The Time Golem

By: Seth Schindler

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

David Klein, an unknown artist and Nazi death camp survivor, has crafted a monumental sculpture of a golem, the Frankenstein-like creature that was created by medieval kabbalists to protect the Jews against persecution. In 2001, shortly after 9/11, this sculpture, entitled The Time Golem, is featured in a one-man show of his work at a trendy art gallery in Tucson, Arizona. At the opening, David performs a dangerous kabbalistic rite designed to bring the golem to life. A rite that hasn’t been performed in four hundred years—and for good reason. What happens shocks David and all present, as it will the reader.

Praise for The Time Golem

This sleight of hand meditation on history, ancestry, and the meaning of one’s whole life masterly combines the hip and the entertaining with the ultimately profound. A theme that could have been surreal and sensational proved deeply tender and intimate. I started this truly original story by being interested, then entertained, then laughing out loud, then compelled to turn every page, and finally crying. —Paul Weiss, author of Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence, and The Dharma of Direct Experience

Beneath The Time Golem’s charming satire lies a potent meditation on the transformative power of art and the futility of explaining or commodifying it. I devoured the book in one gulp! - and I am digesting it still. —Jonathan Vatner, award-winning author of Carnegie Hill and The Bridesmaids Union

Deftly blending elements of religion, mysticism, and folklore, this unique story brings the esoteric to the world of pop culture in a finale that is deeply moving. Schindler writes with a knowledge of Judaism that informs, entertains, and ultimately sheds light on the state of the world and our place, or perhaps our purpose, in the universe. Simply put, the love at the heart of The Time Golem is magic. —Sara Dobbie, author of Flight Instinct and Static Disruption, and Editor-in-Chief of Tiny Molecules magazine