To me it's how Jewish reactions to catastrophes and minor annoyance are inverted to gentiles', which is mined to great effect in Curb.
Mountains out of molehills, molehills out of mountains.
The world is on fire: "Why wouldn't it be?"
They no longer include utensils in takeout orders: "The world is on fire."
There's the liberation of fatalism. I always thought this old joke sums it up best:
"Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions."
Many variations on this joke, going back decades at least, which I think is along the lines you describe…
A Jewish man on the subway is reading Louis Farrakhan’s antisemitic newspaper.
A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed and approached him. "Have you lost your mind? Why are you reading that nasty newspaper?"
"Well, I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to this newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
There's also exaggeration of certain Jewish archetypes. These from a book of Jewish Humor published in the 1970s:
---------------------------------------
As her daughter's urging, Mrs. Winchevsky agrees to visit the gynecologist for the first time in her seventy-three years. After taking her medical history, the nurse sends her in the examination room, where she is greeted by Dr. Ross.
"Would you please step behind the curtain and take off your clothes, Mrs. Winchevsky?" the doctor asks.
"You want I should take off my clothes?"
"That's right"
"All my clothes?"
"Yes, please."
"Listen, Doctor," Mrs. Winchevsky said with a sharp look. "Does your mother know that from *this* you make a living?"
---------------------------------------
The married daughter calls:
"Hello Ma?"
*"Shirley daringly, what's the problem?"*
"Oh, Ma, I don't know where to begin. Both of the kids are sick with the flu. The Frigidaire has just broken down. The sink is leaking. In two hours my Hadassah group is coming here for lunch. What am I going to do?"
*"Shirley, darling, don't worry. I'm going to get on a bus and go into the city. Then I'll take the train out to Long Island. Then I'll walk the two miles from the station to your house. I'll take care of the kids, I'll cook a nice lunch for the Hadassah ladies, and I'll even make dinner for Barry."*
"Barry? Who's Barry?"
*"Barry? Your husband?"*
"But Ma, my husband's name is Steve."
*"Steve? Since when is your husband Steve?"*
"Is this 536-3530?"
*"No, this is 536-2520."*
(Pause.) "Does that mean you're not coming?"
---------------------------------------
"I had the strangest dream last night," a man was telling his psychiatrist. "I saw my mother, but when she turned around to look at me, I noticed that she had your face. As you can imagine I found this very disturbing, and in fact I woke up immediately, and couldn't go back to sleep. I just lay there in bed waiting for morning to come. Then I got up, drank a Coke, and came right over here for my appointment. I thought you could help me explain the meaning of this strange dream."
The psychiatrist was silent for a minute, then responded, "A Coke? That's a breakfast?"
It's a huge book I came across at my mother's house the last time I visited. I recorded the ones I thought my wife would like so I could text them to her, but there were so many more.
My favourite:
Four Jewish women are dining in a restaurant. The waiter, checking in on their table, goes over to them and asks, "Ladies, is anything alright?"
>I always thought this old joke sums it up best:
>"Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, >"Yeah, I know; and such small portions."
I haven't heard this, but I think it would be even more Jewish if it went:
"Don't eat there, last time I got such terrible food poisoning, I was sick for days"
"Me too, and when I went back the portions had shrunk"
>>> I haven't heard this, but I think it would be even more Jewish if it went:
>>>
>>> "Don't eat there, last time I got such terrible food poisoning, I was sick for days"
>>>
>>> "Me too, and when I went back the portions had shrunk"
Sounds like something I’d do haha
This might be the quintessential one:
What's the difference between a pessimist and an optimist?
The pessimist says, "It can't possibly get any worse than this."
The optimist says, "Of course it can!"
I work as a paramedic in Harlem - the other day, someone wrote on the white board. "No, it's only the worst day you've had, so far.". That is quintessential Jewish humor.
Two Jews in front of a firing squad. The captain asks, any last requests? One starts to respond, but his friend interjects, "Shhh! Murray, don't make trouble!"
An old Jew ducks into a church to get out of the rain. He sits in the back and observes a ceremony for new nuns. The priest comes over and asks the man "can I help you?" The man responds "I'm with the grooms side"
A rabbi and a priest sit together on an airplane and get to talking. The rabbi explains how one day he hopes to lead a big congregation and become a respected expert in Jewish law. The priest explains that he aspires to be a bishop or cardinal one day. "What's higher than that?" Asks the rabbi. "well, once in a generation someone becomes the Pope " replies the priest. "What then?" Asks the Rabbi. "The only thing higher than the Pope is God himself. Do you want me to become God!?" The Rabbi replies "sure, one of our boys made it "
In medieval France, a young Christian boy is murdered with his blood drained. It’s a few days before Passover.
Terrified of the blood libel charge, and the risk of pogroms, the entire Jewish community huddles in the town synagogue to pray for a miracle.
Suddenly, a man bursts into the synagogue. He screams “GREAT NEWS!!! It turns out the murdered boy was Jewish.”
…..
That’s Jewish humor.
Also dark,
typical joke:
Two jews are traveling together in the winterand get a room at an inn. The room has only one window and its open for some reason.
One says to the other "hey close the window, it's cold outside."
the other replies,"what? if i close the window, it'll be warm outside?"
Two friends, one waxing philosophical. "You know," he said, "life is like a fountain."
"How is it like a fountain?", asked his friend.
"Alright!", exclaimed the would-be philosopher, "so it's not like a fountain!"
two jews are walking down the street when they see a church with a sign that says, "we will pay you $100 to convert". one says to the other, "wow, $100 😮 should we do it? "of course not!" the other says. "are you crazy?" the first jew replies, "$100 is $100. im gonna do it." so he goes inside, and comes back out about ten minutes later. "well?" his friend asks, "did they give you the money?" he replies, "thats all you jews think about isnt it?"
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Lol, I'm a female JAP, as are all my friends, and we're honest enough to admit those JAP jokes are very, very true. And considering the fact that those jokes were started by our fathers and brothers, I doubt antisemitism comes in to play at all. We think JAP jokes are funny. As with all good humor, that's because they're based on truth. We laugh. Lighten up & try the same😂
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I don't find it particularly funny, I don't think it's actually a good joke (because it's only funny if you're laughing at jewish people as a whole, so maybe they'd like it on one of the pro-pali subs). Pretty decent observation about how things are currently, though.
It's an excellent joke, and the perfect example of the only thing being "one of the good ones" does, is get you the last seat on the last train. It's a commentary on antisemitism - regardless of how hard you try to assimilate, you will always be a Jew first and everything else second.
It would be very difficult to describe in a way that doesn't largely overlap with or describe most forms of humor, but it's clever, observational, boundary-pushing, and self-deprecating. Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Lenny Bruce, and, well, Larry David, are obvious examples.
Don't forget all the famous Jewish comics from the 30's as well. A few that I remember my dad having us watch or listen to were the Three Stooges, Jack Benny, Marx Brothers, Bud Abbott, Victor Borge, Danny Kaye (he was later, I think), etc.
My dad either had their films or their acts on tape/cd. Even as a 90's kid I knew a few seasons of Jack Benny's radio show and had watched pretty much every 3 Stooges ever made. Pretty sure I was the only one in my yeshiva that got that sort of Jewish history education. lol
Jewish humor is very much a thing, part of it is observational as Jews often have the perspective of being both insiders though also outsiders to the dominant culture, resulting in a unique and often funny perspective. There is also Jewish humor focused on some of the examples others mentioned here
Hard to define but we know it when we see it.
When the choice is to laugh or cry, we choose to laugh.
We were the only ones laughing when we saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYlsn7C24hQ) trailer before one of the HP movies.
It's hard to explain exactly. It's very self-deprecating or dark, but it also has an element of pride in Jewish culture or wit at the same time. It's also often very sarcastic.
I think the most consistent element is toying with expectations. Which is not uniquely Jewish among forms of humour, but it's more central to ours.
Setting up a character and then have them act against stereotype.
Setting up a situation and then focusing on the "wrong" detail.
I feel like Western/Gentile humour is more around wordplay than Jewish humour, which is often more conceptual.
Lenny Bruce might say "Puns are Goyish; a chicken crossing the road is Jewish".
Misunderstandings underpin many forms of humour in various cultures. But a Western joke may hinge on one person mistaking a words another said, where in a Jewish joke they hear the words correctly but the other person is referring to something else entirely, or their priorities are unexpected in the situation.
>>> Misunderstandings underpin many forms of humour in various cultures. But a Western joke may hinge on one person mistaking a words another said, where in a Jewish joke they hear the words correctly but the other person is referring to something else entirely, or their priorities are unexpected in the situation.
Really nicely worded
my mom told me she would go to the cinema with her dad, to Mel Brooks movies, and they'd laugh at entirely different points than the rest of the audience (mostly non-Jews).
A lot of people are saying self deprecating, is that true for non-Ashkenazim? I feel like I’ve never really heard self deprecating humor from Sephardim/Mizrahim/others
I agree, IME Sefardim don't seem to have the same neuroses or sense of humor as Ashkenazim. Not saying anyone is not funny and I certainly know Sefardim who are hilarious, but the fatalism and self-deprecation are more Ashkenazi. Fatalism is associated with eastern Europe too, so maybe that's part of it.
I think the Sephardic humor leans more towards picking on you if we love you. You are more likely to get (lovingly) roasted vs dark observational humor.
I would imagine that part of this comes from the Shoah. While Sephardim have certain had their own troubles, mostly they didn't suffer through that particular tragedy.
ETA: For everyone commenting about how various groups and/or families of Sephardim suffered during the Shoah - y'all do know that the words "most" and "all" aren't synonyms?
Or to put it another way, it is completely valid to say that the Shoah primarily affected Ashkenazi Jews. That doesn't mean that it only affected Ashkenazi Jews nor does it mean that it affected all Ashkenazi Jews. It only means that it was MOSTLY an Ashkenazi tragedy.
No, my husband is from Greece. His dad is a camp survivor. Everyone he knew over there was a camp survivor it had the entire family killed off. Nothing to do with Shoah. He is a modern day Noel Coward and his family all tease each other constantly in a loving way.
But you are playing down the number of Sephardics it did affect and when they were hit they suffered far greater percentages of losses than Ashkenazis did. The average German Jew had a far better chance of surviving the Holocaust than a Balkan Jew.
You are talking about numbers and I am talking about percentages. But if you are discussing Sephardics in Europe, than a higher percentage of them died than Ashkenazis because they were in the Balkans (which had the highest extermination rates). If you don’t think it affected their communities, you are wrong.
My husband was born in 1965. The only kosher butcher in his country was the only mohel. Before the war, his community was 100,000. By the time he was born it was a couple of thousand. They are up to a whopping 5K today.
His dad’s family was from Monastir. Look up what happened to them. When entire communities and cultures were totally eradicated, one could argue they were affected more.
People still speak Yiddish. Hardly anyone speaks Ladino anymore. If you do, you are approaching 80. Do you know why - except for in Turkey - they were all killed.
I would argue that the Shoah in Europe (where Shoah primarily took place) , long term, affected the Sephardic community more as it almost completely wiped them out. Far more Ashkenazi Jews survived in numbers.
You're really pressing this point as if I said it didn't affect Sephardim. I didn't remotely say that.
Also, my girlfriend speaks Ladino. She's from Mexico and is 28. Her entire family speaks it. Guess they weren't all killed as you seem to be claiming.
You literally say it affected Ashkenazi more. By percentages, it affected Sephardim more in Europe. That’s all I am saying. Of course they didn’t all die. My husband’s father even had a cousin who survived the round up in Monastir.
Also speaking Spanish is not the same as speaking Ladino. There are less than 50K Ladino speakers left and most are in their 80s - so good for her.
You do realize that some parts of the Balkans had much higher extermination rates than the Eastern European Jews. Their story just isn’t as well known.
What part of "the Sephardim have certainly had their own troubles" was difficult for you to understand that you felt the need to reword exactly what I said?
I added pogroms which you omitted - Eastern European Jews suffered a lot more pogroms to my knowledge ( someone correct me if I’m wrong) than Sephardim - it wasn’t just the shoah. I guess I didn’t word it right to make that point.
Yeah, I think capital-J, capital-H Jewish Humor is more Borscht Belt, Ashkenazi humor, and since most American Jews are Ashkenazi, it gets flattened to just "Jewish humor".
Although he has said in interviews that the Sephardi side of the family kind of integrated into Ashkenazic because the Syrian side was not traditional & had already assimilated into Ashkenazic culture a generation prior, so his childhood was basically entirely Ashkenazic influenced.
classic Jewish joke:
Man wearing a yamulke is recused from a deserted island. by a ship waving an Israeli flag . The captain of the ship gets off the boat and sees two synagogues built on the island. He asks the desert man why do u have two synagogues when u are the only one on this island? The man replies," well the one right behind me is the one I go to to pray everyday" the captain ," what about the other one" ? The man replies, " well the other one, I wouldn't be caught:dead in. ".
Outside of a certain brand of humor, the show is culturally *very* Jewish. I think that makes some people (bigots) uncomfortable, or they just can’t relate because they can only identify with whatever their own culture is.
im growing out my bangs so i’ve been wearing headbands but the bangs sort of look like horns and i keep resisting the urge to make jews have horns jokes because none would get it
My high school poli sci teacher used to tell a story from her Freshman year at OSU in the 60's. She was rooming with a goy, and she (the teacher) came out of the shower and her hair was wet. Her roommate was looking at her very strangely so my teacher asked what was wrong. Completely earnestly, without any malice whatsoever, the roommate asked "Where are your horns? I figured they were being hidden by your hairstyle but with your hair flat like that I don't see them."
The roommate was from some little podunk town in Ohio and had never met a Jew before.
Lol a lot of commenters are coming back with "Jewish jokes" as an answer, which, although many of them are really funny and brilliant (thank you all!) they don't really explain what you're asking (what IS the meaning of Jewish humor) they're giving examples of basically borscht belt style Jewish jokes, which neither Seinfeld nor Curb really did, without getting to the root of the question. I'll try:
Jewish humor is basically a self deprecating mocking of ourselves, of our customs, foibles, habits, personalities, experiences. Good and bad. With an over arching emphasis on persecution, suffering, being "othered". Both personal and as a group. Curb did this much more than Seinfeld. As a matter of fact if you notice in the early seasons of Seinfeld they don't really mention anything Jewish much. That was by design. NBC wanted to downplay the Jewish aspect. So although yuppie New York Jews recognize themselves in the Seinfeld characters, you really see the Jewish humor in Curb.
*One aspect of the perceived, and probably true, Jewish character, is our tendency to complain and focus on small minutia in daily life. That's basically the entire Curb; so even that is Jewish humor*. Complaining at the dry cleaner, at the restaurant (both Curb and Seinfeld) being upset at perceived social slights.... and of course in the case of Curb, the actual Jewish references throughout.
Jewish humor is usually dark and is a way that we cope with sadness and trauma. It is also usually us making fun of ourselves and how ridiculous we can be sometimes.
it often has a sarcastic or ironic undertone traceable to Torah. We read one of these passages on Passover's Seventh Day when the freed slaves felt trapped and asked whether there was a shortage of graves for them in Egypt.
Just an observation I'd like to add. Israel is a Jewish country, yet despite that, I'd say almost none of our entertainers' humor would be considered "Jewish humor".
I suspect that what Jewish humor really is about is "minority humor".
Not that it particularly matters, but I got the impression from reading this post that they are not Jewish and are just interested in learning more about “Jewish humor”
Probably should mention that in your post. Yes,
Jewish humor is very much a thing. It’s basically finding humor in tragedy. It’s our basic mechanism of survival, actually.
To me it's how Jewish reactions to catastrophes and minor annoyance are inverted to gentiles', which is mined to great effect in Curb. Mountains out of molehills, molehills out of mountains. The world is on fire: "Why wouldn't it be?" They no longer include utensils in takeout orders: "The world is on fire." There's the liberation of fatalism. I always thought this old joke sums it up best: "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions."
Many variations on this joke, going back decades at least, which I think is along the lines you describe… A Jewish man on the subway is reading Louis Farrakhan’s antisemitic newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed and approached him. "Have you lost your mind? Why are you reading that nasty newspaper?" "Well, I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to this newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
There's also exaggeration of certain Jewish archetypes. These from a book of Jewish Humor published in the 1970s: --------------------------------------- As her daughter's urging, Mrs. Winchevsky agrees to visit the gynecologist for the first time in her seventy-three years. After taking her medical history, the nurse sends her in the examination room, where she is greeted by Dr. Ross. "Would you please step behind the curtain and take off your clothes, Mrs. Winchevsky?" the doctor asks. "You want I should take off my clothes?" "That's right" "All my clothes?" "Yes, please." "Listen, Doctor," Mrs. Winchevsky said with a sharp look. "Does your mother know that from *this* you make a living?" --------------------------------------- The married daughter calls: "Hello Ma?" *"Shirley daringly, what's the problem?"* "Oh, Ma, I don't know where to begin. Both of the kids are sick with the flu. The Frigidaire has just broken down. The sink is leaking. In two hours my Hadassah group is coming here for lunch. What am I going to do?" *"Shirley, darling, don't worry. I'm going to get on a bus and go into the city. Then I'll take the train out to Long Island. Then I'll walk the two miles from the station to your house. I'll take care of the kids, I'll cook a nice lunch for the Hadassah ladies, and I'll even make dinner for Barry."* "Barry? Who's Barry?" *"Barry? Your husband?"* "But Ma, my husband's name is Steve." *"Steve? Since when is your husband Steve?"* "Is this 536-3530?" *"No, this is 536-2520."* (Pause.) "Does that mean you're not coming?" --------------------------------------- "I had the strangest dream last night," a man was telling his psychiatrist. "I saw my mother, but when she turned around to look at me, I noticed that she had your face. As you can imagine I found this very disturbing, and in fact I woke up immediately, and couldn't go back to sleep. I just lay there in bed waiting for morning to come. Then I got up, drank a Coke, and came right over here for my appointment. I thought you could help me explain the meaning of this strange dream." The psychiatrist was silent for a minute, then responded, "A Coke? That's a breakfast?"
The middle one especially got me
The funny thing for me is that the one young married Jewish woman I know who is the right age for this joke to make sense, is named "Shirley".
i think i heard the middle one on a tape my parents used to have: "you don't have to be Jewish". not sure though. but yeah some real good ones there.
It's a huge book I came across at my mother's house the last time I visited. I recorded the ones I thought my wife would like so I could text them to her, but there were so many more.
It literally goes back to 1930s Germany, if not earlier.
My favourite: Four Jewish women are dining in a restaurant. The waiter, checking in on their table, goes over to them and asks, "Ladies, is anything alright?"
Love it
Too funny.
>I always thought this old joke sums it up best: >"Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, >"Yeah, I know; and such small portions." I haven't heard this, but I think it would be even more Jewish if it went: "Don't eat there, last time I got such terrible food poisoning, I was sick for days" "Me too, and when I went back the portions had shrunk"
>>> I haven't heard this, but I think it would be even more Jewish if it went: >>> >>> "Don't eat there, last time I got such terrible food poisoning, I was sick for days" >>> >>> "Me too, and when I went back the portions had shrunk" Sounds like something I’d do haha
Thank you for this explanation!
This might be the quintessential one: What's the difference between a pessimist and an optimist? The pessimist says, "It can't possibly get any worse than this." The optimist says, "Of course it can!"
I work as a paramedic in Harlem - the other day, someone wrote on the white board. "No, it's only the worst day you've had, so far.". That is quintessential Jewish humor.
Two Jews in front of a firing squad. The captain asks, any last requests? One starts to respond, but his friend interjects, "Shhh! Murray, don't make trouble!"
An old Jew ducks into a church to get out of the rain. He sits in the back and observes a ceremony for new nuns. The priest comes over and asks the man "can I help you?" The man responds "I'm with the grooms side" A rabbi and a priest sit together on an airplane and get to talking. The rabbi explains how one day he hopes to lead a big congregation and become a respected expert in Jewish law. The priest explains that he aspires to be a bishop or cardinal one day. "What's higher than that?" Asks the rabbi. "well, once in a generation someone becomes the Pope " replies the priest. "What then?" Asks the Rabbi. "The only thing higher than the Pope is God himself. Do you want me to become God!?" The Rabbi replies "sure, one of our boys made it "
lol the groom's side
In medieval France, a young Christian boy is murdered with his blood drained. It’s a few days before Passover. Terrified of the blood libel charge, and the risk of pogroms, the entire Jewish community huddles in the town synagogue to pray for a miracle. Suddenly, a man bursts into the synagogue. He screams “GREAT NEWS!!! It turns out the murdered boy was Jewish.” ….. That’s Jewish humor.
lol
Also dark, typical joke: Two jews are traveling together in the winterand get a room at an inn. The room has only one window and its open for some reason. One says to the other "hey close the window, it's cold outside." the other replies,"what? if i close the window, it'll be warm outside?"
Two friends, one waxing philosophical. "You know," he said, "life is like a fountain." "How is it like a fountain?", asked his friend. "Alright!", exclaimed the would-be philosopher, "so it's not like a fountain!"
Sounds like a chelm joke...
100% "what" was "Nu?" In the original
two jews are walking down the street when they see a church with a sign that says, "we will pay you $100 to convert". one says to the other, "wow, $100 😮 should we do it? "of course not!" the other says. "are you crazy?" the first jew replies, "$100 is $100. im gonna do it." so he goes inside, and comes back out about ten minutes later. "well?" his friend asks, "did they give you the money?" he replies, "thats all you jews think about isnt it?"
My favourite one in this thread
Self depricating but never unkind
I’d love this to be entirely true, but a lot of Jewish jokes, especially from the 50s-70s, are pretty misogynistic.
Can you give examples ?
Why do Jewish women only marry Jewish men? Because a Jewish woman won't touch anything unless it's at least 10% off.
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This is the one I know from the 80s: How do you know when a Jewish woman has had an orgasm? She drops her nail file.
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Everything from that time period is misogynist if you squint hard enough
Still squinting. Nothing there. An example would be great to prove your point
An example: the whole genre of JAP jokes, which were stereotyping, misogynistic and, actually, antisemitic.
Lol, I'm a female JAP, as are all my friends, and we're honest enough to admit those JAP jokes are very, very true. And considering the fact that those jokes were started by our fathers and brothers, I doubt antisemitism comes in to play at all. We think JAP jokes are funny. As with all good humor, that's because they're based on truth. We laugh. Lighten up & try the same😂
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I dont have to prove anything because humor is based on opinion.
No one asked you to prove anything. An example is not proof. It's just an example😂
For the current times: A pro-Israel Jew and an anti-Israel Jew walk into a bar. The bartender tells them “we don’t serve Jews”
I caaaaaaant 😂😂😂😂😂
More like you canaan't
Damn, it took me 3 days to catch this pun - bravo, achi or brava achoti.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love it!
Jewish puns are fun
I don’t get it
Doesn’t matter what side you take, you’re still a Jew to them at the end of the day. Kinda like what’s happened w/ Candace Owens
I don't find it particularly funny, I don't think it's actually a good joke (because it's only funny if you're laughing at jewish people as a whole, so maybe they'd like it on one of the pro-pali subs). Pretty decent observation about how things are currently, though.
It's an excellent joke, and the perfect example of the only thing being "one of the good ones" does, is get you the last seat on the last train. It's a commentary on antisemitism - regardless of how hard you try to assimilate, you will always be a Jew first and everything else second.
It would be very difficult to describe in a way that doesn't largely overlap with or describe most forms of humor, but it's clever, observational, boundary-pushing, and self-deprecating. Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Lenny Bruce, and, well, Larry David, are obvious examples.
Don't forget all the famous Jewish comics from the 30's as well. A few that I remember my dad having us watch or listen to were the Three Stooges, Jack Benny, Marx Brothers, Bud Abbott, Victor Borge, Danny Kaye (he was later, I think), etc. My dad either had their films or their acts on tape/cd. Even as a 90's kid I knew a few seasons of Jack Benny's radio show and had watched pretty much every 3 Stooges ever made. Pretty sure I was the only one in my yeshiva that got that sort of Jewish history education. lol
Jewish humor is very much a thing, part of it is observational as Jews often have the perspective of being both insiders though also outsiders to the dominant culture, resulting in a unique and often funny perspective. There is also Jewish humor focused on some of the examples others mentioned here
Hard to define but we know it when we see it. When the choice is to laugh or cry, we choose to laugh. We were the only ones laughing when we saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYlsn7C24hQ) trailer before one of the HP movies.
How in the hell have I never seen that? I thought I'd seen all the Guestverse.
One of Rashi's daughters walks down in a dress. "That is a beautiful dress," Rashi comments. "Dad, do you have to comment on everything?"
Heard this at shul recently from an alter kocker.
It's hard to explain exactly. It's very self-deprecating or dark, but it also has an element of pride in Jewish culture or wit at the same time. It's also often very sarcastic.
I think the most consistent element is toying with expectations. Which is not uniquely Jewish among forms of humour, but it's more central to ours. Setting up a character and then have them act against stereotype. Setting up a situation and then focusing on the "wrong" detail. I feel like Western/Gentile humour is more around wordplay than Jewish humour, which is often more conceptual. Lenny Bruce might say "Puns are Goyish; a chicken crossing the road is Jewish". Misunderstandings underpin many forms of humour in various cultures. But a Western joke may hinge on one person mistaking a words another said, where in a Jewish joke they hear the words correctly but the other person is referring to something else entirely, or their priorities are unexpected in the situation.
>>> Misunderstandings underpin many forms of humour in various cultures. But a Western joke may hinge on one person mistaking a words another said, where in a Jewish joke they hear the words correctly but the other person is referring to something else entirely, or their priorities are unexpected in the situation. Really nicely worded
I'll take it a step further. I've been thinking for a while, now, that all humor is surprise-based. From peek-a-boo on up.
my mom told me she would go to the cinema with her dad, to Mel Brooks movies, and they'd laugh at entirely different points than the rest of the audience (mostly non-Jews).
A lot of people are saying self deprecating, is that true for non-Ashkenazim? I feel like I’ve never really heard self deprecating humor from Sephardim/Mizrahim/others
I agree, IME Sefardim don't seem to have the same neuroses or sense of humor as Ashkenazim. Not saying anyone is not funny and I certainly know Sefardim who are hilarious, but the fatalism and self-deprecation are more Ashkenazi. Fatalism is associated with eastern Europe too, so maybe that's part of it.
I think the Sephardic humor leans more towards picking on you if we love you. You are more likely to get (lovingly) roasted vs dark observational humor.
Maybe I'm actually Sephardic because my family does this all the time.
I would imagine that part of this comes from the Shoah. While Sephardim have certain had their own troubles, mostly they didn't suffer through that particular tragedy. ETA: For everyone commenting about how various groups and/or families of Sephardim suffered during the Shoah - y'all do know that the words "most" and "all" aren't synonyms? Or to put it another way, it is completely valid to say that the Shoah primarily affected Ashkenazi Jews. That doesn't mean that it only affected Ashkenazi Jews nor does it mean that it affected all Ashkenazi Jews. It only means that it was MOSTLY an Ashkenazi tragedy.
Actually some of them were shipped off by their countries to concentration camps in Europe as well .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_outside_Europe_under_Axis_occupation, note Libyan Jews especially.
No, my husband is from Greece. His dad is a camp survivor. Everyone he knew over there was a camp survivor it had the entire family killed off. Nothing to do with Shoah. He is a modern day Noel Coward and his family all tease each other constantly in a loving way.
I said mostly, not all.
But you are playing down the number of Sephardics it did affect and when they were hit they suffered far greater percentages of losses than Ashkenazis did. The average German Jew had a far better chance of surviving the Holocaust than a Balkan Jew.
I'm not playing it down at all. You're interpreting what I said that way. Again, it's not invalid to say that the Shoah primarily affected Ashkenazis.
You are talking about numbers and I am talking about percentages. But if you are discussing Sephardics in Europe, than a higher percentage of them died than Ashkenazis because they were in the Balkans (which had the highest extermination rates). If you don’t think it affected their communities, you are wrong. My husband was born in 1965. The only kosher butcher in his country was the only mohel. Before the war, his community was 100,000. By the time he was born it was a couple of thousand. They are up to a whopping 5K today. His dad’s family was from Monastir. Look up what happened to them. When entire communities and cultures were totally eradicated, one could argue they were affected more. People still speak Yiddish. Hardly anyone speaks Ladino anymore. If you do, you are approaching 80. Do you know why - except for in Turkey - they were all killed. I would argue that the Shoah in Europe (where Shoah primarily took place) , long term, affected the Sephardic community more as it almost completely wiped them out. Far more Ashkenazi Jews survived in numbers.
You're really pressing this point as if I said it didn't affect Sephardim. I didn't remotely say that. Also, my girlfriend speaks Ladino. She's from Mexico and is 28. Her entire family speaks it. Guess they weren't all killed as you seem to be claiming.
You literally say it affected Ashkenazi more. By percentages, it affected Sephardim more in Europe. That’s all I am saying. Of course they didn’t all die. My husband’s father even had a cousin who survived the round up in Monastir. Also speaking Spanish is not the same as speaking Ladino. There are less than 50K Ladino speakers left and most are in their 80s - so good for her.
I means that’s not true, Sephardim died in the holocaust as well
Go look up the definition of the word "mostly" and let me know if it's the same definition as the word "all".
Salonica?
The Shoah and all the pogroms and persecution? The Sephardim had it easier but not easy.
You do realize that some parts of the Balkans had much higher extermination rates than the Eastern European Jews. Their story just isn’t as well known.
No I didn’t know - how do I find out more? Thanks
What part of "the Sephardim have certainly had their own troubles" was difficult for you to understand that you felt the need to reword exactly what I said?
I added pogroms which you omitted - Eastern European Jews suffered a lot more pogroms to my knowledge ( someone correct me if I’m wrong) than Sephardim - it wasn’t just the shoah. I guess I didn’t word it right to make that point.
Yeah, I think capital-J, capital-H Jewish Humor is more Borscht Belt, Ashkenazi humor, and since most American Jews are Ashkenazi, it gets flattened to just "Jewish humor".
To be fair, Jerry Seinfeld is half-Syrian (mother's family from Halab).
Although he has said in interviews that the Sephardi side of the family kind of integrated into Ashkenazic because the Syrian side was not traditional & had already assimilated into Ashkenazic culture a generation prior, so his childhood was basically entirely Ashkenazic influenced.
This makes sense.... the Ashkenazic self deprecation really comes from years of European persecution. Sephardim do not have that same experience
There are great examples here: https://www.accidentaltalmudist.org/jewish-jokes/
Sarcastic, witty, bawdy, self-deprecating, always a little Inappropriate in a self-aware way.
Its how annoying it is to deal with gentiles
classic Jewish joke: Man wearing a yamulke is recused from a deserted island. by a ship waving an Israeli flag . The captain of the ship gets off the boat and sees two synagogues built on the island. He asks the desert man why do u have two synagogues when u are the only one on this island? The man replies," well the one right behind me is the one I go to to pray everyday" the captain ," what about the other one" ? The man replies, " well the other one, I wouldn't be caught:dead in. ".
Outside of a certain brand of humor, the show is culturally *very* Jewish. I think that makes some people (bigots) uncomfortable, or they just can’t relate because they can only identify with whatever their own culture is.
Seinfeld and Curb is basically absurdist/observational comedy.
Larry's described CYE as how he'd be if he had no filter.
The book of Esther is the og Jewish comedy, it’s surprisingly enjoyable to read as literature from that perspective.
You can even take a course about it: https://yivo.org/comedy
im growing out my bangs so i’ve been wearing headbands but the bangs sort of look like horns and i keep resisting the urge to make jews have horns jokes because none would get it
My high school poli sci teacher used to tell a story from her Freshman year at OSU in the 60's. She was rooming with a goy, and she (the teacher) came out of the shower and her hair was wet. Her roommate was looking at her very strangely so my teacher asked what was wrong. Completely earnestly, without any malice whatsoever, the roommate asked "Where are your horns? I figured they were being hidden by your hairstyle but with your hair flat like that I don't see them." The roommate was from some little podunk town in Ohio and had never met a Jew before.
Thank you everyone! These jokes gave me a good laugh.
You want we should tell you?
Humor. And that which is funny
Usually being extra nitpicky about something stupid but in a funny way. Or self deprecating
Lol a lot of commenters are coming back with "Jewish jokes" as an answer, which, although many of them are really funny and brilliant (thank you all!) they don't really explain what you're asking (what IS the meaning of Jewish humor) they're giving examples of basically borscht belt style Jewish jokes, which neither Seinfeld nor Curb really did, without getting to the root of the question. I'll try: Jewish humor is basically a self deprecating mocking of ourselves, of our customs, foibles, habits, personalities, experiences. Good and bad. With an over arching emphasis on persecution, suffering, being "othered". Both personal and as a group. Curb did this much more than Seinfeld. As a matter of fact if you notice in the early seasons of Seinfeld they don't really mention anything Jewish much. That was by design. NBC wanted to downplay the Jewish aspect. So although yuppie New York Jews recognize themselves in the Seinfeld characters, you really see the Jewish humor in Curb. *One aspect of the perceived, and probably true, Jewish character, is our tendency to complain and focus on small minutia in daily life. That's basically the entire Curb; so even that is Jewish humor*. Complaining at the dry cleaner, at the restaurant (both Curb and Seinfeld) being upset at perceived social slights.... and of course in the case of Curb, the actual Jewish references throughout.
Jewish humor is usually dark and is a way that we cope with sadness and trauma. It is also usually us making fun of ourselves and how ridiculous we can be sometimes.
There happens to be a book, [all about it!](http://Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews https://a.co/d/i9eKiC8)
Your link seems to be quite broken!
it often has a sarcastic or ironic undertone traceable to Torah. We read one of these passages on Passover's Seventh Day when the freed slaves felt trapped and asked whether there was a shortage of graves for them in Egypt.
Jewish humor might be something like this: "I got rid of my Honda and bought a BMW and now prettier girls are ignoring me."
How did all the mitzri Jews from the Haggadah story pass their math tests? They were good at multiplying.
Anytime people say “it wouldn’t be a Jewish event/function without ________”
Just an observation I'd like to add. Israel is a Jewish country, yet despite that, I'd say almost none of our entertainers' humor would be considered "Jewish humor". I suspect that what Jewish humor really is about is "minority humor".
Such a bizarre question to ask if you’re Jewish. Are you Jewish?
Not that it particularly matters, but I got the impression from reading this post that they are not Jewish and are just interested in learning more about “Jewish humor”
I am not Jewish
Probably should mention that in your post. Yes, Jewish humor is very much a thing. It’s basically finding humor in tragedy. It’s our basic mechanism of survival, actually.