According to The Jerusalem Post, a good Jewish joke can relate to the traditional aspects of Judaism as well as its culture. Another good joke can be between the special relationship to G-d and His unanswered prayers. Even throwing a few jabs at religious practices like circumcision can be a real riot.
But, it can be another story if these jokes offer harsh criticism of Jewish customs or succumb to negative stereotypes like an obsession with money or our nose shapes. Jokes like these can hurt a whole group of people who have already been through enough antisemitism that has lasted for generations and generations. A good Jewish joke has the power to make people laugh when it's executed with good intentions compared to using a joke as a weapon to belittle an entire group of people.
Jewish comedy actually goes as far back as the Torah. While the Torah is not exactly read the same way a simpleton would read Reader's Digest, Classroom says there are religious passages in the Torah that can show you that the beginning of time wasn't all harsh. In Genesis 17:16, 90-year-old Sarah was told by G-d that she was pregnant. She answered in the way that many of us in her situation probably would- through uproarious laughter! Proverbs 17:22 also says that laughter is the best medicine.
While laughter has been welcomed in the Torah in terms of celebration like for the holiday of Purim, it depends on how this laughter is used. The Gemarah says that a scorner will not merit "Divine Presence in the world to come" with no constructive criticism to come to that person. Sarcasm, mockery, and degradation are considered unacceptable forms of humor. It could be why G-d took offense to Sarah's reaction of laughing as she laughed in the form of disbelief while her husband, Abraham, laughed due to pure joy at the news. Humor and wit must be used wisely.
My Jewish Learning says that humor became a cultural phenomenon in 19th-century Eastern Europe seen in the synagogue, marketplace, and at home. The shtetl became the gathering place for Jewish folk to tell their amusingly funny stories. Before the times of the Holocaust, Jewish humor was more of an inside joke. These jokes would come in the form of comic lines in Yiddish, religious allusions, as well as shared fears, histories, and frustrations.
Once Jewish humor started entering the mainstream scene, "inside jokes" were no more. According to Steve Allen's book "Funny People," 80% of comedians are Jewish. A 2013 Pew Study said that 42% of American Jews felt that having a sense of humor was essential to their character. Jews started dominating the entertainment industry in standup, television, literature, and film. You've got the culture satire of Lenny Bruce, self-flagellation styles of Woody Allen, audience flagellation from Jackie Mason, standup comedy from Jerry Seinfeld, and television comedy from Larry David. Then, there's also your Jewish humor literature from authors like Jonathan Safran Foer, Sholem Aleichem, I.L. Peretz, and more.
YOU ARE READING
Jewish Jokes: Tickling Funny Bones or Crossing Antisemitism?
NonfiksiThere's a fine line between what's funny and what's offensive. Here is my attempt to draw that line.
