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| Trina Schart Hyman, book cover from "The Golem" |
I have always held a deep respect for book illustrators. A good
book illustrator is among the most communicative if visual artists because
his/her goal is to enhance or guide a reader's understanding of a text. Book
illustration is how I first came to love art as a child. It was art that told a
story even before I could read a story. One my favorite illustrators has always
been Trina Schart Hyman. She is understandably categorized as a
children's book illustrator. But if you look closely at the fables, legends,
fairy tales, tall tales and traditional stories that her book illustrations
depict you will realize that many of these stories were not initially created
to be exclusively children's literature. Being the insightful illustrator
if text that she was, Trina Schart Hyman created illustrations the text
demanded. Trina's illustrations were for books that could be best described as
folklore. Wikipedia defines the genre as thus, "Folklore (or lore)
consists of legends,music, oral
history, proverbs, jokes,popular
beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall
tales, and customs included in thetraditions of
a culture, subculture, orgroup." One of the best examples of Trina's treatment
if folklore is in Barbara Rogasky's version of "The Golem." It is a
story that derives from a traditional, Jewish folklore story (by the same name)
that includes an actual, historic figure, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel. The Golem centers
around the Jewish community of 17th century Prague during
an especially virulent period of antisemitism. During it the Jews had fallen
victim to the viscous allegations of the Blood Libel from their Christian
neighbors. So the legend holds that the Rabbi Loew (also known as "the
MaHaRaL") set out to magically create a man to protect the people
of the Jewish ghetto from pogroms. So the rabbi went down to the
banks of the Vltava river, and formed a man out of the
clay. Then after reciting a few Hebrew phrases he brings the clay sculpture to
life by inscribing the word emet (אמת), the Hebrew word for "Truth” on
his forehead. Well as folkloric stories tend to go, things that are formed with
good intentions can often lead to comedic mayhem. So after his creation starts
enough chaos on the community, the rabbi decides to decommission the Golem. He
does this by rubbing out the first Hebrew letter (aleph) from Truth and
the inscription becomes met (מת) which means death. The legend
ends with Rabbi Loew placing the remains of the Golem in the attic of The Old New Synagogue in Prague. So if we were to
identify the overall theme of The Golem story it would be creating life from the
inanimate. Now outside of some Hasidic rabbis, most people understand the
story of The Golem as just folklore. It is folklore with an underlying truth,
but a legend nonetheless. However in spite of this you may have noticed that
elements of the legend seem familiar (even if you have never heard of the Golem
story). That is because it shares details with other stories that we have heard
from other famous Jewish storytellers. Stories that happen to be included in
the most popular book of all time: the Bible. How should we regard them? Are
they just folklore as well? Let’s take a look at a few of them.
The Tale of the Inanimate Object That Came to Life
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| Trina Schart Hyman, Rabbi Loew from "The Golem" |
The first story is from an old Jewish Prophet. In it Moses tells
an account of how Mankind was originally created. Like Rabbi Loew and the
Golem, God creates his man out of the clay (dust of the earth) and gives him
life. Also like the Golem he is given the job of being a protector. God created
him to tend and keep the Garden of Eden.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being.
The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and
there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground
the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good
for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there
it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon;
it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there
is gold. And the gold of that land is good.
Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second
river is Gihon; it is the one which goes
around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river
is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the
east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the
garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
The Story of the Reanimation of Life
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| Trina Schart Hyman, Rabbi Loew and the Golem walking through the winding streets of Prague in "The Golem" |
The second is a story from a Jewish Disciple. In this narrative John
tells of his Rabbi (Jesus) reanimating a dead man to life. Like the God of
Moses’ account, Rabbi Jesus raises a man (Lazarus) from the earth (grave) and
calls him to life. Also like God’s first man, Lazarus is given life for a
purpose. Jesus resurrected him as a sign so that others might believe.
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany,
the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed
the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother
Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold,
he whom You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness
is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when
He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He
was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to
Judea again.”
The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to
stone You, and are You going there again?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If
anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this
world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is
not in him.” These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our
friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However,
Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking
rest in sleep.
Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am
glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless
let us go to him.”
Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow
disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the
tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two
miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha
and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and
met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But
even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He
who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives
and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ,
the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
And when she had said these things, she went her way and
secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling
for you.” As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly
and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in
the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in
the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went
out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down
at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not
have died.”
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came
with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He
said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes
of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was
a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the
stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by
this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would
believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the
stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus
lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that
You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the
people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe
that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with
a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound
hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus
said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the
things Jesus did, believed in Him.
The Legend of the Contagious, Unending Life
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| Trina Schart Hyman, The Golem gets into trouble from "The Golem" |
The third is a story from the Jewish Messiah. In this episode
from John’s chronicle of his rabbi’s life, Jesus tells his own story (a
parable) about the dead coming back to life. Like the account of the raising of
Lazarus, Rabbi Jesus tells how he too must descend into the grave to be later
raised from the dust of death unto life. Also like Lazarus’ resurrection Jesus
was raised to life for a purpose. Jesus was resurrected by God so that all
might come to Jesus as the source of eternal life.
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship
at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee,
and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told
Jesus.
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that
the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but
if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it,
and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If
anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be
also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me
from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify
Your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both
glorified it and will glorify it again.”
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said
that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because
of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler
of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said,
signifying by what death He would die.
The Difference Between Folklore And Autobiography
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| Trina Schart Hyman, self portrait |
Have I mentioned that I knew the creator? By that I mean the
creator of the Golem illustrations, Trina Schart Hyman. She was a neighbor of
my grandfather in the little town of Lyme, New Hampshire. As a child I enjoyed
the opportunity of visiting her house on a number of occasions where I was able
to view her workstation and feed her miniature donkeys. So when I look through
her illustrations I can see her pets, family members and townsfolk from Lyme
that she has slipped in the background of her compositions. In adding these
casting details she has taken what was folklore and made it real life. Trina
was not just sketching the make-believe world of fables, she was depicting her
own life. However you would never know that unless you had a relationship with
her.
Have I mentioned that I know the Creator? By that I mean the
Creator of the Universe, God. That is the underlying impetus that moves this
blog. I am convinced that aspects of the Creator God can be illustrated in the
lives and works of creatives. We have a God who first described himself as an
artist. God revealed Himself as a sculptor who molded man like a pot from the
clay of the earth and then offers to recreate that marred vessel in the image
of His dear son Jesus Christ. He is not only a sculptor but also an author. He
is the master storyteller that wrote His tales through the medium of life and
history. However it is almost impossible to recognize the hand of the author unless you have a personal relationship with Him. These are the stories that speak to us of creation and re-creation.
And still today something inside of us continues to crave to be told this story
over and over again. It has taken different forms and has been expressed
in different mediums by different authors. It is the story of bringing the inanimate
to life that we find in Pinocchio. It is the story of the reanimation of life
that we hear in Frankenstein. It is the story of the contagious, unending life
that we discover in Dracula. Whether we hear them in mythology or read them in
science fiction these folkloric narratives reveal something more archetypal,
primal and spiritual that our hearts desire to be reminded of. They are all the
story of the secret of creating new life. The guarded wisdom of creating a life
unlike he temporary ones that eventually expire. We long for a Life that
is unlike the natural life. We ache for a super-natural life. Scripture refers
to it as the new Creation. It means creating life from the inanimate, the dead
and the lifeless. Whether it is the story that Moses, John or Jesus told we can
safely conclude that they are more than mere folklore. For just as a seed must
seemingly die, being consumed by its own grave before it springs forth from the
clay of he earth to new and greater life, we too must be transformed by death
to reveal to be transformed into a greater form of living. As with all of these
stories, the one who makes this miracle occur is God, the great storyteller. Like
the Golem, God will remove the inscription of death from your head by putting
the Word of Life in your mind. This Word of Life, this miracle, this Resurrection
is Jesus Christ. So how will your own version of this story be told? Do you
believe that God will bring resurrection to your life? Do you believe that your
life too can be legendary?
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