[Avodah] Of Elul, L'Dovid, and Golems

[Prof. L. Levine]

From

https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/4886
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/494286688/Ohr-Somayach-Logo-150sq_bigger.jpg]<https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/4886>
Of Elul, L'David, and Golems « Insights into Halacha « Ohr Somayach<https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/4886>
There is near universal Ashkenazic custom during the month of Elul to recite the Chapter of Tehillim (27) “L’Dovid Hashem Ori” during davening, both every morning and evening, and all the way up to Shmini Atzeres, as preparation for the Yomim Noraim.This custom is based on the Midrash Shochar Tov that elucidates that various phrases of this chapter contain allusions to the holidays of ...
ohr.edu
Before going any further, let me point out that the saying of L'Dovid is far from universal. Minhag Frankfurt does not say it, and IIRC Sanzer Chassdim and its derivatives do not say it.

>From the article
A Golem as a Tzenter?

Here is where it gets interesting. Rav Eliyahu Baal Shem of Chelm was best known for being of such stature that he created a Golem[10]<https://ohr.edu/4886#_edn10>. In fact, both of his aforementioned illustrious descendants have written responsa on the topic of the Golem that their grandfather created. The Chid”a[11]<https://ohr.edu/4886#_edn11>, in his encyclopedia of Gedolim throughout Jewish history, ‘Shem Gedolim’ also attested to its existence.


But before our readers decry the supernatural turn this article has taken, they should realize that Golems actually do have a place in the halachic realm as well. The issue that these Gedolim were debating was whether a Golem can count for a minyan! Although the Chacham Tzvi (Shu”t Chacham Tzvi 93) at first remained undecided, his son, Rav Yaakov Emden (Shu”t Sheilas Ya’avetz vol. 2, 82) ruled unequivocally that a Golem cannot count for a minyan! Apparently not just a theoretical topic, it is even cited and debated by such contemporary authorities as the Mishna Berura (55, 4)[12]<https://ohr.edu/4886#_edn12> and the Chazon Ish (Yoreh Deah 116, 1)!


The Mishna Berura does not actually rule, but rather addresses the issue and concludes that it is a safek; which is actually the main thrust of the Chacham Tzvi’steshuvah – that he personally was undecided as to the proper halacha. Although the majority consensus is that a Golem would not count for a minyan, there were several other authorities who defended the Chacham Tzvi’s logic allowing a Golem to count for a minyan.

Please see the above URL for more.

Professor Yitzchok Levine


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