Jewish Humor

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Jewish Humor

Jules Chametzky

This chapter is part of: Leonard H. Ehrlich et al. 2004. Textures and Meanings: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

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In the modern era, the most pervasive Jewish cultural commentary has been joking and humor, as Jules Chametzky’s essay reminds us. “Jewish jokes and humorous stories flourish when traditions are changing or being undermined, when life is precarious (and when isn’t it, in Jewish history?), or when the spectacle of human folly or vanity unfolds daily to the perceptive observer.” As forms of identity maintenance and directed aggression, jokes and humor have been sustaining ways of evoking a space of freedom in the midst of constraints and impingements. Chametzky’s richly condensed survey of Jewish comedic expression shows how marvelously responsive these forms have been to the instabilities and shifting geographies of modernity. Particularly in America, the circulation of Jewish humor in popular culture, musical comedy and theater rivals, perhaps, only medicine in the extent of its impact on the whole of society. Itself a form of medicine, the levity of Jewish humor has acted as a counter-force to the gravity of modern anxieties.

Description

In the modern era, the most pervasive Jewish cultural commentary has been joking and humor, as Jules Chametzky’s essay reminds us. “Jewish jokes and humorous stories flourish when traditions are changing or being undermined, when life is precarious (and when isn’t it, in Jewish history?), or when the spectacle of human folly or vanity unfolds daily to the perceptive observer.” As forms of identity maintenance and directed aggression, jokes and humor have been sustaining ways of evoking a space of freedom in the midst of constraints and impingements. Chametzky’s richly condensed survey of Jewish comedic expression shows how marvelously responsive these forms have been to the instabilities and shifting geographies of modernity. Particularly in America, the circulation of Jewish humor in popular culture, musical comedy and theater rivals, perhaps, only medicine in the extent of its impact on the whole of society. Itself a form of medicine, the levity of Jewish humor has acted as a counter-force to the gravity of modern anxieties.

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Published	Published By
Aug. 1, 2004	University of Massachusetts Amherst
Citation
Chametzky J. 2004. Jewish Humor. In Leonard H. Ehrlich et al. 2004. Textures and Meanings: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst