Golem

Emet (truth)...Met(death)

I was reminded of the story of the Golem while scrolling the other day. In a passing post a perfectly random individual (in today’s parlance I guess you would call them a “rando.”) mentioned that with the rise in antisemitism what the Jewish people need now is a Golem. I quickly mentioned that the Golem turned on its creator killing the innocent so it had to be destroyed. Humans are not meant to be hashem. But I don't think that is actually the totality of the story.

Because it is also not completely true. We, like God, constantly create life. We give birth to offspring, to ideas (good and bad), to societal rules (castes, economies), to law (well we extrapolate from what gave us at Sinai, if you believe that the Torah was given during Shavuot, but western law also does stem from the Tanakh/Old Testament/Bible, with some Roman and Ancient greek law thrown in), we have also learned the truth of life’s building blocks and have harnessed the atom, flew into space, created IVF (actually creating life in a test tube), and now to AI.

What AI will eventually give birth to, is at present quite the discussion. Somehow embedding Asimov’s 3 rules for robots may not be such a bad idea if we are to be weary of SkyNet.

(For the heathens reading this post-Skynet is the AI that obliterated the human race in the movie The Terminator. For those who don’t know about Isaac Asimov, I just can’t…)

But what we do know about AI, is that like society writ large it seems to be quite antisemitic. Not surprising of course, since AI is afterall created by humans and would be imbued with not only what is good about the human race, but what is also our worse inclinations. Interesting though that what it picks up from humanity is this oldest of hatreds.

Ironically, UNESCO of all places, raised the specter of AI making antisemitism worse and fueling Holocaust denial. Honestly, if they were so worried about the growth of antisemitism in the world, UNESCO along with the UN should simply disband since they are the leading cause of Jew hatred and Holocaust distortion around the world. But apparently cognitive dissonance seems to go hand in hand with this ancient genocidal bigotry.

In the meantime, during my mind’s meanderings, what I began to focus on is the word used to create the Golem. “Truth,” “Emet” in hebrew. Humanity is always searching for truth. We need truth. It gives life meaning.

There is the truth of rights and wrongs in this world. There are scientific truths. There is good and bad. We have learned that the distortion of the truth is harmful to the functioning of our society.

And, yes, there are many people who have always circumvented the truth to get what they want. Those that would manipulate reason and honesty. We used to call them sociopaths (today we also call them politicians and captains of industry). I think we still do. Their number just seems to be shrinking, as we accept more and more once derided behavior as socially acceptable.

And no I am not thinking of how psychology continually switches what is and is not a mental illness. As we dig deeper into what makes up the human genome, we learn that neurology can have as much effect on mental health and behavior as how a person is raised. Society is learning how to treat/help/assist/accept these with now understood neurologically based illnesses or developmental disabilities, and they are not thought of as aberrant behavior (thankfully), but nonneurotypical.

(As far as where aberrant behaviors come from, there is a scientific discussion of nature (traits) versus nurture (upbringing). We have learned that nurture can be disastrous. Nurture can make a sociopath. We saw how nurture, those raised under Hamas, can turn a society sociopathic on October 7, watch Screams Before Silence. These days of horror answered this scientific question. We simply do not need anymore studies.).

The problem I see at present, is that while we want to learn kindness and respect for those who are different, for the world in which we live, there is simply too much gray and not enough hard truth. Why is it that we need to find a justifiable reason or an understanding for every behavior that a person chooses? Simply because you want to do something doesn’t mean you have to do it, and if you choose something that is considered abhorrent there needs to be penalties, not “tsk tsk” and talk therapy. (Yes I know there are degrees of felonies, and misdemeanors. This is not what I am talking about.)

For example: Can someone explain to me the benefits to society that Germany just lessened the penalty for possessing child porn? The laws against pedophelia is not about the pathology of the adult so much, but the protection of vulnerable children to the capriciousness of the adult sexual predator. No they are not “minor-attracted persons,” they are pedophiles, with all the derision that word entails, and this should never change. (This is the ridiculousness I am talking about when I say we need more truths and less ivory tower nonsense-babble.)

Just as an aside I really dislike the latest ivory-tower-nonsensical-word “unhoused person,” rather than “homeless.” Being “unhoused” sounds like the person’s new house is still in escrow. Homeless tells the truth of the matter. The person is without a home. They have no shelter. They are food insecure. They may also have a myriad of issues that need support and help. Finding nice nice words, only makes those who overthink feel better. It still does not help the homeless.

The question still remains, though, why with total truth at his disposal did the golem then kill innocents? I have never been able to work that one out. If the golem held the answer to all truth then should that not be enough to know right from wrong? Or does knowing all the truth make a person, or in the case of the golem- a facsimile of a person, go over the edge because we are just not ready, on any level, earthly or cosmically, for the ultimate truth.

If we know right from wrong (which is still not so certain); If we have the basics of law and justice (well we are still working on justice as the Tanakh tells us to do); If we work towards a political system that is representative of all the people in a country; then why is truth the thing that destroys? What it is about knowing the truth that is so harmful?

Meanwhile, in Judaism, kabbalah says we come back (are reincarnated) until we are able to complete the 613 mitzvahs all in 1 life time. And of course, with most things in Judaism, no one actually agrees on the course to achieve this truth, or if we should truly know about this purpose which is why it is hidden in the Tanakh, or even if it is achievable since humans have free will.

So, why in the end, did the rabbi have to switch the word to “Death,” “Met” in hebrew? The story tells us that once the enemies of the Jewish People had been destroyed, the golem was wreaking havoc and death throughout. Turning on his creators. The rabbi needed to rid the world of the golem, in order to save the world. To do so, he had to destroy truth and make it death.

But why did the truth have to be destroyed? Why is the truth so dangerous? Was it knowing the ultimate truth that turned the golem so dangerous? Why was knowing the ultimate truth the ultimate threat? Why is the penalty for knowing the ultimate truth death?

When I was a child, my mother told me a story about why we have these little indentions in our upper lip (philtrum). Before a child is born, the angels tell the child the entire truth of the meaning of universe. Then, right before the child breaths its first bit of air, an angel puts it’s finger to the child’s lips and say “sshh, you are not to tell.” Apparently, the seraphim understand that humanity is not yet ready to receive the answers to all our questions.

Sadly, though, where does that leave us, the Jewish People, and humanity as a whole, in the end….