The Lifeline Bookfest also yielded a very good book on the history of Jewish humor called No Joke, Making Jewish Humor, by Ruth R. Wisse, published 2013.
It’s an in-depth history covering hundreds of years of Jewish humor. Along the way the book features a few jokes and puts them in historic context. Here are a couple of samples. The author starts the book with a relatively modern joke:
Four Europeans go hiking together and get terribly lost. First they run out of food, then out of water.
“I’m so thirsty,” says the Englishman. “I must have tea!”
“I’m so thirsty,” says the Frenchman. “I must have wine!”
“I’m so thirsty,” says the German. “I must have beer!”
“I’m so thirsty,” says the Jew. “I must have diabetes!”
A few older European jokes feature the schnorrer or professional beggar:
A woman, feeling sorry for a beggar who had come to her door, invited him in and offered him food. On the table was a pile of dark bread – and a few slices of hallah. The schnorrer promptly fell upon the hallah.
“There’s black bread, too,” the woman hinted.
“I prefer hallah.”
“But hallah is much more expensive.”
“Lady,” said the beggar, “it’s worth it.”
Another joke the author related went as follows:
A lawyer taunts the rabbi with a mock predicament: if the wall between heaven and hell collapses, which side should bear the cost of reconstruction? The rabbi replies: justice favors those in heaven, given that the fires of hell destroyed the wall. But the smooth-talking lawyers in hell would probably win the case.
— See No Joke, Making Jewish Humor by Ruth R. Wisse, published Princeton University Press, 2013.
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