Life
Born Eliyahu ben Aharon Yehudah ("Elijah son of Judah Aaron"), he studied under Rabbi Solomon Luria of Lublin to attain his rabbinical ordination and became Chełm's chief rabbi, a position he would hold for the rest of his life. In 1564, he gathered with other prominent Rabbis, including his teacher, to co-author the "piske denim" (laws) which allowed an Agunah to remarry. He was an avid practitioner of Kabbalah and was said to have created a Golem using the names of God from the Sefer Yezirah. Because of his mastery over the esoteric uses of the names of God, he became the first person to be given the religious title of Baal Shem.
His death is closely associated with the Golem myth. One version of it states that while trying to remove the life-giving name of God in an attempt to destroy the raging beast, Rabbi Elijah was crushed to death under the weight of the Golem as it fell to pieces. Other sources suggest his face was only scratched and that he seemingly died of natural causes years later.
He wrote two books during his life; the Sefer Mif’alot Elohim and the Sefer Toldot Adam.
Two of Elijah's grandsons were great Halakhists: Tzvi Ashkenazi and his son Jacob Emden. They discussed the legal status of the golem: could the golem be counted in a minyan, the quorum of ten men required for prayer. Human form and modicum of understanding were not enough to make something human. Also, according to Emden, the destructive potential of the golem could destroy the world.
Read more about this topic: Elijah Ba'al Shem Of Chelm
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