Adam Mansbach.
The Golem of Brooklyn.
One World. 2023
rating : 3.5 : worth reading
review : 24 May 2026
In Ashkenazi Jewish folklore, a golem is a humanoid being created out of mud or clay and animated through secret prayers. Its sole purpose is to defend the Jewish people against the immediate threat of violence. It is always a rabbi who makes a golem, and always in a time of crisis.
But Len Bronstein is no rabbi—he’s a Brooklyn art teacher who steals a large quantity of clay from his school, gets extremely stoned, and manages to bring his creation to life despite knowing little about Judaism and even less about golems. Unable to communicate with his nine-foot-six, four hundred-pound, Yiddish-speaking guest, Len enlists a bodega clerk and ex-Hasid named Miri Apfelbaum to translate.
Eventually, The Golem learns English by binge-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm after ingesting a massive amount of LSD and reveals that he is a creature with an ancestral memory; he recalls every previous iteration of himself, making The Golem a repository of Jewish history and trauma. He demands to know what crisis has prompted his re-creation and whom must he destroy. When Miri shows him a video of white nationalists marching and chanting “Jews will not replace us,” the answer becomes clear.
The Golem of Brooklyn is an epic romp through Jewish history and the American present that wrestles with the deepest questions of our humanity—the conflicts between faith and skepticism, tribalism and interdependence, and vengeance and healing.
Len Bronstein is a Brooklyn art teacher. He has been stealing modelling clay from his school for a while now, although he’s not sure why. But one night, when high, he models it into a huge Golem. The internet is helpful in providing the required incantations. Much to his surprise and consternation, the Golem awakens, speaking Yiddish. Len leaves the Golem watching TV, and dashes to the nearest store where he knows one of the staff speaks Yiddish.
Miri Apfelbaum is a refugee from the local Hasidic community. Against her better judgement, she accompanies Len back to his apartment, to translate. The Golem, now somewhat more fluent in English from watching TV sitcoms, demands to know what crisis he is supposed to solve. As the Golem learns of his prior association with the local Hasidic community, and learns of the various white nationalist marches, shenanigans ensue.
Len is out of his depth. Miri is angry about the treatment of Jews in general but also about her treatment by her Jewish family. The Golem can call on the profound memories of all his previous incarnations (told in many flashbacks), but is unsubtle about his role. All agree on a need to repair the world. But how?
Although this is told in a light, snarky style, the material is very dark. Neither the Hasidic community, in their deeply patriarchal misogyny, not the white nationalists, in their violent anti-Semitism, are at all sympathetic characters. We get a quick history lesson from the perspective of the persecuted, some surreal scenes, some deeply nasty scenes, and no easy answers.