of the eighteenth century. The golem grew in size, and could carry any message or obey mechanically any order of its master. It was supposed to be created by the aid of the "Sefer Yeẓirah," that is, by a combination of letters forming a "Shem" (any one of the names of God). The Shem was written on a piece of paper and inserted either in the mouth or in the forehead of the golem, thus bringing it into life and action. Solomon ibn Gabirol is said to have created a maid servant by this means. The king, informed of this, desired to punish him, but Ibn Gabirol showed that his creature was not a real being by restoring every one of its parts to its original form.

Golem of Hohe Rabbi Löw.
Elijah of Chelm, in the middle of the sixteenth century, was the first person credited with having made a golem with a Shem, for which reason he was known as a "Ba'al Shem." It is said to have grown to be a monster (resembling that of Frankenstein), which the rabbi feared might destroy the world. Finally he extracted the Shem from the forehead of his golem, which returned to dust (Azulai, "Shem ha-Gedolim," i., No. 163). Elijah's grandson, known as the "ḥakam Ẓebi," was so convinced of the truth of this that he raised the question as to whether a golem could be counted as one in a "minyan" (quorum; Responsa, No. 93, Amsterdam, 1712; Baer Heṭeb to Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 55, 1). The best-known golem was that of Judah Löw b. Bezaleel, or the "hohe Rabbi Löw," of Prague (end of 16th cent.), who used his golem as a servant on week-days, and extracted the Shem from the golem's mouth every Friday afternoon, so as to let it rest on Sabbath. Once the rabbi forgot to extract the Shem, and feared that the golem would desecrate the Sabbath. He pursued the golem and caught it in front of the ѕуηαgσgυє, just before Sabbath began, and hurriedly extracted the Shem, whereupon the golem fell in pieces; its remains are said to be still among the débris in the attic of the ѕуηαgσgυє. Rabbi Löw is credited with having performed similar wonders before Rudolph II. ("Sippurim," p. 52; comp. Gans, "Ẓemaḥ Dawid," p. 46a, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1692). A legend connected with his golem is given in German verse by Gustav Philippson in "Allg. Zeit. des Jud." 1841, No. 44 (abridged in "Sulamith," viii. 254; translated into Hebrew in "Kokebe Yiẓḥaḳ," No. 28, p. 75, Vienna, 1862).

It is sometimes alleged that Elijah of Wilna also made a golem, and the Ḥasidim claim the same for Israel Ba'al Shem-Ṭob, but apparently the claims are based on the similarity in the one case of the name "Elijah" and in the other of the appellation "Ba'al Shem" to the name and appellation of the rabbi of Chelm. The last golem is attributed to R. Davidl Jaffe, rabbi in Dorhiczyn, in the government of Grodno, Russia (about 1800). This golem, unlike that of R. Löw, was not supposed to rest on Sabbath. Indeed, it appears that it was created only for the purpose of replacing the Sabbath goy in heating the ovens of Jєωs on winter Sabbaths. All orders to make fires were given to the golem on Friday, which he executed promptly but mechanically the next day. In one case a slight error in an order to the golem caused a conflagration that destroyed the whole town.

From this story it becomes probable that the whole of the golem legend is in some way a reflex of the medieval legends about Vergil, who was credited with the power of making a statue move and speak and do his will. His disciple once gave orders which, strictly carried out, resulted in his destruction. The statue of Vergil saved an adulteress, just as did the golem of R. Löw in Philippson's above-mentioned poem (J. A. Tunison, "Master Virgil," p. 145, Cincinnati, 1888).

Bibliography:
Ha-Maggid, 1867, Supplement No. 42;
Pascheles, Sippurim, pp. 51-52, Prague, 1870;
Rubin, Ma'ase Ta'atuim, p. 117, Vienna, 1887;
Tendlau, Sagen und Legenden der Jüdischen Vorzeit.