11 Practical applications

The Midrash and Talmud are replete with the use of Divine names and incantations that are claimed to effect supernatural or metaphysical results. Most post-Talmudic rabbinical literature disapproves of the use of any or most of these formulae, termed Kabbalah Ma'asith ("practical Kabbalah"). There are various arguments; one stated by the Medieval Rabbi Jacob Mölin (Maharil) is that the person using it may lack the required grounding, and the spell would be ineffective, leading to a de facto diminuition of belief in the power of these statements.

Kabbalistic knowledge is required to produce a Golem. Some adherents of Kabbalah developed the idea of invoking a curse against a sinner termed a Pulsa diNura (lit. "lashes of fire") although the majority of Kabbalists reject the notion that a person can actually cause it.

In Jewish folklore, a golem (sometimes pronounced goilem) is an animated being crafted from inanimate material. In modern Hebrew the word golem denotes "fool", "silly", or even "stupid", "clue-less", and "dumb", and literally means "cocoon". The name appears to derive from the word gelem, which means "raw material".

The earliest stories of golems date to early Judaism. Adam is described in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 38b) as initially created as a golem when his dust was "kneaded into a shapeless hunk". Like Adam, all golems are created from mud. They were a creation of those who were very holy and close to God. A very holy person was one who strove to approach God, and in that pursuit would gain some of God's wisdom and power. One of these powers was the creation of life. No matter how holy a person got, however, the being they created would be but a shadow of one created by God.

Early on, the notion developed that the main disability of the golem was its inability to speak. In Sanhedrin 65b, it describes how Rabba created a golem using the Sefer Yetzirah. He sent the golem to Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira spoke to the golem, but he did not answer. Said Rabbi Zeira, "I see that you were created by one of our colleagues; return to your dust"