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Deep dives into forgotten corners of Jewish culture and social, material, and intellectual history.
Counting a Golem for a Minyan: Two Responsa from a Father and Son
Down The Rabbi Hole
49 minutes 32 seconds
2 years ago
Counting a Golem for a Minyan: Two Responsa from a Father and Son
Hakham Zvi #93 and She'elat Yaavetz 2:82 address the question of whether a golem - an artificial human, a manmade man - may be counted for a minyan. This seems like a really strange question, but it actually gets to some of the major philosophical issues of the 18th century. If God is compared to a Divine Clockmaker, does that mean that humans are really sophisticated clocks? Can the process of creating humans be duplicated? What are the basic building blocks of creation? These questions and more underlie a superficially bizarre and arcane halakhic question.
Down The Rabbi Hole
Deep dives into forgotten corners of Jewish culture and social, material, and intellectual history.
