“This is no slur upon his character. For every rabbi so magnificently pious or learned or original in his theory or prodigious in his writing that he he is remembered by future generations, there are thousands who can only hope to provide some measure of guidance and clarity to their congregants, to lead a good Jewish life and inspire others to do the same.” – Adam Mansbach, ‘The Golem of Brooklyn’
Bah-dee-dah, September is here! Hey, did you hear I have a book coming out? That’s right, LAKESHORE MONK, my debut collection of poems, drops in 2027 on River River Books. I couldn’t be happier. Dream press, especially for this collection, which is full of rivers, kayaks, and some other bodies of water, too.
That said, kayaking season, if not over, is very close to being over. The plovers are gone from the beach. Labor Day came and went and minimum wage did not go up? Wanna read a very funny monster book to feel better?
What I’ve Been Reading This Week
A book that reminded me strongly of Christopher Moore, which is delightful. A book by an author who’s co-written a book with Dave Barry, which is a ringing endorsement. A book about a monster I had heard of, but didn’t know much about, and am glad to now have knowledge. A book full of the kinds of jokes I liked best from A Serious Man. A book that, in addition to being funny, was affecting and thought-provoking and ended with some ambiguity that I really enjoyed sitting with. You could syllabus this book with The Trees by Percival Everett, which, hey, I’m reading that book this month, too. I’m talking, of course, about The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach.
The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach: so what happened was our guy Len, an art teacher in Brooklyn, got super high and stole some clay from the school where he teaches. He looked up which prayers you needed to say to make a The Golem, and he made a The Golem. Usually only a rabbi or prophet is supposed to be able to do this, but here we are. The Golem is to be made in times when Jewish people are under direct threat, but Len wasn’t thinking about any particular threat. He wasn’t thinking at all. The Golem can’t speak English and Len can’t speak Yiddish, so he goes to his neighborhood bodega, where a lesbian ex-Hasid named Miri works. Miri agrees to meet The Golem, who at some point ingests a whole sheet of LSD and spends a night marathoning Curb Your Enthusiasm. The end result of this is that The Golem can speak English, but also remembers every previous iteration of the times he was made. When he asks who is threatening to kill Jewish people now, Miri shows him a video of the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville. Turns out, there’s another rally planned in Kentucky, so the three of them hop in a van.
What follows, besides some sketching of the Golem myth and a history of pogroms and a great many shaggy dog jokes, is a meditation on what it means to be a good person. To be a good Jewish person, I suppose, but that is not really my business to speculate on. How do we fight white supremacy? How do we fight fascism, an empire that seeks to erase any person who doesn’t conform? I won’t say whether or not The Golem actually kills any white supremacists in this novel—although if you are interested in dead white supremacists you should, uh, find out what happens in this novel—because the ending really leaves the question of what ought to be done open-ended. It’s a lot like The Trees. Personally, in both the novel and in real life, what I feel like is being elucidated is that there is an unacknowledged civil war happening in the U.S. How best to conduct yourself? You can’t always think like a soldier, you can’t always see everything as a nail and yourself as a hammer. Yet you can’t be in denial about the dangers you face, literally all the time. This book was published September of 2023—days before the October 7th attack that Bibi Netanyahu maybe knew about and let happen so that he could do a genocide. I wonder what Adam Mansbach thinks of this novel after the last couple of years. Jewish people are not the State of Israel and its evil, genocidal government, Ben Netanyahu does not speak for Jewish people. This novel isn’t the first book and Adam Mansbach isn’t the first author to raise the question of “what should be done,” of course. It’s just interesting timing, and adds a layer. For the record, I liked this novel a good deal, and I believe that Palestine should be free. My opinions on what should be done with Klansmen aren’t all that different from where The Golem lands. But we are people, not hammers.
As a wise teacher once said, be a good boy. Well, be a good boy/girl/them.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? Let’s listen to future AISHLTA feature Jefferson Airplane. LIVE.
- This Week In ICE: again, I’m benching myself from this coverage because of some life events coming up (non-Lakeshore Monk-related). But here’s some stuff: A look back at how Operation Midway Blitz played out by Cindy Hernandez in WBEZChicago, Chicago-Area Businesses Lost $1.2 Billion Because Of Immigration Crackdown, Report Says by Jose Abonce and City Officials Promise Safe Mexican Independence Day Celebrations This Weekend, 1 Year After Midway Blitz by Charles Thrush in Block Club, What is the true cost of immoral laws? This Black immigration film tells the story by Morgan Elise Johnson in The Triibe, Illinois promised to protect immigrants. Local officials helped deport them anyway. by Aura Bogado in Injustice Watch, and A Secretive DHS ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit is Analyzing Americans’ Financial Habits and Pulling Them Over by Joseph Cox in 404
- Behind The Bastards on the Nakam, a group of Holocaust survivors who sought revenge against the Nazis Part 1 | Part 2
- Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff on Israeli & international solidarity with Palestine Part 1 | Part 2
- Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff on multi-faith Palestinian resistance to Zionism Part 1 | Part 2
- Behind The Bastards on the origins of the terror in Palestine Part 1 | Part 2
What’re you still doing here? Did I ever tell you about the goy’s teeth?
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. Hey, if someone comes wandering into your store talking about how they made a Golem and need you to translate Yiddish for them? Close up shop early. Go on the adventure. You never know where it’ll lead. Be a good boy/girl/them.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris