smerel > An unheard of 19th century author
avira >> On the other hand, klal yisroel has adopted this story – when we start dismissing such traditions out of hand, we are on a slippery slope
This is a slippery slope. Kuzari principle states that the Torah is proven v. other religions because it was given publicly to millions of people, rather than a small band of people, and then passed thru generations and could not have been conceivably introduced later on. If we take our trust in Golem to the same degree, we will successfully disprove Kuzari.