Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales Part B

Oh Boy, here I go beating people again: Image

The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace
I think if I retold this story, it would be pretty funny to retell it from the point of view of the spirit with the club. I'd like to think that he's just some dude who likes turning invisible and beating people up with a big stick, and simply jumps at the chance to do so whenever he's asked. Maybe I could even include an angle where God hears Abraham's prayer and understands the urgency of the situation, but all the other angels, who all have crazy powers and authority, are otherwise occupied, leaving him with no other choice than to send in the guy with the club, whose only trait is, you guessed it, beating people with a club.

The Rabbi's Bogey-Man
This is a very interesting story and one that has a good deal of story angles to pursue if I wished to retell it. I think that if I were to retell it, however, I might go with a more-horror focused style, perhaps borrowing from stories like Frankenstein. I could possibly tell the story from the Rabbi's point of view as he slowly watches his creation change over time and realize that it is a monster. Another option is to tell the story from the point of view of the Golem itself as it progressively gains more and more consciousness and hatred towards its creator.

I could make the nature of the Golem much more uncertain, such as making it unclear as to whether taking the Name out of his mouth truly turns him off, or leave clues that he is slowly breaking his bonds of servitude by showing him doing small things without the Rabbi's permission. This could help to build tension and lead to the climactic ending of the Golem trying to break into the synagogue like in the original story.

Bibliography - The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace & The Rabbi's Bogey-Man from Jewish Fairy Tales by Gertrude Landa (1919)

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