The Wise Men of Chelm stories hold a special place in Eastern European Jewish folklore and are frequently referenced in Jewish American literature. The stories take place in the imaginary Polish village of Chelm, which is untouched by the world around it and populated by fools, and the titular Wise Men are foolish rabbis who propose illogical or naive solutions to problems posed to them by the townspeople. Humorous and light-hearted on the surface, these stories reveal the Midrashic and Talmudic influences on the Jews of Eastern Europe and emphasize the importance of open debate and active questioning that is especially valued in Ashkenazi culture. Collectively, they can be interpreted as an inversion of a model Jewish community, with the structures of Talmudic logic being used as a vehicle for comical, illogical arguments. Further, these stories illustrate the application and impact of Talmudic discourse on European Jews of the modern era and embody the introspective self-criticism that is a hallmark of Jewish humor and literature.
Originally oral in form, versions of the stories spread throughout the German and Yiddish-speaking communities and circulated from the late sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, when the first stories officially associated with Chelm were published. Although the earliest published versions were in Yiddish, reflecting their Ashkenazi roots, the Chelm stories later became available in both English and Hebrew. The influence of the Wise Men of Chelm stories can be seen in the works of popular nineteenth- and twentieth-century Yiddish writers such as Sholem Aleichem, Y. L. Peretz, Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh, Leyb Kvitko, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Some, such as Singer and Peretz, published their own versions of the Chelm stories, while others, such as Aleichem, used them as models for new stories that reflected the cultural values and humor of Eastern European Jewish culture. Indeed, for writers like Aleichem, the humor found in the Chelm tradition functioned as a powerful antidote for the insidiousness of anti-Semitism and persecution.
Most recently, Jewish American authors such as Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander have incorporated the Chelm stories into works such as Everything Is Illuminated and For the Relief of Unbearable Urges; in so doing, they connect the shtetl culture of Eastern Europe—which was virtually destroyed by the events of World War II—with their post-Holocaust Jewish American perspectives. In this way, the Wise Men of Chelm continue on in contemporary Jewish literature, representing an important link between twenty-first-century Jewish culture and the lost shtetl world of prewar Europe. Further, the efforts of Foer and Englander to incorporate elements of the Chelm tradition into their Holocaust fiction highlights the unique tendency of Jews to use humor and irony to counterbalance and offset tragedy.
Although the Chelm stories are numerous and varied, it is possible to identify a few common motifs, such as the recurrence of tales that address the importance of the moon. One version explains that the Chelmites were so enamored with the moon that they became frustrated by its cycles of waxing and waning. Determined to capture it—and thereby thwart its inevitable cycle—they conspire to capture it. Sighting the moon’s reflection in a well, the Chelmites rush to place a cover over the top of the well’s opening, only to discover the next day that the moon had returned to its usual place in the sky. In this way, the Chelm stories typically demonstrate a humorous type of logic that reflects both the foolishness of the Chelmites as well as their innocence. Another frequently cited story of Chelm similarly illustrates this sophomoric quality; when asked by a citizen of Chelm, “Which is more important, the sun or the moon?” the Chelm rabbi responds, “What a silly question! The moon of course! It shines at night when we really need it. Who needs the sun to shine when it is already broad daylight!” In both of these stories, the inhabitants of Chelm demonstrate a certain foolishness that is nonetheless bolstered by some semblance of logic. In this way, we see how the Chelm stories paradoxically emphasize the importance of intelligent, rational debate that is supported by common sense.
Stella Setka
See also Saving Time; Storytelling
Further Reading
Berger, Arthur Asa. 1993. An Anatomy of Humor. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Englander, Nathan. 2000. For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. New York: Vintage.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. 2002. Everything Is Illuminated. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Portnoy, Edward. 2010. “Wise Men of Chelm.” YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Wise_Men_of_Chelm. Accessed October 22, 2015.
Prose, Francine. 1997. The Angel’s Mistake: Stories of Chelm. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis. 1993. Schlemiel and Other Fools of Chelm. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.