In 1727, stories about Schildbürger were translated into Yiddish under the title "Vunder zeltzame, kurtzvaylige, lustige, unt rekht lakherlikhe geshikhte unt datn der velt bekantn Shild burger" ("Wonderfully rare, brief, hearty, and quite laughable stories and facts about the world-famous burghers of Schilda"), and stories of this type entered into Jewish folklore. In the latter book Dick draws a comparison of Duratshesok with Chelm saying that Helm has a reputation of
vilde harishkeyn (wild foolishness) and gives the examples thereof, which turn out to be retellings of Schildbürger stories and their imitations. Ruth von Bernuth writes that the first book title which mentions both "Chelm" and "wisdom" and the first book exclusively devoted to the fools of Chelm is the 1887 book
Der Khelemer khokhlem by an obscure writer Herts Bik. In the 19th–20th centuries numerous collections about
Khelemer were published in Yiddish, also translated into English and Hebrew.
Mendele Mocher Sforim invented three
shtetls inhabited by naive, luckless Jews, reminiscent of the wise men of Chelm: Kabtzansk (loosely meaning "Pauperville", from , "pauper", "beggar"), Tuneyadevke ("Idlersville", from Russian '
тунеядец', "freeloader", "idler"), and Glupsk ("Foolstown", from Russian, '
глупец' for "fool"). Many of
Sholem Aleichem's stories are set in a fictional
shtetl of
Kasrilevka. The Soviet Yiddish poet
Ovsey Driz published a collection of verse,
Khelemer khakhomim, translated into Russian as "" in 1969, which was republished in post-Soviet Russia several times. Other notable adaptations of folklore Chełm stories into the mainstream culture are the comedy
Chelmer Chachomim ("The Wise Men of Chelm") by
Aaron Zeitlin,
The Heroes of Chelm (
Di Helden fun Khelm, 1942) by
Shlomo Simon, published in English translation as
The Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1945) and
More Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1965), and the book
Chelmer Chachomim by
Y. Y. Trunk. The animated short film comedy
Village of Idiots also recounts Chełm tales.
Menachem Kipnis was one of the major contributors to Chelm lore. He published a column of Chelm stories in the Warsaw Yiddish daily
Haynt, pretending to be a journalist reporting from Chelm. There is a (possibly apocryphal) story that the women of Chelm asked Kipnis to stop doing this because their daughters could not find bridegrooms: every time they hear from
shadkhn that the girl is from Chelm, they cannot stop laughing. He later published these tales in the book
Khelemer mayses (Chelm Stories; Polish transcription:
Chelemer Majses, 1930).
Khelmer khakhomim oder yidn fun der kligster shtot in der welt ("The Wise Men of Chelm, or the Jews from the Wisest Town in the World") (1951) by
Yehiel Yeshaya Trunk was described by Or Rogovin as "a vast book of sophisticated tales that artistically fuse the different Chelm traditions with innovative plots and historical, linguistic, and cultural material. Using mostly formalist methodology, this essay analyzes the devices and materials constituting a process I call shtetlization, in which the Chelm of folklore is immersed with the spirit and qualities of the shtetl to create not a realistic East European Jewish town but a myth of it. Locating Trunk’s work in its circumstances of writing, my conclusion explores
Khelemer khakhomim as a means of commemoration of the lost world of the shtetl in the aftermath of the Holocaust".
Allen Mandelbaum's
Chelmaxioms : The Maxims, Axioms, Maxioms of Chelm (1977) treats the wise men less as fools than as an "echt Chelm" of true scholars who in their narrow specialized knowledge are nonetheless knowledgeable but lacking sense. The poetry of Chelmaxioms is supposedly coming from the discovered lost manuscripts of the wise men of Chelm. Ruth von Bernuth lists more authors, including well into the 21st century, who took inspiration in Chelm stories. ==Further examples==