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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny as can be, October 31, 2003
These 14 stories, published in Yiddish in 1942, and in English the same year, link us to a vanished world, reviving the Jewish folklore of the fools of Helm, a mythic town set deep in the forests of Poland. There Jews had long beards and black coats that reached their ankles--but were not quite like other Jews. In the spring after a very hard winter, they built a wall around their town to keep the cold out. Later, they invited an organist to play for the town--although there was not a single organ in Helm. The world came to regard them as fools. An angel had been flying over Helm en route to heaven with a sack full of fools in need of repair when the bottom caught on a treetop and all the fools fell into the valley town of Helm, where they remained. The Helmites insisted that they were not the fools. "It's just that foolish things are always happening to us," explained Mottel. For example, since thieves always steal at night, the Helm shopkeepers kept their stores open at night and slept by day. When no one came to their stores, they decided instead to hire a night watchman--who wore an inside out fur coat to be recognized, sat on a horse and guarded the shops. But one fine morning, the watchman woke the townspeople. Their shops were emptied in the night. Furious, they dragged him to the Rabbi. He said, "I admit I saw the thieves break the locks. With my own eyes I watched them carrying the wares out of the shops. But I could do nothing." Why? Because his horse was tied to the post near town hall, far away from the shops, and untying it was too risky. The horse might gallop off and kill him. With thieves in town, the Helmites decided there was no justice, and sent two messengers to buy some and bring it back to Helm, for rich and poor alike. The Helmites rode all the way to Warsaw, searching all the stores. "Look no further," two rogues told them, "We'll sell you as much justice as you want." For 2,000 pieces of gold, the rogues a few hours later delivered a full barrel of justice, nailed tight and sealed all around, warning the Helmites, "More sure not to jostle it on your way. You know how hard it is to get justice these days." When they got back to Helm, however, and reverently lifted the cover on the barrel, they smelled bad fish. "Justice of the world smells bad," they cried. "Woe! What shall we do?"
Whereupon Gimpel exclaimed, "That is the kind of justice you have in the rest of the world!" After a great fire in Helm, the Rabbi consoled the people with the news that they could now expand their Synagogue, making it as large as Gimpel's potato patch. The Warsaw Jews gave money to their Helm brothers to fund the construction. But, carrying a great fortune, and convinced by scoundrels that they would be robbed on the road, the Helmites decided to buy feathers--which are light. And feathers, if stolen, could unlike money not be concealed by the thieves. Once back in Helm, they would sell the feathers and use the money to rebuild their Synagogue. They set out back to Helm, and when a favorable wind arose, they reasoned that by releasing the feathers they could save themselves the trouble of carrying them. They let the feathers fly. Once back in Helm, the people cheered their heroes' return. And what of the feathers? "When you grow up," Gimpel told a saucy lad, "you'll understand that if a man can sometimes be late, surely feathers can also be late." When after weeks the feathers had still not arrived, the Helmites decided to seek them in the larger world. And that is how the fools came to live among us. If you think you might be one of them, read the book to verify their traits. --Alyssa A. Lappen
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by Solomon Simon
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
by Sadie Rose Weilerstein
