Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews

Rating:
Summary: A Jewish Eyeview
Review: An interesting and scholarly look at what makes Jews funny, what's behind the humor, along with numerous examples. An eye-opener, it also makes you think while you're laughing. For another point of view, I personally loved A Little Joy, A Little Oy, part of which takes on similar issues of humor but from a different angle, along with contrasting the humor with pathos. But both are excellent and should be in every Jewish library!

Rating:
Summary: Socrates knew what he was talking about...
Review: Everybody knows about Jewish confidence: "We're smart! We're chosen! We have more Nobel prizes than we deserve! We're a light unto the nations!" Those are the things we say out loud.

But, like everybody, Jews are also insecure. Among ourselves, we ask, "Are we really smart? Why does nobody like us?" And the deeper, more difficult question, "What's going to happen to us?"

Humour has always been the Jewish way of looking at these insecurities in the fresh and optimistic light a smile can shed on any painful issue. From the days of the Talmud right on up to Adam Sandler (and hopefully *beyond* -- I'd hate to think of the "Hanukkah song" as the "end-all" of Jewish humour!), we use humour to poke away at ourselves, examining the things that make us unique and also the issues that frighten us the most. Sure, this book's honesty made me squirm a little, but as Socrates once said, "So, nu? From an examined life, you don't die."

Telushkin has masterfully grouped the best Jewish jokes into categories. His illuminations are helpful but never intrusive -- this is above all else a FUNNY book. If you're wondering what makes us tick and why the funny bone is so often the way to a Jewish heart, check out Telushkin's book and be prepared to squirm a little -- and learn a lot.

Rating:
Summary: This book is about the Jewish experience
Review: In this book, we learn about the Jewish experience as expressed in humor. For example, Jews have often reacted to antisemitism by joking about it. Usually such humor includes irony, often having a punchline in which a hapless Jew gets the better of his oppressor. Sometimes, however, the humor is bitter.

Rightly or wrongly, ethnic groups are stereotyped and Jewish humor makes great use of its own stereotypes. Even the most religious Jew can poke fun at rabbis and generally, such humor is gentle and endearing. The conflict between the major branches of Judaism is fertile ground for jokes. So too, the Jewish family and all it's stereotypes e.g. the Jewish mother, is a tremendous source of humor. Even Jews who are totally non religious, such as Woody Allen, nontheless are greatly influenced by their Judaism in their humor.

This book explores the Jewish experience and then relates how this experience surfaces in humor. The book also exposes ugliness in Jewish humor such as the nasty, antisemitic "JAP" jokes that were popular, generally among non Jews. This book is not a collection of jokes, although there are plenty of jokes in this book. Rather, this is a book about what makes Jewish humor tick as illustrated by the jokes which are included as examples.

I gave the book four stars rather than five because there are extensive end notes, many of which are worth reading and I feel that they should have been integrated into the text. Instead, the reader must flip to the end of the book to reference these notes. This is somewhat annoying. Despite this criticism, I really liked the book and found it to be very enjoyable reading.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Jewish collective unconscious
Review: More than just a collection of Jewish jokes, this book successfully attempts to dig into the way Jewish humor reflects the idiosyncrasies of the Jewish's mind. Behind each joke the author searches its roots, the social and historical context. Enjoyable, well presented. It helps if the reader has a Jewish background, but it is quite accessible to the open-minded "goyim." Have fun!

Rating:
Summary: Fun Overview of Jewish Humor -- whatever that is!
Review: Telushkin--clearly a writing machine--has penned a highly enjoyable overview of Jewish humor, complete with plenty of jokes. He has broken down the humor by category, but truly, this is just a fun romp through a type of humor that has so permeated American culture that many of the jokes have been translated into other formats (with rabbis changing into Priests or Pastors, for example).

This ain't anything to knock your socks off, but it's an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Fun Overview of Jewish Humor -- whatever that is!
Review: Telushkin--clearly a writing machine--has penned a highly enjoyable overview of Jewish humor, complete with plenty of jokes. He has broken down the humor by category, but truly, this is just a fun romp through a type of humor that has so permeated American culture that many of the jokes have been translated into other formats (with rabbis changing into Priests or Pastors, for example).

This ain't anything to knock your socks off, but it's an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Just plain enjoyable - You don't have to be Jewish...
Review: This book is a real pleasure to read. Rabbi Telushkin not only tells some wonderful jokes he analyzes them in an interesting way. In his preface he notes that Jews do not joke about everything but have a certain set of subjects from verbal aggresiveness, to professional ambition which they persistently joke about. His message in the book is that the Jews joking about themselves tell a lot about their values, and that their jokes are really a mirror to the soul. So it is not surprising that one of the main subjects if the close relation of parents and children, and the tremendous worry pressure love concern parents show for their children. Telushkin does not develop an overall theory of Jewish humor though he of course notes that laughing at oneself is often a way of protecting oneself from the insults of others. An it is too a way of bringing about a kind of group or communal solidarity. Those that can laugh with me are really my friends. The fact that Jews so specialize in laughing at themselves Telushkin points out also contributes to their having had a predominant role in ' comedy in America. He cites the long list of Jewish comedians from the old line Burns, Groucho and other Marxes , Jack Benny , through the Milton Berle, Henny Youngman Phil Silvers down to the Seinfeld Billy Chrystal generation. Anyone who leaves out Alan King Jerry Lewis Buddy Hackett should of course be castigated for this. In any case the main point about this book is ' Try it you'll like it' Once in the Subway there used to be an add which went ' You don't have to be Jewish to like Levi's ryebread' I think the same might be said about this book. You don't have to be Jewish ( though it probably helps) to get many a good laugh out of this excellent work.

Rating:
Summary: Good analysis on tasteful + questionable jokes about jews
Review: This is the type of book that puts a smile on your face while you think about why these kind of jokes are funny. The writer makes historical/cultural comments on the jokes involved and uses such catchy chapter titles such as: "And I used to be a hunchback: assimilation and its delusions", "How did you create that hurricane: jokes on jewish business" or "God as an underacheiver". Some are old and familar but there is plenty of new material. Of course, my favorites poke fun at the Rabbis. Since the writer is one, he knows how to make me laugh. ;-)

Highly recommended.