Page 7 of The Golem of Mala Lubovnya
“Yes.”
Jakob tilted his head a little and regarded the golem. “Why did you watch me?”
“I… I was alone. And you move so well with the stone. Like a dance.” The golem didn’t add that Jakob was beautiful, thinking the man would not want to hear such words from a monster like him.
Jakob chewed his lower lip thoughtfully and stroked his short beard. The golem wanted to say more—how Jakob’s presence made his lonely days bearable, how he wanted to touch him, how sometimes he imagined Jakob’s hands on his body. But again, the man would not want to know these things, so the golem remained silent.
After a few minutes, Rabbi Eleazar walked to the golem. “Enough. The hour is growing late. Return upstairs. God willing, we won’t need you again.”
But the golem didn’t want to go. “Please, Master. I can work. Whatever you tell me to do. I’ll be good.”
Rabbi Eleazar opened his mouth, no doubt to say no, but a woman had pushed her way close. She was middle-aged, tall and bosomy, and she wore an apron under her thick gray sweater. When the golem saw her eyes, he recognized them—they were the same as Jakob’s. This must be his mother, whom the golem had occasionally seen carrying food or water to her family.
“Let us put that strength to use, Rabbi,” she said. “It would be a shame to waste it.”
“He was made to protect us.”
“And he will. But who says he can’t do some work at the same time? In fact, this will be better. If the gentiles see him laboring, they’ll be reminded of his power.”
The rabbi looked doubtful, but several men and women chimed in to support Jakob’s mother, and at last he shrugged. “Fine. And who intends to employ him?”
There was a deep silence. The golem wondered if he disgusted these people or if they feared him. Perhaps they thought him too stupid to do anything but lift things or break them. He wasn’t stupid, though. He could learn.
Jakob looked at the rabbi. “I can use him. I’ve been wanting to build myself a little house, but my father and my brothers are busy.”
“Very well,” Rabbi Eleazar said, and the golem wanted to leap with happiness. “But keep him near. And he’ll spend nights in the shul.”
“All right. Beginning tomorrow?”
“Yes.” The rabbi brushed his hands together. In a loud voice, he said, “It will be sundown soon. The minyan needs to prepare for maariv service, as do I.”
People began to wander off, still talking excitedly among themselves. Jakob lingered for a moment. His expression was troubled. But then he nodded slightly at the golem before collecting his tools and walking away.
The golem watched him for a few moments, then turned and followed his master back inside.
