KABBALAH ACCORDING TO THE WISE MEN OF CHELM: A humorous interpretation

The Jewish elders say that God commissioned an angel to spread a set of foolish souls throughout the Earth. The angel put those souls in a sack and headed for Earth, with such bad fortune that he tripped and all the souls fell in the same place. This is said to be the origin of the town of Chelm. It had long since that unfortunate incident had happened, but at the beginning of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Chelm continued to retain the reputation of fools, of which they were extremely proud. One day a peddler came to Chelm loaded with a sack full of imperishable goods which he exhibited in the town square. Inside the sack there was a book that by force of habit the peddler placed among the rest of the merchandise. If he had stop and think, he would not have bothered to take out the book from the sack, for everyone knew that the inhabitants of Chelm presumed not knowing how to read. However, a villager named Elijah insisted on buying the book. It was useless that the peddler advised him that it was filled with letters. On the contrary, the more he advised, the more Elijah wanted it. And after a tense bargaining, he ended up buying the book.