By: Adne Sadeh and E Broderick
During the course of reading for the blog, I often spot trends among upcoming Jewish Books. Lately, what’s caught my eye is the inclusion of Jewish mythic creatures. These Golem’s and Sheyd’s represent a shift away from the Christian themed beasts favored in classic fantasy. An acknowledgement that telling a story grounded in the non-dominant cultural heritage is both worthwhile for writers and interesting to readers.
I knew I had to gather these stories together in some way for BookishlyJewish readers, some of whom might never have encountered a Dybbuk before. My qualifications for explaining Jewish monster lore are admittedly sketchy, so I turned to Adne Sadeh (aka Jack Zaientz @adnesadeh on twitter), Jewish monster hunter extraordinaire and creator of “Jewish Mythology Trading Cards: Jewish Monsters, Magic, and Mayhem” to be published this fall, who also bails me out when I hit a research snag in my own writing. Thankfully, he was up for the challenge.
The proposition is simple: I’ve got the books, Adne’s got the creatures. So sit back, relax, and let us regale you with tales from the deep.
Sheyds (Demons)
“Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Teibele And Her Demon
Judaism is rich with descriptions of different kinds of Sheydim. Mazzakin are troublemakers who were created at dusk on the 6th day of creation and left unfinished. Because their bodies were not completed, they can assume any shape they want, though they are always recognizable by their feet, which look like chicken’s claws. They are usually invisible but always around. Sprinkle hardwood ash on your floor at night and look for chicken footprints to see if they’ve visited you.
There are also lilin, the daughters and sons of Lilith, the queen of demons. The lilin visit at night to seduce and corrupt the innocent. There are sherim, with goat hooves, and ruachim, who are unformed spirits who can possess the unwary. Sheydim are not evil, any more than a shark is evil. They often avoid humans, living in the wastelands and near outhouses, though they are also known to encroach on cities to cause chaos. They have their own halachah (Jewish laws) and some, including demon king Ashmedai, are even known to study Torah. Sheyds show up in Jewish folklore from around the world, but also in major Jewish religious writings including the Zohar, the Talmud and, through Talmudic commentary, the Torah.
For some contemporary books that include sheydim, you can check out From Dust A Flame, a contemporary queer fantasy by Rebecca Podos, which features a very angry sheyd who is willing to stop at nothing to get what he wants.
I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy yet, possibly because it isn’t due for release until September 2022, but I have it on good authority that the upcoming Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternak includes a sheyd. The same goes for When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, scheduled for release in Fall 2022.
Dybbuks (Possessing demons or ghosts)
A dybbuk can be a sheyd or a ghost. Following Jewish halachah by pursuing justice, praying, giving charity, repenting for sins etc. strengthens us spiritually. Without that strength, we can easily be possessed by dybbuks.
Jewish ghosts typically linger near their gravesites (placing rocks on their gravestones helps hold the in place) but can wander further and take hold of a Jew who’s spiritually weakened by some un-repented sin, lack of faith, or not having a mezuzah hung properly on all doors of their dwelling. Ghost dybbuks often have some sin of their own that needs to be addressed by a rabbi before they can move on. The easiest way to find out if a dybbuk is a ghost or a demon is simply to ask, though knowing how to ask requires deep knowledge of Jewish lore.
If the dybbuk is a ghost, a rabbi may be able to talk with it until the ghost leaves peacefully, often through the victim’s toe or through some hole in their body (e.g., eyes, mouth). If the dybbuk doesn’t leave peacefully or the dybbuk is a demon, then the rabbi must conduct an exorcism and try to force the dybbuk out. Like sheyds, dybbuks of both types are common in Jewish folklore. They are reports of direct observation of dybbuks, and of their exorcism, in Jewish articles, reports, and letters all the way up through today.
The City Beautiful by Aiden Polydoros is a historical Jewish fantasy that includes a ghost dybbuk. When the possessed refuses to undergo an exorcism he has one option left – solve the dybbuk’s murder and avenge his death before it kills them both. For a more light-hearted approached, the MG contemporary novel Aviva Vs the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe features a mischievous spirit that lives in the community bathhouse wreaking havoc on the girl who lives there with her mother, the mikvah attendant. The story features a look at grief, what it is like to be the child of someone with depression, and accurate ultra-orthodox representation.
Although space constraints did not allow for a full discussion of the nice version of Dybbuk’s – called Ibbur’s – you can meet one in Sofiya Pasternack’s Anya and the Dragon series.
Golems
Adam was the first golem, a man made from unformed clay and animated by the breath of God. Rabbi’s, studying the Sefer Yetzirah and other Jewish magical texts, demonstrate their holiness and skill by creating golem animals or people from clay or wood and small bits of soul. Since Rabbi’s are not God, their golems are flawed; small, mute, or limited in mental ability. Humanoid golems can be male or female.
Early golems were seen as helpers or even, when animals, as the centerpiece of a Shabbat meal. Later, golems were used for protection from European Christian pogroms. First in Chelm and then more famously in Prague, golems were put on patrol in defense of the Jewish community. Rabbi Lowe, the Maharal of Prague, created his famous golem, Joseph, using the spirit of Yoseph ha-Sheyda (Joseph the Demon), a sheyd who had been a friend and teacher of the rabbis of the Talmud. After the need for Joseph had passed, Rabbi Lowe dis-animated the golem and stored his remains in the attic of the New Synagogue in Prague. In addition to folklore and fiction, the creation of golems was described in the Talmud. The authoritative telling of the golem of Prague is The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague by Rabbi Yudl Rosenberg (1909).
For fictional versions of golems, try Katherine Locke’s moving historical novel This Rebel Heart, where a golem is created curing a pivotal moment in the Hungarian uprising of 1956. This golem is also a protector of the people, fighting against tyranny. From Dust a Flame by Rebecca Podos, also features a golem, helping to fight the aforementioned sheyd that appears in the books. Both books have the delightful bonus of being queer.
Possibly the most famous recent book about a golem is The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. This story, of a female golem teaming up with a Syrian jinn in the streets of NY has inspired many fantasy writers to dig deep into their own personal heritage.
Other golem books include The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman, The Way Back by Gavriel Savit and Sweep by Jonathan Auxier.
Angels (Malachim)
In Judaism, legions of angels serve as God’s messengers, functionaries, and warriors. The angel Gabriel sits at God’s left hand. He carried the sharpened scythe that destroyed Sodom and Gamorah. He also is the gentle hand that plucks souls from the Guf, the great treasury of souls under God’s throne. Dumah is the silent angel who oversees souls after death. Samael is the resentful angel, accuser of humanity and God’s chief angel of death. The Ophanim guard God’s throne and look like sets of wheels with eyes.
Angels are not to be prayed to, they are merely extensions of God’s will, but they can be prayed for. Every Shabbat, many Jews sing Shalom Aleichem “peace be with you” to welcome the angels who accompany us home from synagogue. Every night, during the nightly Shema, many Jews ask God for angel’s protection, singing:
In the name of God, the God of Israel
On my right is Michael, on my left is Gavriel
In front of me is Uriel, behind me Raphael
And all above, surrounding me, Shechinat-El.
Jewish folklore, fiction, liturgy and religious writings are filled with angels of all types.
True Jewish angels, with only one foot, spheres within spheres for heads and innumerable wings and eyes, are hard to find. Even in books. Magical Princess Harriet by Leiah Moser comes the closest. The story follows a Jewish middle schooler struggling with gender identity who is suddenly informed they are actually a magical princess who must defend the school against darkness. The angels are indeed the best kind of freaky.
My favorite depiction of a Jewish angel is actually from the poem The Prophet, to His Angel by Bogi Takács, published in in Fantasy Magazine. Spheres within spheres! Many eyes! And all kinds of accurate.
I’d love to see more of these angels in literature. In fact, I’d love to read more of our even lesser known pantheon creatures. So here’s the challenge. Give me your spheres within spheres angels. Your estries flying with their hair and out for blood. Your leviathan’s terrorizing the ocean depths and your ziz with wingspans so large they blot out the sun. I want the watery sereines and the hungry alukah’s. The kind ibbur’s and the mischievous mazzik’s. In short, I want them all.
Note: Many thanks to the writers of Ash and Sheyd who helped contribute titles to this article
Jack Zaientz, aka Adne Sadeh, is author of the blog “Jewish Monster Hunting: A Practical Guide to Jewish Magic, Monsters, and Mayhem” at https://jewishmonsterhunting.com/ and tweets daily at @adnesadeh. He’s an exciting storyteller who’s taught a variety of Jewish monster themed classes. He’s currently developing a set of Jewish Mythology trading cards that will be published in the fall of 2022.
E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.