Be Careful What You Wish For
Article in the Exhibition Catalogue GOLEM
Marc Estrin
Oh, Rabbi Löew, be careful what you wish for, and Victor Frankenstein, beware. And you, Herr Doktor Faust, don’t count on a second Rettung.
Storytellers and artists foresee, but the world plays things out. Einstein nailed it: "Three great forces rule the world," he said, "stupidity, fear and greed."
Fritz Ascher captured those forces in 1916. His foreground translates Einstein’s trio into the hands and faces of:
—terminal Fear,
—expiring Wisdom,
—and desperately grasping Greed.
And, rising above them, looming over the toxic miasma, their collective golem.
"Thou shalt not pass!" say its arms, "I will kill!" say its eyes, and "darkest night" says its cloak. "No moon or stars for you. Nur die Nacht."
Behind this apocalyptic gang of four stands their salient element: a wall, a fortress—or shall we call it a Trennungszaun?—perhaps the most iconically prescient part of Ascher’s vision. And stupidity, fear and greed have different faces now, smoother, white-haired, silver-tongued. But Ascher’s wall still evokes … the wall.
Benjamin Netanyahu: "Will we surround all of the State of Israel with fences and barriers? The answer is yes. In the area that we live in, we must defend ourselves against the wild beasts."
Hear O Israel: hear this latest misguided, misguiding, misstepping "rabbi" protecting his community unto its death.
Will Judaism survive its current golem?
Marc Estrin is a novelist, cellist and political activist who lives in the US. His novel Golem Song was published in 2006 and tells the story of Alan Krieger who manages it to make a Golem out of his very self.
The Golem
Fritz Ascher, 1916
Oil on canvas, 182.5 x 140.5 cm
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Hermann Kiessling
Citation recommendation:
Marc Estrin (2016), Be Careful What You Wish For. Article in the Exhibition Catalogue GOLEM.
URL: www.jmberlin.de/en/node/4709
Online Edition of the GOLEM Catalog: Table of Contents
The Golem in Berlin: Introduction by Peter Schäfer
Chapter 1
- The Golem Lives On: Introduction by Martina Lüdicke
- My Light is Your Life: Text by Anna Dorothea Ludewig
- Avatars: Text by Louisa Hall
- The Secret of the Cyborgs: Text by Caspar Battegay
Chapter 2
- Jewish Mysticism: Introduction by Emily D. Bilski
- Golem Magic: Text by Martina Lüdicke
- Golem, Language, Dada: Text by Emily D. Bilski
Chapter 3
- Transformation: Introduction by Emily D. Bilski
- Jana Sterbak’s Golem: Objects as Sensations: Text by Rita Kersting
- Crisálidas (Chrysalises): Text by Jorge Gil
- Rituals: Text by Christopher Lyon
- A Golem that Ended Well: Text by Emily D. Bilski
- On the Golem: Text by David Musgrave
- Louise Fishman’s Paint Golem: Text by Emily D. Bilski
Chapter 4
- Legendary Prague: Introduction by Martina Lüdicke
- Golem Variations: Text by Peter Schäfer
- Rabbi Loew’s Well-Deserved Bath: Text by Harold Gabriel Weisz Carrington
Chapter 5
- Horror and Magic: Introduction by Martina Lüdicke
- Golem and a Little Girl: Text by Helene Wecker
- The Golem with a Group of Children Dancing: Text by Karin Harrasser
- Bringing the Film Set To Life: Text by Anna-Carolin Augustin
- Golem and Mirjam: Text by Cathy S. Gelbin
Chapter 6
- Out of Control: Introduction by Emily D. Bilski
- Golem—Man Awakened with Glowing Hammer: Text by Arno Pařík
- Dangerous Symbols: Text by Charlotta Kotik
- Current page: Be Careful What You Wish For: Text by Marc Estrin
Chapter 7
- Doppelgänger: Introduction by Martina Lüdicke
- From the Golem-Talmud: Text by Joshua Cohen
- Kitaj’s Art Golem: Text by Tracy Bartley
- The Golem as Techno-Imagination?: Text by Cosima Wagner
See also
- GOLEM: 2016, online edition with selected texts of the exhibition catalog
- GOLEM: 2016, complete printed edition of the exhibition catalog, in German
- Golem. From Mysticism to Minecraft: Online Feature, 2016
- GOLEM: Exhibition, 23 Sep 2016 to 29 Jan 2017