The Golem by Elie Wiesel - 1983

Simon & Schuster, 1983. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾. One of 250 copies SIGNED & NUMBERED, of the FIRST EDITION in a slipcase - no dust jacket as issued; SIGNED by both Wiesel and the artist, Podwal. Both the book and the slipcase are in excellent condition. The books begins, "I owe this legend to an old beggar." It came from his uncle, who got it from his maternal grandfather, who heard it from his Master, the Rebbe Ephraim, "who was said to have possessed the powers of Yehudah Loew, the celebrated Rebbe of Prague, but to have refused to use them for fear of blundering. And also because he claimed that the Lord, blessed be His name, ought to save our people without intermediaries." Rebbe Ephraim, in turn, learned from Reuven, a gravedigger, who was an eyewitness. Elie Wiesel's beautiful story of the creature made by a rabbi to save the Jews from repeated attacks by Christians. The mute Yossel, created by and beloved of the Maharal (Yehudah Loew of Prague) ferrets out the perpetrators of crimes, who in this 16th century story always confess when confronted with evidence - would that were still the truth. Though Thadeusz, a convert from Judaism - Bishop of Prague and hater of his former brethren, is discovered time and again to be the culprit in trying to frame Jews of the blood libel, he maintains his position of authority in the church and in the town. At last all the bad men are vanquished and the Maharal puts the Golem to sleep where he may remain today. If only someone could wake him. The illustrations by Mark Podwal that accompany the book show the power of language with Hebrew letters immersed in and surrounding many pictures..