Tales of the Chelm First Ward

When God created the world, he sent an angel to spread the souls of fools evenly across the earth. Unfortunately, the angel tripped. As a result, the town of Chelm became home to the world’s most densely concentrated nonsense. Though most stories about Chelm are Jewish, Tales of the Chelm First Ward follows a group of locals who recently became Latter-day Saints.

The thirty-two stories in this collection offer glimpses into the Chelm ward’s uniquely Mormon illogic. Fruma Selig hears it’s important for her daughters to marry in the church and worries when one insists instead on getting married in the temple. Heshel is so hungry one fast Sunday that it’s hard to calculate what he owes the Lord. Shmuel Peretz knows that eight is the age of accountability and doesn’t want to waste any last free chances to sin before his birthday. Through a large cast of equally misguided but mostly likeable characters, captured in accompanying art by David Habben, Tales of the Chelm First Ward pays tribute to the everyday absurdities that come with a community of faith.