later legends that portray the golem as protector of the ghetto and manservant for the Sabbath (Scholem).

A 16th century manuscript tells of Samuel the Pious, who created a mute golem that accompanied him on his travels and waited on him. In 17th century Poland this servant becomes dangerous. Another tale concerns Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem of Chełm (d. 1583). Written in 1674, it tells of the fasting that was necessary to create a (mute) golem which did the housework. The word emeth (‘truth’), written on its forehead, activated the golem, which grew steadily. Rabbi Elijah's grew so big he could not reach its forehead to rub out the letter aleph (changing emeth into meth, ‘death’). Instead he commanded the golem to remove his boots and when he bentforgets and the golem runs amok. Loew tears away the shem, or name of God, and the golem collapses into dust, to be locked away into the attic of the Altneu Schul synagogue.

In the late 19th and early 20th century the golem became a popular figure in literature and cinema, thanks in particular to Gustav Meyrink's novel Der Golem, which appeared in book form in 1915, sold 200,000 copies and was filmed by Paul Wegener. Wegener also made The Golem and the Dancing Girl, while Julius Szomoggi made a film called The Golem's last Austrian Adventure, indicating how far the golem myth had come. Also worth mentioning are Alois Jirasék's version of the Rabbi Loew story, as told in Old Czech Legends of 1894, a part of the