Otto Rotfeld lives in Konin, a small town in Prussia. Wanting to find a wife who will accompany him to America, he meets with a disgraced Rabbi named Yehudah Schaalman, who is rumored to have supernatural abilities, and asks him to make a Golem wife. Schaalman is intrigued by the challenge and agrees to grant Rotfeld’s request, but he warns that he can only do so much to change a Golem’s nature. Schaalman gives Rotfeld a list of magical commands to follow and warns him not to bring her to life until he has reached New York. Rotfeld agrees and places the clay woman into a crate. Once aboard the ship heading to America, Rotfeld reads the incantation to wake the Golem. However, after he awakens the Golem, the recent pains in his stomach suddenly increase, and he passes out. A doctor surmises that Rotfeld is suffering from appendicitis. As he takes the Golem and Rotfeld to the ship’s surgeon, the Golem realizes that she can feel and identify the wants of each person she is in contact with; however, the feeling is dull compared to her acute awareness of Rotfeld.

Rotfeld dies during surgery. After his death, the Golem is unanchored and can keenly sense the needs and wants of every person on the ship.