Kerry's roots may lead to mystic rabbi

Prague (dpa) - A Czech historian thinks he may have traced the

roots of U.S. presidential contender John Kerry to the famous Rabbi

Judah Loew, a mediaeval mystic and legendary creator of Golem, the

so-called Jewish Frankenstein of Prague.

   Historian Jaroslav Bransky, writing in Thursday's edition of the

Czech weekly news magazine Reflex, followed Kerry's paternal lineage

back to the Loew family of Boskovice in what is now the Czech Republic

region of Moravia.

   The magazine also published a photograph of Bransky standing

outside a row of two-story houses where he believes Kerry's ancestors

lived.

   ``There is no doubt that Kerry's Boskovice ancestry originated in

these houses, which today have the addresses 3, 5, 7 and 9 Zborovska

street,'' Bransky wrote.

   Boskovice is 80 kilometres southwest of Horni Benesov, the hometown

of Kerry's Jewish grandfather Fritz Kohn. Kohn was a U.S. immigrant

who changed his name to Kerry.

   Czech and Austrian geneologists documented Kohn's family history

last year for the Boston Globe newspaper while Kerry, a Democratic

senator from Massachusetts, was gearing up for a presidential bid.

   Since then the international media have turned a spotlight on Horni

Benesov, a mining town of 2,400.

   But Bransky said he found a deeper story from Kerry's past in

Boskovice, a town of 11,000 with a rich Jewish heritage.

   A local historian, Bransky followed the family tree to Boskovice's

Jewish community through the senator's grandmother Ida, the wife of

Fritz Kohn.

   Jews comprised up to one-third of Boskovice's population for about

600 years, from the mid-1300s until most were killed in the Holocaust

during World War II.

   Bransky said house records as far back as 1727 show that several

Loew families lived in Boskovice's Jewish ghetto. Among them was

Bernard Loew.

   Born in 1771, Bransky said Bernard Loew was Kerry's

great-great-great grandfather. Bransky also said Bernard was

apparently a descendant of Sinai Loew, brother of Rabbi Judah Loew ben

Bezalel.

   Rabbi Judah Loew was a mystic and religious scholar who died in

1609 and is buried in Prague. He served as chief rabbi for Poland,

Moravia and Prague.

   According to a popular legend, Rabbi Loew magically created a

manlike creature from mud called Golem to protect Prague's Jewish

community. The legend and the mysterious rabbi have been the subject

of numerous books and movies through the years.

   Bransky said a precise link between Rabbi Loew and Kerry may be

impossible to find because many of Boskovice's family records were

destroyed in an 1823 fire.

   But he said the evidence is strong and may someday help answer the

question posed in his magazine article: ``Did Kerry's ancestor create

Golem?''

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I understand his African-American wife is descended from the Pharaohs.

The statue of the golem in Prague

LEGEND OF THE GOLEM

The story of the Golem begins in the old city of Prague. Many boys and girls do not know where Prague is located. It is the capital of Czechoslovakia,(a country in eastern Europe). Over one million people live there today.

As the legend is told, an old Jewish man named Rabbi Loew lived in Prague. He was a very tall and big man. So, he was called the Great Rabbi of Prague. He was a very kind person and cared for the people of Prague, but he became very sad because the people had to work hard all day.

The parents of children did not get paid very much for their work. When they came home at the end of the day, they had to do chores. The boys and girls in the family had to help. Boys and girls helped chop wood. The wood was used for cooking and keeping the houses warm.. They also had to sweep and dust their rooms and make their beds. In the summer, they grew vegetables in little gardens beside their houses. Sometimes the older children had to take goods into the city to sell at the big market.

Some people in Prague did not like people who were different. Jewish people were badly treated because they were different. Poor people were badly treated because they were poor. At times it was not safe to be out alone at night. Many times, angry mobs attacked people.

One day Great Rabbi Loew decided that he should do something to help the grownups and boys and girls. He remembered a story that his father told him when he was a little boy. His father had read one of the great books in the Synagogue, a Jewish church. The story said that a Golem, a kind of servant, could be made out of a lump of clay!

"That is what I will do!"; Rabbi Loew said to himself. "I will create a Golem to help the people with their work. Then the grownups will not be so tired at the end of the day. And the children will have time to play. A Golem could also patrol the city and keep law and order."

"How much will a Golem cost?" Great Rabbi Loew wondered. Then a big smile came on his face. "Having a Golem will not cost much," he said. "A Golem will not eat, drink, or work for money."

"But how can I make a Golem?",thought Great Rabbi Loew. He began asking all the great thinkers he knew, "Do you know how to make a Golem?" From door to door and store to store he went, asking, "Does anyone know how to make a Golem?"

One night he was reading the Cabbala, a holy book, and learned how to make a Golem. The Cabbala said, "A Golem must be made of the sticky clay from the bank of the Moldavka River. Make the face, hands and feet out of clay. Roll it over on its back. Walk around the form of clay from right to left seven times." As you walk around the form, shout, "Shanti, Shanti, Dahat, Dahat!"

The Great Rabbi Loew asked for three helpers to go with him to the river. On the bank of the river, they found very sticky clay. They cut small tree limbs for the body. They rolled up old rags for a head. Then they put clay on the limbs and rags to give the body shape.

Then the Great Rabbi Loew and his three helpers walked around the clay form seven times. They shouted. "Shanti, Shanti, Dahat, Dahat!"

The clay body began to grow red like a very hot fire. Then the body became covered with long hair. Then the tips of the fingers and toes grew nails! "Stand up and walk like a person!" shouted Great Rabbi Loew. The Golem stood up and looked straight ahead. The three helpers dressed the Golem in clothes fit for a servant.

The Great Rabbi Loew asked the Golem, "Do you hear, see and understand?" The Golem nodded, "yes."

The Golem was put in the back of a wagon and they drove to the city of Prague. Just outside the city, Great Rabbi Loew said, "Stop."

He pulled the Golem from the cart and said, "This is the city of Prague. The city where my people live. You will help them do their work and protect them." Again, the Golem nodded, "Yes."

Now Great Rabbi Loew had to decide how to make the Golem begin to work. He also had to decide how to make the Golem stop working. "Golem," he said, "Each night a piece of paper will be put in your mouth. It will tell you the work to be done. You will do it. In the morning you will go to sleep and sleep all day."

Each night Great Rabbi Loew would write down on a piece of paper the work the Golem was supposed to do before morning. He would put the paper in the Golem's mouth and go to bed. Sometimes the Golem cleaned up the Synagogue. Sometimes the Golem cleaned up houses. The Golem also helped keep law and order at night, so the people were not afraid.

Great Rabbi Loew decided that the Golem should be more like real people. One day he showed the Golem how to eat bread. The Golem thought everything could be eaten. One day he ate a brick.

People learn what they know by playing, learning, and working with other people. Moms and dads help their children learn what they need to know. Children also learn by going to school. They also learn by doing things with groups after school. Being made out of clay, the Golem never had a chance to play, learn, or work.

The Great Rabbi Loew decided that the Golem needed to know about people and living. The Great Rabbi spent a lot of time telling the Golem important things that people knew. One day Great Rabbi Loew said to himself, "I don't have time to tell the Golem everything! What can I do? How can I solve this problem?" Simon, a friend, said, "Why don't we teach the Golem to read? Then the Golem can read books. The Golem can learn everything by reading books!"

They began to teach the Golem to read. Pretty soon the Golem began to know the things that people knew. Learning what people knew became a problem. By learning what people knew, the Golem wanted to become a person.

Sometimes the Golem seemed very happy. But one day the Golem became very sad. The Golem had been watching all the people having fun and laughing. The Golem also began to see that the children had time to play games and have fun. "Ah," thought, the Golem, " I wish I could be like the children. It would be fun to run, play games, laugh, and eat good tasting food"

The Golem became very angry. The Golem shouted, "Why can't I be like the children? I know what children know. I want to be like the children! I want to have fun! I want to be happy! I will run away and learn to have fun!" said the Golem.

The Golem ran out of Great Rabbi Loew's house, ran up the street, yelled at all the people, and began to throw rocks and break things. The people became afraid. They began to chase the Golem. The Golem could run very fast. The people could run as fast as the Golem, but the Golem was able to escape.

From that day on, the Golem was never seen again. That was over four hundred years ago.

*Loosely based on: Thieberger, F. (1955). The great Rabbi Loew of Prague: His life and work and the legend of the golem. London: Horovitz Publishing Co.

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