Editing Golem (section)

===Earliest stories===
The oldest stories of golems date to early Judaism. In the [[Talmud]] (Tractate [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] 38b), [[Adam]] is initially created as a golem ({{lang|he|גולם}}) when his dust is "kneaded into a shapeless husk".<ref>{{cite web | title=Sanhedrin 38b | website=sefaria.org | url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.38b?lang=bi | ref={{sfnref|sefaria.org}} | access-date=2024-11-15}}</ref> Like Adam, all golems are [[Creation of life from clay|created from mud]] by those close to divinity, but no anthropogenic golem is fully human. Early on, the main disability of the golem was its inability to speak. Sanhedrin 65b describes [[Rava (amora)|Rava]] creating a man ({{transliteration|he|gavra}}), whom he then sends to [[Zeira|Rav Zeira]]. Zeira speaks to the man, but he does not answer, whereupon Zeira says, "You were created by the sages; return to your dust".{{efn|[[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic]]: {{right|מן חבריא את הדר לעפריך}}}}<ref>{{cite web | title=Sanhedrin 65b | website=Sefaria | url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.65b?lang=bi | ref={{sfnref|Sefaria}} | access-date=2024-11-15}}</ref>

During the [[Middle Ages]], passages from the ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]'' (''Book of Formation'') were studied as a means to create and animate a golem, although little in the writings of [[Jewish mysticism]] supports this belief. The earliest known written account of how to create a golem can be found in ''Sodei Razayya'' by [[Eleazar ben Judah]] of [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kressel |first=Matthew |date=1 October 2015 |title=36 Days of Judaic Myth: Day 24, The Golem of Prague |language=en-US |work=Matthew Kressel |url=https://www.matthewkressel.net/2015/10/01/36-days-of-judaic-myth-day-24-the-golem-of-prague/ |url-status=live |access-date=2 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802223529/https://www.matthewkressel.net/2015/10/01/36-days-of-judaic-myth-day-24-the-golem-of-prague/ |archive-date=2 August 2018}}</ref>

It was believed that golems could be activated by an [[ecstasy (emotion)|ecstatic]] experience induced by the ritual use of various letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]]<ref name="idel">{{cite book |last=Idel |first=Moshe |title=Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-7914-0160-X |location=Albany, New York}} page 296</ref> forming a {{transliteration|he|[[Shemhamphorasch|shem]]}} (any one of the [[Names of God in Judaism|names of God]]), wherein the {{transliteration|he|shem}} was written on a piece of paper and inserted in the mouth or into the forehead of the golem.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia" /> In some tales (including certain stories of the Chełm and Prague golems), a word such as {{wikt-lang|he|אמת}} ({{transliteration|he|emét}}, 'truth') is inscribed on the golem, sometimes on its forehead. In this example, the golem could then be deactivated by removing the [[aleph]] (א),<ref>Kerstein, Benjamin. ''Jewish Ideas Daily''. 14 September 2010. 24 August 2017.</ref> thus changing the inscription from "truth" to "death" ({{wikt-lang|he|מת}}, {{transliteration|he|mét}}, 'dead').

One source credits [[Solomon ibn Gabirol]], who lived in the 11th century, with creating a golem,<ref>Bokser, Ben Zion (2006). From the World of the Cabbalah. Kessinger. p. 57.</ref> possibly female, for household chores.<ref name="je-ibngabirol">{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia | title=Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6448-gabirol-solomon-ibn | noicon=1 }}</ref> A legend also existed claiming that [[Samuel of Speyer]] created a golem in the 12th century.<ref name="magic" />

In 1625, [[Joseph Solomon Delmedigo|Joseph Delmedigo]] wrote that "many legends of this sort are current, particularly in Germany."<ref name="magic" />