by Eamonn Doherty
Home >> LOL in Yiddish
I had conflicting opinions about them. They had Jesus Christ killed, which wasn’t one of their best ideas. But on the other hand, I had seen the “World at War” documentaries and so I knew about their intended extermination at the hands of Mr. Hitler.
However, the thing that decided it for me was their sense of humour. I could appreciate it. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because the Irish and the Jews have a lot in common – persecution and immigration.
And in the 70’s Jewish humour was everywhere on television – Barbara Streisand (she used to be funny), Woody Allen, Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks and of course the great Billy Wilder (the guy Fernando Trueba calls “God”).
They told jokes about their religion, antisemitism and the clichés of being a Jew.
I remember during my childhood watching a situation comedy (sitcom) television programme called “Rhoda”. It dealt with the universal themes of family, friends relationships and living in a big city but through the eyes of a Jewish thirtysomething.
Two of the characters that stood out the most for me were Rhoda’s sister (who now is the voice of Marge Simpson, wife of Homer and mother of Bart) and the doorman, Carlton. The doorman was an unusual character insofar as you never saw him on screen. You only heard his sleepy voice through the intercom as he made some inappropriate comments.
And finally a quotation from Golda Meir the first woman prime minister of Israel, who also had a sense of humour …
“Let me tell you something that we Jews have against Moses. He took us forty years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil.”
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Posted on http://www.weeklyletter.com at 2008-05-29 10:00:00 +0200
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I think it’s a very interesting article because it talks about sense of humor. It reminds me of when I heard Woody Allen asking himself “Why doesn’t God put a million dollars in my account? All I need to see is a sign.”
Best regards,
Carlos
My first exposure to Jewish humour came from an TV series in 1967 called ‘Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width’ which told the story of a Jewish jacket maker and an Irish Catholic trouser maker who formed Cohen & Kelly Suits. The comedy came from them genuinely trying to understand each other but not quite managing.
Only yesterday I was out with a Jewish friend and he was telling me a story about when he was a child. He was in a shop with his father, who was arguing the cost of something with the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper became annoyed with my friend’s father’s demands to bring the price down and shouted at him, “Hey, I’m Jewish too!”
It was with a group of Jewish friends (who were just as funny or non-funny as the rest of us) when I had a revelation.
One of them said “I’m so glad I’m not a Christian.”
I gasped (thinking “Blasphemy!”); there are more religions in this world than my own! I didn’t find it humorous until years later.