Have you heard of the Golem?  A frequent visitor to much Jewish legend and folklore, the Golem was a figure made entirely of inanimate matter.  But it was inanimate matter that came to life, came to life to engage in any number of activities, some to the material good of those around it, some to their spiritual betterment.  The Golem was a mysterious figure indeed, one whom, in most of the stories in which it appears, constantly eluded any attempts to grasp or understand it.

     Which was the point.  Sitting in a playground on Jerusalem today is a large sculpture of the Golem.  Designed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle, a French artist who passed away earlier this century, it features a Golem with three red tongues protruding from its mouth.  Each protruding tongue is a slide.  Although some have called this a frightening visage, others have remarked that it does, in true Golem fashion, teach lessons about confronting one's fears and trepidations.

     Again, that's the point.  We cannot learn about existence without confronting those things about it that we may never overcome or understand fully.  The Golem reminds us that, in the end, we are only as secure in existence as the extent to which we acknowledge that we will never completely understand it.

     Mysteries bigger than us always remain.