Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, humorous, and wonderfully illustrated., November 6, 1997
By A Customer
The fictional town of Chelm is filled with a variety of preoccupied and "eccentric" individuals, who are both described and illustrated extremely well. From the Rabbi to Mendel to the animals, who perhaps possess the best judgement of everyone (as expressed by words and in illustration), the town is alive and exceptionally funny, with everyone trying to be understanding, thoughtful, intelligent, and considerate. The message is clear, everybody must be dedicated to something, and must make decisions, we all just have different ways of arriving at them! This is a book to be shared between parent and child(ren), and not only at Hannukah. In my opinion this book would be a welcome edition to any home library, especially those of individuals who are understanding, cooperative, caring, and dedicated to family, to education, and to traditions. It also helps to have a sense of humor (e.g., at times this Chelm is too familiar to me!).
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fun story for all seasons, December 24, 2000
Chelm (pronounced "khlem" with a gutteral) is a mythical town filled with loveable Jewish fools. But Chelm foolishness is not mere stupidity -- no, indeed! The "wisdom" of Chelm is a sort of convoluted mis-logic that satirizes the process of Jewish theological reasoning. It's a way that we Jews have of laughing at ourselves, of stepping back and saying, "Sometimes we make things far more complicated than they need to be." In this book, Rabbi Nachman of Chelm tells Mendel to set up the menorah by the window for the first night of Chanukah. Mendel goes to the storeroom, where there are such silly things as a bike with square wheels, a crate full of imported air, and the Cantor's Decanter. In this messy jumble he finds a menorah and brings it into the main room. Following the rabbi's instructions quite literally, he sets it up by the window -- on the floor! The Rabbi tells him to get a table. Mendel goes back into the storeroom but, in true Chelmitish denseness, doesn't see the little table where he found the menorah in the first place. So, he tells the rabbi that he can't find a table. The rabbi then sends him to Berel the carpenter, who is busy trying to remember which end of a ladder is the top... and the silliness just goes on from there. In addition to the main storyline, there are puns and jokes in the illustrations. Characters talk to each other with cartoon-type balloons ("How long did you sleep last night?" "I don't know, I didn't bring a ruler to bed.") and the synagogue cat makes wisecracks. Berel's shop is named "Tables Are Us" (established "some time ago"), where there is a currently a big sale on two-legged tables. Best of all, the sign on the road to Chelm points in both directions -- hinting that EVERYWHERE is Chelm, when you stop to think about it. In terms of Jewish tradition, the illustrations are appropriate for even very Orthodox Jews. One nice touch is that the menorah is the oil-burning type, rather than one with candles -- which would be accurate for Old World Chelm and in many homes to this day. Candles were expensive back then (out of reach for the poor Chelmites) and oil was/is preferred to commemorate the Miracle of the Oil. Having a cat in the synagogue is historially accurate, too -- she helped keep the mice from nibbling the leather bindings on the books. (Those were, of course, always synagogue mice, never church mice.)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fools will be fools, March 23, 2002
Chelm is that mythic place in Eastern Europe where, by accident, the angels deposited all the world's fools. I love Chelm and all of its residents, who like many people much of the time, take themselves too seriously to see how funny they are. In this simple tale we meet Rabbi Nachman--not the one from Bratslav, but a fool like all Chelmites, which the illustrations show beautifully. He wore his kipah upside-down (those educated in Chelm lore will immediately recognize his logic from another tale on how Chelmites avoid getting their hats wet in the rain). He also put his breakfast cream in it. But here's my favorite piece of clever silliness. After failing to see a table right in front of his eyes, Mendel traveled through the snow to find one, and having done so began to carry it back to the shul in time to light the menorah. Of course, he got tired, untied the table and put it down. While resting in the forest, he met Rivki and Dovid. The latter told the table, "You have four strong legs. If we can walk to the synagogue on two legs, surely you can walk on four." I won't tell you what else happened, but suffice it to say that even the poor Chelmites eventually determined how to light the Chanukah menorah and found a table to put it on. If you and your children like this Chelm story, try Eric Kimmel's Jar of Fools too. Amongst the very best Chelm stories, also, are Solomon Simon's Wise Men of Helm and Their Merry Tales and his More Wise Men of Helm and Their Merry Tales. These all provide the read-aloud set with much hilarity. Alyssa A. Lappen
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