Rahel and the Golem of Prague

(A Short Kabalistic Love Story)

David Del Bourgo

Copyright 2011 by David Del Bourgo

Smashwords Edition

A humble rabbi lived in the Prague Ghetto. He was not one of the charismatic rabbis like the esteemed Rabbi Loew of the Old-New Synagogue. He was unkempt and his general appearance was anything but attractive. Short of stature, he had small, beady eyes and the large hooked nose caricatured by anti-Semites. His sermons were simple and spoken slowly due to a speech defect that made him difficult to understand.

This little-known rabbi, however, did not care if congregants came to his shul for his eloquence or outward attractiveness. He believed that piety was between him and God, and refused to make a show of himself with witty aphorisms and memorable commentaries. When influential Jews would deign to visit his shop-front synagogue out of curiosity, they would not only come away unimpressed, but often returned home laughing at him.

The Jewish community agreed that this rabbi, who will remain unnamed, was perfectly placed in the smallest synagogue in the poorest corner of the ghetto. Whereas the educated and affluent would never have tolerated such a shabby rabbi, the indigent and crippled felt comfortable in this holy man’s presence. In his tiny synagogue, which had previously been a rug shop, the dispossessed had a place to call their own in the presence of God.