Download or read book No Joke written by Ruth R. Wisse and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Humor is the most celebrated of all Jewish responses to modernity. In this book, Ruth Wisse evokes and applauds the genius of spontaneous Jewish joking--as well as the brilliance of comic masterworks by writers like Heinrich Heine, Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, S. Y. Agnon, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Philip Roth. At the same time, Wisse draws attention to the precarious conditions that call Jewish humor into being--and the price it may exact from its practitioners and audience"--

Download or read book Jewish Comedy A Serious History written by Jeremy Dauber and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award “Dauber deftly surveys the whole recorded history of Jewish humour.” —Economist In a major work of scholarship that explores the funny side of some very serious business (and vice versa), Jeremy Dauber examines the origins of Jewish comedy and its development from biblical times to the age of Twitter. Organizing Jewish comedy into “seven strands”—including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar—he traces the ways Jewish comedy has mirrored, and sometimes even shaped, the course of Jewish history. Dauber also explores the classic works of such masters of Jewish comedy as Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, and Larry David, among many others.

Download or read book At Wit s End written by Louis Kaplan and published by Fordham University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOICE: OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE A scholarly and thought-provoking work that places Jewish humor at the center of a discourse about Jewish and German relations through most of the twentieth century. At Wit’s End explores the fascinating discourse on Jewish wit in the twentieth century when the Jewish joke became the subject of serious humanistic inquiry and inserted itself into the cultural and political debates among Germans and Jews against the ideologically charged backdrop of anti-Semitism, the Jewish question, and the Holocaust. The first in-depth study to explore the Jewish joke as a crucial rhetorical figure in larger cultural debates in Germany, author Louis Kaplan presents an engrossing and lucid work of scholarship that examines how “der jüdische Witz” (referring to both Jewish wit and jokes) was utilized differently in a number of texts, from the Weimar Republic to the rise of National Socialism, and how it was re-introduced into the public sphere after the Holocaust with the controversial publication of Salcia Landmann’s collection of Jewish jokes in the reparations era (Wiedergutmachung). Kaplan reviews the claims made about the Jewish joke and its provocative laughter by notable writers from a variety of ideological perspectives, demonstrating how their reflections on this complex cultural trope enable a better understanding of German–Jewish intercultural relations and their eventual breakdown in the Third Reich. He also illustrates how selfcritical and self-ironic Jewish Witz maintained a fraught and ambivalent relationship with anti-Semitism. In reviewing this critical and traumatic moment in modern German–Jewish history through the deadly discourse on the Jewish joke, At Wit’s End includes chapters on the virulent Austrian anti-Semitic racial theorist Arthur Trebitsch, the Nazi racial propagandist Siegfried Kadner, the German Marxist cultural historian Eduard Fuchs, the Jewish diasporic historian Erich Kahler, and the Jewish cabaret impresario Kurt Robitschek, among others. Shedding new light on anti-Semitism and on the Jewish question leading up to the Holocaust, At Wit’s End provides readers with a unique perspective by which to gain important insights about this crucial historical period that reverberates into the present day, when potentially offensive humor coupled with a toxic political climate and xenophobia can have deadly consequences.

Download or read book God Laughed written by Hershey H. Friedman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humor has had a profound effect on the way the Jewish people see the world, and has sustained them through millennia of hardships and suffering. God Laughed reviews, organizes, and categorizes the humor of the ancient Jewish texts-the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, and Midrash-in a clear, readable, and accessible manner. These works have influenced the Jewish people in many ways, and all are replete with humor and wit. Inevitably, this oeuvre of Jewish humor has itself influenced generations of comics, as well as genres of humor. The authors use examples of Biblical humor from several broad categories, including irony, sarcasm, wordplay, humorous names, humorous imagery, and humorous situations. Because their primary purpose is not to entertain, but to teach humanity how to live the ideal life, much of the humor in the Talmud and the Midrash has a single purpose: to demonstrate that evil is wrong and even, at times, ludicrous. This may help explain why approximately 1,500 years after its closing, the Talmud is still such a fascinating work.

Download or read book Big Little Book of Jewish Wit Wisdom written by Sally Ann Berk and published by Black Dog & Leventhal. This book was released on 2013-02-26 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This small, chunky volume presents the witty, wonderful, deadpan and droll insight of Jewish culture and humor. With chapters on wisdom, mitzvahs, dybbuks, proverbs, jokes, curses, conventions, mores (ethics), love amd marriage, men and women, children and family--this captivating collection provides reflections gleaned from a wealth of ancient, traditional and modern sources. The range of wise observations on the ways of the world, snappy one-liners, stories and expressions captures the spirit of the Jews throughout the centuries. Illustrated with sixty watercolor paintings, The Big Little Book of Jewish Wit & Wisdom will delight and engage even the toughest Jewish mother. Some examples include: When we hear a baby laugh, it is the loveliest thing that can happen to us. -- Sigmund Freud A child's wisdom is also wisdom. -- Yiddish proverb May you lose all your teeth but one, and may that one have a cavity. -- Anonymous (Yiddish curse)

Download or read book The Big Book of Jewish Humor written by William Novak and published by William Morrow Paperbacks. This book was released on 2006-10-31 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two rival businessmen meet in the Warsaw train station. "Where are you going?" says the first man. "To Minsk," says the second. "To Minsk, eh? What a nerve you have! I know you're telling me you're going to Minsk because you want me to think that you're really going to Pinsk. But it so happens that I know you really are going to Minsk. So why are you lying to me?" Four men are walking in the desert. The German says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have a beer." The Italian says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have wine." The Mexican says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have tequila." The Jew says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have diabetes."

Download or read book Let There Be Laughter written by Michael Krasny and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the host of NPR affiliate’s Forum with Michael Krasny, a compendium of Jewish jokes that packs the punches with hilarious riff after riff and also offers a window into Jewish culture. Michael Krasny has been telling Jewish jokes since his bar mitzvah, and it’s been said that he knows more of them than anyone on the planet. He certainly states his case in this wise, enlightening, and hilarious book that not only collects the best of Jewish humor passed down from generation to generation, but explains the cultural expressions and anxieties behind the laughs. "What’s Jewish Alzheimer’s?" "You forget everything but the grudges." "You must be so proud. Your daughter is the President of the United States!" "Yes. But her brother is a doctor!" "Isn’t Jewish humor masochistic?" "No. And if I hear that one more time I am going to kill myself." With his background as a scholar and public-radio host, Krasny delves deeply into the themes, topics, and form of Jewish humor: chauvinism undercut by irony and self-mockery, the fear of losing cultural identity through assimilation, the importance of vocal inflection in joke-telling, and calls to communal memory, including the use of Yiddish. Borrowing from traditional humor and such Jewish comedy legends as Jackie Mason, Mel Brooks, and Joan Rivers, Larry David, Sarah Silverman, Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer, Let There Be Laughter is an absolute pleasure for the chosen and goyim alike.

Download or read book 101 Classic Jewish Jokes written by Robert Menchin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1997-09-30 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jewish humor has defined comedy in 20th-century America.

Download or read book Jewish Wit written by Theodor Reik and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Kvetching and Shpritzing written by Joseph Dorinson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jewish humor, with its rational skepticism and cutting social criticism, permeates American popular culture. Scholars of humor--from Sigmund Freud to Woody Allen--have studied the essence of the Jewish joke, at once a defense mechanism against a hostile world and a means of cultural affirmation. Where did this wit originate? Why do Jewish humorists work at the margins of so many diverse cultures? What accounts for the longevity of the Jewish joke? Do oppressed people, as African American author Ralph Ellison suggested, slip their yoke when they change the joke? Citing examples from prominent humorists and stand-up comics, this book examines the phenomenon of Jewish humor from its biblical origins to its prevalence in the modern diaspora, revealing a mother lode of wit in language, literature, folklore, music and history.

Download or read book Jewish Humor written by Avner Ziv and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thirteen chapters in this book are derived from the First International Conference on Jewish Humor held at Tel-Aviv University. The authors are scientists from the areas of literature, linguistics, sociology, psychology, history, communications, the theater, and Jewish studies. They all try to understand different aspects of Jewish humor, and they evoke associations, of a local-logical nature, with Jewish tradition. This compilation reflects the first interdisciplinary approach to Jewish humor. The chapters are arranged in four parts. The first section relates to humor as a way of coping with Jewish identity. Joseph Dorinson's chapter underscores the dilemma facing Jewish comedians in the United States. These comics try to assimilate into American culture, but without giving up their Jewish identity. The second section of the book deals with a central function of humor--aggression. Christie Davies makes a clear distinction between jokes that present the Jew as a victim of anti-Semitic attacks and those in which the approach is not aggressive. The third part focuses on humor in the Jewish tradition. Lawrence E. Mintz writes about jokes involving Jewish and Christian clergymen. The last part of the book deals with humor in Israel. David Alexander talks about the development of satire in Israel. Other chapters and contributors include: -Psycho-Social Aspects of Jewish Humor in Israel and in the Diaspora- by Avner Ziv; -Humor and Sexism: The Case of the Jewish Joke- by Esther Fuchs; -Halachic Issues as Satirical Elements in Nineteenth Century Hebrew Literature- by Yehuda Friedlander; -Do Jews in Israel still laugh at themselves?- by O. Nevo; and -Political Caricature as a Reflection of Israel's Development- by Kariel Gardosh. Each chapter in this volume paves the way for understanding the many facets of Jewish humor. This book will be immensely enjoyable and informative for sociologists, psychologists, and scholars of Judaic studies.

Download or read book Jewish Wit and Wisdom written by Herb Galewitz and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-10-03 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes hilarious and frequently profound, this collection of aphorisms includes observations and remarks from statesmen, writers, artists, philosophers, jurists, musicians, and celebrities — from the prophets of the Old Testament to Woody Allen.

Download or read book Jewish Humor written by Joseph Telushkin and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-05-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here are more than 100 of the best Jewish jokes you'll ever hear, interspersed with perceptive and persuasive insight into what they can tell us about how Jews see themselves, their families, and their friends, and what they think about money, sex, and success. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is as celebrated for his wit as for his scholarship, and in this immensely entertaining book, he displays both in equal measure. Stimulating, something stinging, and always very, very funny, Jewish Humor offers a classic portrait of the Jewish collective unconscious.

Download or read book Yiddish Wisdom written by Chronicle Books and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2013-02-19 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decade after decade, Yiddish proverbs continue to capture the humor, warmth, and traditions of Jewish life. Now, the beloved Yiddish Wisdom (more than 100,000 copies sold) has been expanded with even more proverbs and fresh illustrations to be cherished by a new generation. With more than 150 folk sayings translated in Yiddish and English—from the whimsical and witty (Dress up a broom and it will also look nice/Az men batziert a bezem iz er oich shain) to the poignant (When one must, one can/Az me muz, ken men) and practical (When you look to the heights, hold on to your hat/Az du kukst oif hoicheh zachen, halt tsu dos hitl)—this treasured volume is the perfect gift for any celebration.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor written by Henry D. Spalding and published by Jonathan David Pub. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of colorful, witty, and downright hilarious stories, anecdotes, quips, jokes, and yarns reflect and poke fun at Jewish culture from ancient times to the present.

Download or read book Life is Like a Glass of Tea written by Richard Raskin and published by Quid Pro Books. This book was released on 2015-08-21 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book on Jewish humor in which individual jokes are singled out for comprehensive study, Life is Like a Glass of Tea devotes a chapter to each of eight major jokes, tracing its history and variants—and looking closely at the ways in which the comic behavior enacted in the punchline can be interpreted. One of the unique properties of classic Jewish jokes is their openness to radically different interpretive options (having nothing to do with wordplay or double entendre). This openness to alternate interpretations—never before discussed in the literature on Jewish humor—gives classic Jewish jokes their special flavor, as they leave us wondering which of several possible attitudes we are expected to hold toward the comic figure. An additional chapter is devoted to the ways in which Jewish jokes tend to evolve over time and across language and cultural barriers. Throughout the book, in fact, one can see the processes that Jewish jokes undergo over decades as their comic potential is unfolded in successive stages, and when they are transplanted from European to American soil. Now in its Second Edition, this expanded version adds two new chapters and new introductory material. It includes a 2015 Foreword by Marc Galanter, who notes that the author “is concerned not only with what makes jokes funny but with what makes some of them profound. His imaginative response to this puzzle makes this little book a distinctive and engaging contribution to the literature on Jewish jokes and on jokes generally.” It will appeal to the general reader, as well as to readers especially interested in Jewish culture, the psychology of humor, religion, ethnography, and folklore. “Richard Raskin’s book on Jewish humor was the most original and useful I found in years of research on the topic. I’m delighted to see it back in print—and with added chapters!” — Ruth Wisse Professor Emerita, Yiddish and Comparative Literature, Harvard University Author, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor (2013) “A fascinating book that explores the richness of Jewish humor. Raskin offers a thought-provoking analysis of what makes Jewish humor special. Raskin merges an understanding of Jewish culture, fresh psychological insights, and a sophisticated reading of jokes and their evolution to create a gem of a book. However, it is not just an outstanding book on Jewish humor. It is an outstanding book on humor. Period. After reading it, you won’t laugh the same way again.” — Dov Cohen Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Co-editor, Handbook of Cultural Psychology (2007)

Download or read book Jewish Wit for All Occasions written by Simon R. Pollack and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: