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On Jews and Their Jokes 19

Al Gini* and Singer** Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us?OnJews and Their Jokes

Abstract: Humor,laughter,joke telling can be frivolousfun or it could act as a sword and ashield to defend and protect us against life. Humor can, at times, illuminateifnot completelyexplain, some of the irresoluble problems and mys- teries thatindividuals face.And, if all else fails, humor can hold off our fear of the unanswerable and the unacceptable. Historicallyitcan be argued that during times of trial, tribulations, and suffering, Jewishcommunities and individuals have used humor as away to copewith and deal with reality.

Keywords: pain, suffering, humor,and laughter

Whoever has cried enough, laughs! —Heinrich Mann

In the 1960s, the Jewish population in America was less than3%, but according to Time Magazine nearly80% of the top performingcomedians wereJewish. As one pundit put it: “ComedyinAmerica was aJewish cottageindustry!” (Menchin 1997, 12). Different from performers like Jackie Mason, Myron Cohen, Henny Youngman, ,and LennyBruce who openlyidentified with and poked fun at their Jewish heritage, most successful Anglicized their names and crafted acomic persona and arepertoire of jokes that appealed to ageneral audience. Forexample: Jack Benny(Benjamin Kubelsky), (Nathan Bienhaum), JerryLewis (Jerome Levitch), RodneyDangerfield (Jacob Cohen),and Red Buttons (Aaron Chwatt). Today’scomedy scene is no lon- gerascompletelydominated by Jewish performers.But no-nonsense Jewish names are still major players in the world of show business:JerrySeinfeld, Paul Reiser,David Steinburg, LarryDavid, , , AmySchumer,Sarah Silverman, ,Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, Fran Drescher,and Vanessa Bayer. Giventhese names and numbers the trick question is: Are predisposed to comedy?Answer: Geneticallypredisposed or programmedfor comedyand shtick,nowedon’tthink so. To claim that Jews, or anyethnic or racialgroup pos- sesses aspecific gene or cluster of comedic genes is, at best,dubious and cannot

* Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University ;[email protected] ** Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago;[email protected] https://doi.org/10.1515/phhumyb-2020-0005 18 Al Gini and AbrahamSinger be empiricallysubstantiated. But to the question: Are Jews historicallyand cul- turallypredisposed to comedy? The answer is an emphatic yes! Giventhe title and thesis of this book, we think that one otherquestion begs to be answered. “AreJewishcomics predisposed to ?” After years of re- search on this topic, we’ve come up with aseries of very Jewish responses: “Yesand no!”“Sometimes!”“It happens!”“Every once in awhile!”“Not so much!”“Maybe?” And last,but not least, “Depends on the comic and the joke!” This, we think, is closest to the mark. Most,but not all Jewish humor and most Jewishcomics do not use satire in the waythatJon OliverorSamantha Beepreform their brand of comedy. But there’salways abit of biting satire and seething displeasure in the tone of voice, bodylanguage, and caustic comments of aJeff Garlin, Sandra Bernhard, or Marc Maron, for example. Overall, Jewishjokes tend to be sarcastic, cynical, complaining, kvetching, in nature. (Think Richard Lewis!) Jewish comics tell alot of “woe is me” types of jokes.WoodyAllen is amixtureofNietzschean melancholy, Freudian angst, and Humean skepticism. Mel Brooks,onthe other hand, is the cleverclown who uses over the top parodyand burlesque imitation to deliverhis comic point of view.But whether the type of humor is strictlysatirical, or “pie in the face” slapstick, much, if not all, Jewishhumor is an attempt to deal with the ba- nalities, mysteries, and horrors of life. JeremyDauber in his recent book JewishComedy:ASerious History argues that all of Jewishhumor is basedonseven social-culturalcommonalities (Daub- er 2017,10). (1) Jewishcomedy is aresponse to persecutionand anti-Semitism. (2) Jewishcomedy is asatirical gaze at Jewishsocialand communal norms. (3) Jewishcomedy is bookish, witty,intellectual allusive play. (4) Jewishcomedy is vulgar,raunchy, and body-obsessed. (5) Jewishcomedy is mordant, ironic,and metaphysically oriented. (6) Jewishcomedy is focused on the folksy,everyday,quotidian . (7) Jewishcomedy is about the blurred and ambiguous nature of Jewishness itself.

We could not agree more, at least in regardtothe first proposition. However, items #2 to #7 are not uniqueorexclusive to the Jewish experience. They are, in fact,culturaltouchstones or phenomenon that transcend anyclaim of exclu- sivity or ethnicoriginality,and are the sourceorstimulus for jokes in manyother cultures and peoples. Acursory check into the “comic archives” will quicklyre- sult in the discovery of avariety of non-Jewishbased jokes that fit into these cat- egories. Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us? On Jews and Their Jokes 19

2ASatiricalGazeatSocialCommunalNorms

Germans are flummoxedbyhumor,the Swiss have no concept of fun, the Spanish think thereisnothingatall ridiculous about eatingdinner at midnight, and the Italians should never,everhavebeen let in on the invention of the motorcar. —Bill Bryson

An Indian father’sadmonition to his teenageson. “No parties! No foolingaround! No girls! No dating! Fundoesn’tstart until medical school!” —Hasan Minhaj

3Bookish, Witty,and Intellectual

Apsychiatrist was at his office lateone night when he heardavery faint tappingathis door. When he opened it,hefound arather large mouth hoveringinfront of him. Suddenly, the mouth began to speak and complain about the quality of his life and how unhappy he was. According to mouth, he was feelingdepressed and suicidal and he askedthe psychiatrist if he would take him on as aclient. “Yes, of course,” said the psychiatrist, “But whyme? Why now?” The mouth stared at him quizzicallyand said: “Because your light was on!” —Aversion of Norm Macdonald’s “Moth and the Podiatrist” joke.

4Vulgar,Raunchy, andBody-Obsessed

Aguy walked into an Irish pub and sees asignthat says: Cheese Sandwiches – $4.00 Handjobs – $10.00 He walks up to the waitress and says: “Excuse me, areyou the one whogives the hand- jobs?” “Yes, Iam!,” she says smilingly. “Well, please go wash your hands,because Iwould like acheese sandwich!”

Afellow gotarrested last Saturday.Hewas standingout in his backyardwith just his pa- jama tops on. His neighbor askedhim, “What’cha doing out in the backyard with just your pajama tops on?” He says, “Last week, Iwent to the drugstore and Ididn’thaveascarf on, so Igot astiff neck. This is my wife’sidea.” —Redd Foxx 20 Al Gini and Abraham Singer

5Mordant, Ironic, and Metaphysical

In 1847, Oscar Wilde was dyingofmeningitis in arun-down, horriblydecorated Parisian hotel. Deeplydepressed by his surroundings and in his failinghealth, Wilde reportedly quipped to afriend: “My wallpaper and Iare fightingaduel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”

6Folksy, Everyday,Quotidian

The onlyway Icould have friends eat at my house was to brief them beforethey came over: “… Listen to me and listen good. When you’re done with the meal, if youwant alittle more, it’sgoing to getvery tricky.Don’ttell my mother youwant alittle more, because then she’ll serveyou awhole new meal… Youwant alittle? Tell her youwant no more. Youwant alot more? Tell her youwant alittle. Youreallydon’twant anymore? Youhavetoshoot her.” —RayRomano

Ole was on his first datewith Lena, and he tookher to the New Ulm. In the restaurant Ole said, “Hey, Lena, would youlikeacocktail beforedinner?” “Oh, no, Ole,” said Lena. “What would Itell my SundaySchool class?” Afterdinner,hesaid, “Heywould youlikeacigarette?” “Oh, no, Ole,” said Lena. “What would Itell my SundaySchool class?” Ole was drivingLenahome when they passed the Romeo Motel. He said, “Hey, Lena, how would youliketostopatthat motel with me?” “Yah, Ole, dot would be nice,” said Lena. Ole asked, “But what areyou going to tell your SundaySchool class?” “The same thingIalways tell them. Youdon’thavetosmokeand drink to have agood time!” —AWisconsin/Minnesota Scandinavian Farmer Joke.

7Blurred and Ambiguous CulturalIdentity

If yougotofamilyreunions to pick up girls,guess what?You just might be aredneck! —Jeff Foxworthy

AGreek and an Italian weredebatingwho has the superior culture. The Greek says, “We have the Parthenon.” The Italian says, “We have the Colosseum.” The Greek says, “We had great mathematicians and philosophers.” The Italian says, “We created aworld empire and established Pax Romana.” And so on and so on, for hours, until the Greek lights up and says, “We inventedsex!” The Italian nods slowly,thinks,and replies, “That is true—but it was Italians whointro- duced it to women!” Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us? On Jews and Their Jokes 21

I’mfromFinland, and I’ve been workingfor alongtime tryingtolook, sound, and be as American as possible. I’mthinkingoftakinganeasy wayout: fat,stop voting, and in- vade asmall country in the ! —Lisa Mannerkoski

Putting aside Dauber’sfirst rubric for amoment,wewould arguethatany at- tempt to define and catalogue alist of jokes and subject matter that is exclusive to the Jewish experience and thatare onlytold by Jews is doomed to failure. The subjectmatter and comic punchlines of most but not all Jewish shtick and goyim bits are more often than not gleanedfrom experiences, events and common ex- istential challenges that are universaltothe human condition. Topics such as re- ligion, God, death, illness, marriageand sex (clearly two separate topics), hus- bands, wives, lovers, friends, adversaries, enemies, in-laws, former-laws, mothers, mothers-in-law, neighbors, work, money,jobs, careers,politics—are not exclusive to one ethnic or religious group or moment in time. There are, of course, cultural differences in the setup and delivery of these “universaljoke topics.” Accents, emphasis, timing,and body-languagecoat these general topics with acertain parochial tone and color.But we want to arguethat awell-constructed joke about marriage, for example, stripped of its parochial particulars makes sense and is funnytoageneral audience. Forexam- ple:

Awife (fill in the ethnic group or religious affiliation of your choice) comes home suddenly in the middle of the dayand runs into the house. She slams the door and shouts at the top of her lungstoher husband: “Honey,pack your bags. Ijustwon the super lottery!” The hus- band (ditto, in his regard) says: “Oh my god! That’sgreat! What should Ipack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?”“Doesn’tmatter,” the wife screams, “Just getout!”

However,wewould arguethatthereare four joke topics that although universal in nature, when told by aJewish comic, oftencontain adifferent sub-text and poignancytothem that is part and parcel of AmericanJewish culturalexperi- ence: mothers, wives, daughters,and money.Wejoke and leave for others to de- bate, thatthese are alsofamiliar tropes of anti-Semitism. We also note that these topics have little to do with as areligion. This makessome sense: the , the Mishnah, the and other religious teachings tend to be abit more solemnthanjocular.Indeed, John Morreall, aphilosopher of religion and humor, has maintained that Jewish humor is asecular cultural byproduct and not connected to biblical or rabbinicteachings,which tend to have a more tragic worldview.This seems accurate enough.However,nothing we say here hinges on the question. On whether Jewish humor is connected to the reli- 22 Al Gini and Abraham Singer gious practices of Judaism we are, if you’ll excuse the playonwords, agnostic (Morreall 1999,94–99). AccordingtoSam Hoffman, life-long Jewand author of Old Jews Telling Jokes,Jewish mothers around the world have long served as the head and the heart of the household (Hoffman and Spiegelman 2010). They have been tradi- tionally depicted as over-protective,focused, and possessivelyneurotic regard- ing the well-beingoftheir family. In America, this legion of drivenand deter- mined women metered out tons of laser-focused encouragement and detailed orders to getthe done. And, of course, when that didn’twork, there was al- ways the “gifts thatkeep of giving”:guilt,constant nagging,and smothering over-protectiveness. Andall of this is captured in jokes thatacknowledge,ap- plaud, and appreciate the non-stop efforts of Jewishmatriarchs.While at the same time registering some discomfort and discontent at their non-stop admon- ishments. Forexample:

Q: “What’saJewish sweater?” A: “Awoolen garment worn by achild when their mother gets cold.” Q: “The definition of aJewish genius?” A: “An ordinary good boy with aJewish mother!” Q: “At what stage does aJewish fetus become viable?” A: “Onlyafter graduationfrommedical school!”

AccordingtoHoffman, Jewishmothers have created an “artform” out of an ad- mixture of tough loveand large portions of smothering adoration. Yet, in spite of all of this, most (but not all) Jewishmother jokes are not vindictive,mean or den- igrating.Rather,they are aback-handed attempt to both critique and celebrate the effortsofJewishmotherstohavetheir children, especiallymale children, be- come the best that they can be.

Jewish male children arehounded by their mothers to become doctors;and, if they couldn’t become doctors,they could at least become lawyers; and, if they couldn’tbecome doctors or lawyers, and werenot “too smart” they could at least become accountants. —Jackie Mason; Former , Comic

ForJewish mothers, behind all of this prompting, the pushingand pressure is something much more thansimple parochial parental pride. What’satstake is both apersonal and acollective agenda, challenge, and goal. It’sabout achieve- ment,making it,success. And success is much more than getting ajob, making a little money,and simple survival. Real success is measured in terms of accept- ance and assimilation. Success means thatyou werenolonger a “stranger in a strangeland.” Success means that through prodding, effort,energy,and luck— Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us? On Jews and Their Jokes 23 youhavearrived. And the success of every Jewishchild adds to the success, sta- bility,and the cultural/economic status and well-being of the Jewish community in general. Indeed, by making fun of over-bearing Jewish mothers, most comedi- ans are reallyregistering an affection for the milieu that nurtured them and a sort of prideintheir accomplishments.

Q: “What’sthe difference between atailor and apsychiatrist?” A: “Ageneration of hard work and effort!”

As twogood Jewish and Italian boys,we, of course, especiallylovemother jokes. Here’sour big three all-time favorites.

Q: “How manyJewish mothers does it taketochange alightbulb?” A: (Sigh) “Don’tbother.I’ll sit in the dark. Idon’twant to be anuisanceorabother to any- body.”

Aman called his mother in Florida, “Mom, how areyou?” “Not toogood,” said the mother. “I’ve been very weak.” The son said, “Whyare yousoweak?” She said, “Because Ihaven’teatenin38days.” The son said, “That’sterrible! Whyhaven’tyou eaten in 38 days?!” The mother answered, “Because Ididn’twant my mouth to be filled with food if youshould finallycall!!!”

The year is 2020,and the has elected the first woman as well as the first Jew- ish president,Susan Goldfarb. She calls up her mother afew weeksafter Election Dayand says, “So, Mom, Iassume you’ll be coming to my inauguration?” “Idon’tthink so. It’saten-hour drive,your father isn’tasyoungasheused to be, and my arthritis is actingupagain.” “Don’tworry about it,Mom—I’ll send Air ForceOne to pick youupand take youhome. A limousine will pick youupatyour door.” “Idon’tknow.Everybodywill be so fancy-schmancy; what on earth would Iwear?” Susan replies, “I’ll make sureyou have awonderful gown custom-made by the best design- er in .” “Honey,” Mom complains, “Youknow Ican’teat those rich foods youand your friends like to eat.” The president-elect responds, “Don’tworry,Mom. The entireaffair is going to be handled by the best caterer in New York—kosher all the way. Mom, Ireallywant youtocome.” So her mother reluctantlyagrees, and on January 20,2021, Susan Goldfarb is sworn in as President of the United States. In the front row sits the new president’smother,who leans over to asenator sitting next to her and says, “Yousee that woman over there with her hand on the Torah, becomingPresident of the United States?” The senatorwhispers back, “Yes, Ido.” Mom says proudly, “Herbrother is adoctor!” 24 Al Gini and Abraham Singer

By wayofaside, in our researchonJewish mother jokes the one type of mother joke that was almost impossibletofind was naughty or sexuallyexplicit mother jokes.And then we found one, written and performed by—really, no surprise— Sarah Silverman! But,inher defense, the joke is based on two virtuesthatare constantlyreinforced by all Jewish mothers: (1) Always finished what youstart- ed. (2)Always clean up afteryourself. The joke:

Acouple of nights ago, Iwas lickingjellyoff my boyfriend’spenis and Ithoughttomyself— “Oh my God, I’mbecomingmymother!”

Different from mother jokes,inthe Jewish comedic tradition sexual jokes about wivesand girlfriends can be justasvulgar,sexist,demeaning,and misogynistic as youwill find in Gershon Legman’sencyclopedia of lecherous jokes, Rationale of TheDirty Joke. However,there exists asub-species of Jewishjokes about women, wives, and daughters that have adual meaning.They are both naughty and nice, bragging and complaining, disapproving and boastful, disparaging and celebratory. Partnerscomplaining about their spouses is of course nothing specific to the Jewishpeople. Wivesofall backgrounds make fun of their husbands’ slobbish- ness, or lack of bedroom prowess, and husbands of all backgrounds make the same tired jokes about their wivesand daughters’ fiscal excesses and fashion ex- penditures. But within the , these kindsofjokes,referred to as JAP jokes (Jewish-American Prince), aterm that applies to both wivesand daughters, are adouble-edgedsword. In part,they are sexist complaints, but in largerpart are also braggadocios. Being able to publiclybemoan the constant excessive spending habits of one’sfemale dependents also suggests thatthe husband can afford to maintain and indulge the women in his life. In complaining, the father/husband in ques- tion is simultaneouslybragging about his success as aprovider,his success in the game of life. In being able to indulge his “JAP” wife and daughter he pro- claims to the world that “Ihavearrived, survivedand have been assimilated into the largerculture.” LikeCaesar, he can proudlyproclaim: “Icame, Icon- quered, and therefore, Ican afford to indulge!” This was most famouslyand best captured in Philip Roth’sbreakout novella Goodbye Columbus, wherethe patriarch Mr.Patimkin comments on his son’swedding: “When Igot married, we had knivesand forks from the five and ten. This kid needsgold to eat off.” But,asthe narrator goes on to clarify: “But there was no anger; far from it” (Roth 1959, 41). The bottom line is: JAPjokes are acelebration, or attemptstoassureoneself, of male victorious financial virtuosity. Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us? On Jews and Their Jokes 25

An American-Jewish patriarch askedthat his ashes be scattered in Bloomingdales.Sohe could be surehis wife and daughter would visit him at least twice aweek.

If aJewish husband dies in the forest,how long beforehis wife will go shopping?

AJewish wife’sperfect house? Seven thousand squarefeet with no master bedroom, no kitchen and privateclothes closet the size of athree-car garage.

As Krasnyhas pointed out,ifaJewish wife,ordaughter is spoiled, or overlyindulged, who is the one spoiling that wife or princess daughter? “The credit goes, of course, to the patriarch, the paterfamilias or head of the family —who bringshomethe not-necessarilykosher bacon!” (Krasny2016,47). Those who do not succeed are ,who constantly kvetches and com- plains about their fate.

My wife divorced me for religious reasons. She worshipped money and Ididn’thaveany!” —HennyYoungman

In the end, likemostexamples of female-demeaning behavior, the JAPjoke is much more areflection of, and comment upon, the position of the Jewish male joke teller. While, for the most part,wesee much of Jewish humor rooted in the cultural commonalities of the universal human experience, there’snodenying Jeremy Dauber’sclaim that both philosophicallyand psychologically “Jewishcomedy is a[direct] response to [a long history of]persecution and anti-Semitism.” Other national groups and religions have been, of course, pilloriedand persecut- ed, and there is no sense in trying to measure what group has suffered more.As Dave Chappelle puts it,you “can’tdocomparative suffering… Black people know about comparative suffering, and youknow that it’safucking dead-end game.Blacksand Jews do that shit to each other all the time. You ever played ‘Who Suffered More’ with aJewishperson?It’satoughgame. When- ever youthink you’ve gotthe Jewish guyonthe ropes,thatmotherfucker will be like, ‘Well don’tforgetabout Egypt’” (Chappelle 2017). There’snosense in trying to claim Jews have been more persecuted. Whatisimportant is thatthe historical tradition, varied experience, and the trans-contextual nature of Jewish persecu- tion is sui generis. Have youread the Old Testamentlately? Aquick surveyre- veals the tragic and tortured history of anation and apeople. Between 1250 B.C.E. and the Israeli escape from the pyramidsonthe Nile and the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., arunning list of Jewish foreign op- ponentsincludes Egyptians,Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, Phoenicians, and Syrians. Internally, the Israelites alsofought off local hostilepeople whose goal was to “Destroythem as anation, so thatIsrael’sname is remembered no more” 26 Al Gini and AbrahamSinger

(Psalm 83). Their local adversaries included the Canaanites, Philistines, Midian- ites,Moabites, Ammonites,Edomites, and Amalekites.Bythe reign of the Roman Emperor Vespasian(69 – 79 C.E.), , as anation, ceased to exist and the “Chosen People” became ascattered community living outside of the ancient lands of Palestine in what is referred to as the Diaspora.¹ And then the Middle Ages came along,followed by the supposedHumanism of the Renaissance,except it was clear to all—Jews werenot on the preferred guest list.The general story of European Jewry is adark one. In most places, Jews wererestricted to living in all Jewish ghettos, deniedcitizenship, banned from the military or holding public office, and excluded from membership in the most prestigious tradeguilds. They were also forciblyexpelled from numer- ous countries,such as Germany(1350s), Portugal(1491), and all of the Papal States (1569). In countries that they wereallowed to remainin, they were often forced to convert to Christianity or face prison, expulsion, or possible exe- cution. Slaughtered by the Crusaders as “infidels,” reviled by Martin Lutheras “Christ-killers,” commonlyaccused of killing Christian babies, and desecrating the communion host,there was little relief or sinecuretobefound in Europe for Jews as apeople. When Shakespeare’s “infamous” Shylock from TheMerchantofVenice asks:

IamaJew. Hath not aJew eyes?Hath not aJew hands,organs, dimensions, senses,affec- tions,passions?Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons,subject to the same diseases,healed by the same means,warmed and cooled by the same winterand summer, as aChristian is?Ifyou prick us,dowenot bleed?Ifyou tickle us,dowenot laugh?

The answer is: “No!” Or,tobemore exact: “We don’tcare! Jews are Jews and not like us! Jews can be mocked, scorned, shunned, and much worse!” Perhaps the most chillingand diabolical historicalexample of the hatred of the Jewish people is the 1942Wannsee Conference organized by S.S. General Reinhard Heydrich for the purposes of establishingthe Nazis’“Final Solution” for the massextermination of all European Jewry.Inless than three hours, over lunch, in alakeside mansion “permanentlyrequisitioned” from its original

 We focus on the history of AshkenaziJewry here, though,tobeclear,Sephardic Jews also shareinthis rugged history.Wenarrow our focus herebecause the Jewish tradition of humor we arediscussing is generallyassociated with this morespecific Ashkenazi experience. It is also, we admit with regret, simplymoreinline with our expertise and knowledge.This is per- hapsnot all on us:thereismuch moreresearch and writingonthe Ashkenazi tradition of humor,whereasmuch cultural research on Sephardim has focused on ballads and folklore, and less on jokes; Levy 1990,147. Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us? On Jews and Their Jokes 27

Jewishowners,15top ranking Nazi officials formallyagreed that all Jews would be deported en masse to concentration camps and either worked to death or im- mediatelyexecuted. After all, Jews were Untermenschen,sub-human, or apseu- do-species, and therefore exist in an un-empathetic non-human state of “other- ness” and are unworthyofcare or concern. So, what constitutes an authentic responsetogeneration after generation of de-humanization, international abuse, spontaneous violence, local programs and government-sponsored genocide?What’sthe answer to the questions: “If we’re the chosen people, what’sthe deal?” And, “Whydid youhavetochoose us?Anew dayitmay be, but ‘oy,oy, oy,the same old troubles keep happening without remission or relief’” (Baum2018, 30). After awhile, it’shard to keep up the pretense that it isn’tpersonal.ManyJews come to the unfortunate conclusion that God can be something of alet-down. Forexample:

An old Jew, whoprays at the Western Wall, is known to have been going there to pray every day, manytimes aday,for manyyears. An enterprisingyoungAmerican reporter is told about the old man and his hours of daily praying. Believingitmight make agood human-interest story,the reporter goes to the wall and, sureenough,thereisthe old man bent in prayer. Afterwatchingthe old Jewprayfor about an hour and ahalf, and then seeinghim slowlywalk away,cane in hand, the reporter approaches him and asks him his name. The old Jewanswers that his name is IrvingRa- binowitz. The reporter then inquires how long Mr.Rabinowitz has been prayingatthe West- ern Wall and Rabinowitz pauses and answers, “Sixty-seven years.” “That is remarkable,” says the young reporter. “What do youprayfor?” Rabinowitz says that he praysfor peace between Jews,Muslims,and Christiansand for the loveof human beings for their fellow humans.Headds that he also praystopoliticians to be hon- est. At this point,the reporter asks, “So, what has it been likefor youprayingall these years?” Rabinowitz answers, “It’sliketalkingtoafuckingwall.”

Or,asWoodyAllen succinctlyand stoicallyput it, “… Idon’tthink thatHe’s [God] evil. Ithink the worst youcan sayabout Him is that,basically,He’sanun- derachiever!” (Baum2018, 37). What to do?Ortoparaphrase Baruch Spinoza, “Whithershall Iturn with my anguish and complaint?” The answer:Joking in the face of absurdity.Humor as an antidote to suffering. Comedyasaresponse to pointless tragedy. Mirth to combat the murder and madness of it all. Laughter as acelebration of survival. The communion of laughter with others. Hence, the classic universal comic toast for all Jewishholidays:

They tried to kill us! They didn’t! Let’seat! 28 Al Gini and Abraham Singer

Ironically, it can be argued thatthe zeitgeist of Jewish humor and comedyindi- rectlyand unintentionallymirrors the convoluted writingsofanaccused anti- Semite and perhaps the gloomiest and least happy of all philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche: “We possess art lest we perish of the truth” (Nietzsche [1910]2019). Truth is often hard to bear.Truth thatisdifficult or ugly is impossibletobear. We need the art of humor to make the truths of life (the good, the bad, and the ugly)morebearable. Humor-like art softens the blows of reality.Humor givesus another wayoflooking at things. Another wayofinterpreting reality.Another waytomitigate the inevitable. The philosopher,theologian and occasional stand-up comic, Mel Brooks is our one true Rabbi (teacher)inthis matter.Brooks contends that in “days of old” for every tenJews God created, he designed one to be acomic to both enter- tain and distract the others. Otherwise, says Brooks,the collective wailing and lamentations of the Israeli tribe would have been unbearable. We need humor, says Brooks, “As adefenseagainst the Universe,” we need humor, “To fight off the givenaswell as our fear of the unknown, the unanswerable, and the un- acceptable” (Trachtenberg2013). Or in the words of afictitious Jewish comedian, Miriam Maisel, from Amazon-Video’s TheMarvelousMrs.Maisel, “Comedyisfu- eled by depression, sadness, despair,orthe lack of other alternatives” (Sherman- Palladino 2018). ForBrooks,humor offers us atimeout,areprieve, amechanism to disarm the moment and/or,atthe very least,keep reality at bay. Comedy, joke telling offers us away to deal with some of the unavoidable absurdities, complexities, and paradoxesoflife. When we laughatone of life’smysteries, cruelties,orhor- rors,wediminish, if onlytemporarily, its terror in our imagination. Joke-telling offers us awindow into the unknowable and the irresolvable. Jokes about sex, marriage, children, money,illness, death, religion, and God maynot provide de- finitive answers, but they can alleviate some of our fears, afford comfort and dis- traction, and perhaps,just perhaps,offer us some perspective,some illumina- tion in regardtothese fundamentallyirresolvable and yetunavoidable issues. Jokes allow us to disarm reality and not be defeated by it.Humor,jokes,and laughter can act both as asword and ashield to defend ourselvesagainst life. At least for awhile, humor can detoxthe mysteries and make the unknown, the intolerable, and the utterlyunavoidable more bearable. But,Brooks is quick to point out, “there is adifference” between sillycom- edy, “fart jokes,” like the cowboy bean dinnerscene in Blazing Saddles,and se- rious humor captured in the big production numberofhis multi-Emmyaward winning playand film TheProducers—“SpringTime ForHitler and Germany.” Brooks argues that TheProducers is acomedic vehicle that allows us to laugh at,belittle, and cast shameoneverything that Hitler and the Nazi party stood Why’dYou Have to Choose Us?OnJews and Their Jokes 29 for. “TheProducers is my revenge. My comedic goal was to defeat ,” said Brooks. “When we laughatthem we win through ridicule… It’saJewish wayof getting through it,getting over it.Weget the lastlaugh” (Pearlstein 2016). It’snot denial. It’snot sublimation. It’sawayofspitting in the face of fate. Etgar Keret,Israeli humorist and novelist,agrees with Brooks and argues that humor is often the “onlyweapon of the weak.” Comedyallows us, at least for awhile, to push back, to be contrarians.And, sometimes, it allows us to vanquish our demons (Pearlstein 2016). In the words of yetanother great Jewish-Americanphilosopher,theologian, and occasional stand-up comic, Joan Rivers: “If youcan laughatit, youcan live with it!” (Stern and Sundberg2010). One of the most famous survivors of the Holocaust was psychiatrist and phi- losopher Viktor Frankl, who endured almostfour years of hard labor at Ausch- witz. Frankl quicklylearned that without “choosing” to find some humor in the midst of the misery of the camps, life was not bearable or survivable. He learned that laughter affords us an aloofness and ability to rise aboveany situa- tion, even if onlyfor afew seconds.Without thosefew moments, said Frankl, “I would never had made it” (McGhee 1999,20). It’scertainlynot the case that prisoners in these concentration camps greet- ed each other at roll call by saying, “Hey,did youhear the one about…?” Nor did they sit over their eight ounces of rancid gruel each night and swapnasty and satirical Nazi stories.Rather,said Frankl, inmates tried to use their imagination to createorsee humor in anysituation possible. Forexample, thereisthe story of aprisoner who points to aparticularlysevere and sadisticcapo (trustee, apris- oner who served as guard) and ironicallysaid to afellow inmate, “Imagine! I knew him when he was onlythe president of abank!”(McGhee 2010). German historian Rudolph Herzogmaintains that these kinds of jokes are an expression of the Jewish prisoner’sdesire to survive against all odds. Such jokes are adesperate attempt to deny, if onlymomentarily, the everydayterror of the camps. ForHerzog,these jokes are an act of defiance: “My back is to the wall, [but]I’mstill laughing.” These jokes are proof that I’mnot dead yet: “Ilaugh, thereforeIstill am!” To laughinthe face of absurdity does not negatethe absurd- ity,but somehow it becomes,atleast briefly, just abit more bearable (Herzog 2012,6). As one lucky survivorsaid: “Even when youwerelaughing through your tears, it’sstill laughter.Itwas the onlyweapon we had in the ghetto” (Pearl- stein 2016). In awonderful, but little-known documentary, When Comedy Went to School, six Jewish comics—,, LarryKing,, Jackie Mason,and Jerry Stiller—reminisceabout what they learned about the impor- tance of comedywhile performing in the Catskills Jewishresorts after World WarII. Besides learning their craft—two/three shows anight,seven days a 30 Al Gini and Abraham Singer week—they learned the role of humor/comedyinthe livesoftheir audiences.As JackieMason suggested, they wereeager to laugh, they wanted to laugh. The war was over.Laughing wasawayofsaying “we survived.” Jokes werepayback. They wereour onlyrevenge (Akkaya and Frank 2013). Jews jest,because they are not amused. Because thereare no other viable options. Perhaps being aJew means that life requires youtobea“militant come- dic contrarian.” History has taught the children of Abraham to be “on-guard” cautious, skep- tical, and distrustful of the world. Even in the good times, when life is not cruel, it is always hard, astruggle. Individually, and as apeople, Jews have alternative- ly used humorasanarcotic, atool, aweapon, abuffer to seek relief, acceptance, or stoical resignation in regard to the triumphs and vicissitudes of life. As many Jewishscholars have correctlypointed out, “humor is seldom the onlyanswer.” But what humorlessness fails to recognize is justhow useful humor can be in confronting what one finds offensive,intolerable or beyond comprehension. In the words of Chicago-based comedian, Aaron Freeman, “Idon’tjusttell jokes to earn aliving or just because they are funny—Itell jokes as aself-defense mechanism”(Gini, Powers,and Freeman 1992).

References

Akkaya,Mevlut, and Ron Frank.dir.2013. When Comedy Went to School. Catskills Films LLC. FirstRun Features. www.firstrunfeatures.com. Baum, Devorah. 2018. The JewishJoke. New York: Pegasus Books. Chappelle, Dave. 2017. Age of Spin. Directed by StanLathan. . Dauber,Jeremy.2017. JewishComedy:ASerious History. New York: W.W. Norton. Gini, Al, John Powers, and AaronFreeman. 1992. “One Flight Up.” Humor and Stand-Up Comedy. WBEZ, 91.5FM, ChicagoPublic Radio, May 6, 1992. Herzog, Rudolph. 2012. Dead Funny:Telling Jokes in Hitler’sGermany. TranslatedbyJefferson Chase.New York: Melville House. Hoffman, Sam, and Eric Spiegelman. 2010. Old Jews Telling Jokes. New York: Villard. Krasny, Michael.2016. LetThereBeLaughter: ATreasury of Great JewishHumor and What It AllMeans. New York: William Morrow. Lévy,Isaac Jack. 1990. “Sephardic Humor: One Has to Laugh to Live.” Southern Folklore 47(2): 147–61. McGhee, Paul E. 1999. Health, Healing, and the Amuse System:Humor as Survival Training. 3rd edition. Dubuque: Kendall/ Hunt. McGhee, Paul E. 2010. “Using Humor to Cope: Humor in Concentration/POWCamps.” The Laughter Remedy. http://www.laughterremedy.com/article-pdfs. Menchin, Robert.1997. 101 Classic JewishJokes. Memphis: Mustang Publishing. Morreall, John. 1999. Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion. Albany: State University of New York Press. Why’dYou HavetoChoose Us?OnJews and Their Jokes 31

Nietzsche, Friedrich. (1910) 2019. The Will to Power. TranslatedbyAnthonyM.Ludovici. Mineola: DoverPublications, Inc. Pearlstein, Ferne. 2016. The LastLaugh. Common Pilgrim, LLC, Netflix. Roth, Phillip. 1959. Goodbye Columbus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Sherman-Palladino, Amy.dir.2018. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Season 2, Episode 2, “Mid-way Mid-Town.” Aired on December 5, 2018. Amazon Video. Stern, Ricki, and Anne Sundberg. dir.2010. Joan Rivers: APiece of Work. IFC Films, First Run Features. Trachtenberg, Robert. dir.2013. MelBrooks: MakeaNoise. Shout Factory.PBS documentary (American Masters).

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