Do the Jews Need a Golem, or Just a Willingness to Fight?

While Sally Rooney is being hailed as a free-speech martyr for deliberately running afoul of British anti-terrorism law, there has been, as Akiva Schick writes, “some recent, disturbing reporting about the lack of opportunities for Jews and Israelis in publishing since October 7.” Yet Schick is every bit as troubled by Jewish self-censorship, which he explores in a review of three recent novels featuring golems: Gabrielle Sher’s Odessa and Adam Mansbach’s The Golem of Brooklyn and its sequel The Wrong Body. He finds Sher’s book, despite its flaws, “an evocative novel about fear,” and The Golem of Brooklyn (published just before October 7, 2023), while “silly,” a successful comedy “filled with open, raucous debate.” But the sequel—like Odessa published after the Gaza war began—is stiff and unimaginative.