According to family legend, I am descended from Rabbi Judah Loew, the Maharal of Prague, who sculpted a statue of a man, a golem, from clay. When the rabbi carved the word, "emet," ("truth") on the forehead of his golem, it would come alive and protect the Jewish Quarter from antisemites.
Today, there has never been more of a need for "emet," for "truth," in an era of renewed peril for Jews around the world. The power of lies—about our history, our influence and power, our beliefs, our relationship with Israel, the legacy of the Holocaust—sometimes seems to overwhelm the truth. There is no magical golem, no superhero to protect us, but old great-great-granddad in Prague did get one thing right:
Emet, Truth, will always be our most powerful protector.
To learn more about me, see my first post.
