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Adirondack Mendel's Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm's Pond

Sandor Schuman (Goodreads Author),

Kevin Kuhne (Illustrator)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 5 ratings · 3 reviews

Bloomie, they say, couldn’t find the hole in the middle of a bagel; her challah is missing a braid; she can’t remember which is her side of the eruv. Eager for her to get married, her parents conspire to advertise in the personals, and Adirondack Mendel arrives in Chelm’s Pond looking for love. But Bloomie, angry at her parents for advertising, will have nothing to do with ...more

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Paperback, 119 pages

Published December 3rd 2012 by This Too Shall Pass Press

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Jun 13, 2013 Jenny Boyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-reads

This book was an enjoyable and quick read. The story itself is lighthearted while at the same time presenting deep, thought-provoking ideas to ponder while reading. The format of this book is interesting- each chapter is a short story that goes into making one larger story. I was a little apprehensive going into this book, seeing as I'm not religious, but knowledge of Jewish customs (or any religion, for that matter) is not required to read this book- the author does a great job of explaining th ...more

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May 23, 2013 ManOfLaBook.com rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013

Adirondack Mendel's Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm's Pond by Sandor Schuman is a fictional book, taking place in upstate New York which reprises some of the old Jewish tales of the fools of Chelm.

When I was contacted and offered Adirondack Mendel's Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm's Pond by Sandor Schuman I immediately jumped on the chance. I remember the tales of these fabulous fools from my childhood. I remember my grandfather telling me these folklore stories (which I’m sure he grew Adirondack Mendel's Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm's Pond by Sandor Schuman is a fictional book, taking place in upstate New York which reprises some of the old Jewish tales of the fools of Chelm.

When I was contacted and offered Adirondack Mendel's Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm's Pond by Sandor Schuman I immediately jumped on the chance. I remember the tales of these fabulous fools from my childhood. I remember my grandfather telling me these folklore stories (which I’m sure he grew up on) and I remember how much I enjoyed them as well.

But it seems that Mr. Schuman knew that already before contacting me, after all he stated upfront that “a Jewish story is one that a non-Jew wouldn’t understand, and a Jewish person has already heard”. Of course non-Jews would enjoy these stories as well but maybe not as much since self-deprecation is a staple in Jewish folklore.

The Wise Men of Chelm are a bunch of popular Jewish folklore stories. Chelm is a town in Poland (about 65 KM southeast of Lublin) and were passed down through the generations verbally or through books in Yiddish. Many of the stories feature the men doing absolutely foolish things. Like many of the stories the title “Wise Men” is said in irony which is a common feature in European folklore.

The moment I read the first paragraph I knew I’d like the book as it kept in line with the Eastern European tradition of the stories, they were persuaded to leave Poland by a shrewd real-estate agent who promised them that:

“every acre is two, you can till the soil with a teaspoon, and there are not only four seasons, but there are a five”.

The tales of Chelm are usually outlandish stories of stupidity or naiveté and Mr. Schuman does a wonderful job bringing them across the Atlantic. On one of the stories, about choosing a mother-in-law, I was laughing so hard I had to call my wife.

This book is a fast read and includes a very handy Yiddish and slang glossary as well as a study guide (available for free download). The book is full of wonderful illustrations which capture not only characters, but also the spirit of the stories whether in Europe or New York.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com ...more

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Jun 13, 2013 Sandor Schuman rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

I am the author of this book and I wanted to share a few comments about its origins.

As a storyteller, I wanted to tie together various Jewish jokes and stories into a larger setting and decided to set them in Chelm, the traditional Jewish Eastern-European setting for stories of fools and their mistaken reasoning. I wanted to move the fools of Chelm to America, and in particular to my home state of New York, so I searched for a "Chelm" in New York using Google Maps and Mapquest. No luck. I tried

...more

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