Golems

The golem is found in Jewish mythology, and has now spread all over the world. Today, the golem is a very popular figure in the Czech Republic, particularly the capital, Prague. Many restaurants and hotels have been named after this creature, as the people are fascinated with the golem. This may be due to large Jewish population that resided in the area, mainly before World War 2. This allowed their tales to spread, and legends of creatures such as the golem were incorporated into local traditions and beliefs. Today many know of the golem, and Terry Pratchett evens talks about them in his Discworld Novels, in particular, the book; "Feet of Clay".
A golem is a man-like creature that is made from a dead material. Usually this is earth or rock, although it could be wood. Unlike a troll, which some believe is also made of rock, it can not feel, unless given life. It is essentially a robot, willingly doing what it is told. These 'slaves' however sometimes became too strong, and many were destroyed. Some Rabbis created them to gain power, but it usually went wrong. In size they are around the same size of a human, usually larger. The average height is 2 metres, but as it must be created, it is assumed they can be any size.
To create a golem you must carve out a hominid shape out of some material. You must then burn it in a special furnace; to harden it, and give it great strength. After this, the word "emet" must be written on its forehead, or alternatively, you could carve the word onto a stone tablet and place it in the golem's mouth. This would bring it to life. Emet means truth, and thus to deactivate it you must take out the letter "aleph" from the word. This changes the meaning to death. However, you may also remove the stone tablet to deactivate the golem.
Golem's are unable to speak, despite numerous attempts to change this. The first golem was Adam, as God created him from the earth. However, after placing a soul into Adam, he became a man. Other tales claim that God tried twelve times to create the perfect man, and one of these attempts resulted in the first golem. Unfortunately, as the golem never stopped growing, many were deactivated and destroyed. This was intended as a warning to men, so that they may be wary of creating such a creature.
For more information visit:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem
• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Golem.html
• http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/golem.html
• http://www.mythical-creatures-and-beasts.com/golems.html
• http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Golem