Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor: From Biblical Times to the Modern Age

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In my opinion this book should be on the shelves of every Jewish family ,not just for display but as a study and reference ,

There is much to learn about Jewish slang and the structure of Jewish humor in this collection, but the author has a knack for taking funny material and making it sound stupid. Let me give an example by relating one of my favorite Jewish jokes, in my own words.

Hymie and Sophie owned a little convenience store in a nice Jewish neighborhood, and they made a nice living. However, the neighborhood began to change, the Jews moving to the suburbs and a wave of Catholic immigrants replaced them, working in the growing factories around the city. Their business fell to almost nothing. One day Hymie says to Sophie [please add Yiddish accent here and throughout], "you know, if we were Catholics, we would get our business back." So the next day the couple went to the local Catholic church and professed their desire to become Catholics. Father O'Reilly was suspicious and put the pair through months of study and service, but the couple pulled through with honors. On the Sunday they were to be baptized, the whole Catholic community attended, each in his or her best attire. Hymie and Sophie looked radiant. They knelt before the alter, ate the wafer, and the good Father O'Reilly blessed them. Three times to each he said, "you're a Catholic," sprinkling the water on them. There followed a great feast and celebration.

Well, business did pick up. The couple were doing so well that one day Hymie said, "You know, Sophie [add Yiddish accent] we must invite the priest to dinner." Father O'Reilly accepted with pleasure, and showed up Friday evening for dinner. The had some wine and hors d'oeuvres, and Sophie came out of the kitchen with the steaming piece de resistance: a magnificent pot roast. Father O'Reilly was horrified. "After all your studies, you don't remember that you must eat fish on Friday!" Sophie, mortified, quickly regained her composure. Taking some water from the pitcher, she stood over the pot roast, intoning "You're a fish, you're a fish, you're a fish" while sprinkling the steaming dish.

Now, that is a funny joke! Forever after, when you want to say that you can't change the leopard's spots in Jewish, you just say "You're a fish."

What is the joke like in the book? It occurs on page 61. I won't repeat the whole joke, but only the last three paragraphs. "This is disgraceful!" cried the indignant priest. "Didn't you promise to abstain from eating meat on Friday?" "Meat? Who's eating meat?" answered the other blandly. "This is gefilteh fish." "You must take me for a fool!" snapped the outraged priest. "How can anyone make fish out of meat?" "The same way you made a Catholic out of a Jew," answered the convert smoothly. "I sprinkled water on it!."

Isn't that just awful? Lots of adverbs and adjectives ("indignant" "outraged" "smoothly"...) but no subtlety. I invite someone to take these joke and restore their humor.

By the way, if you liked my version of the joke, someday I'll tell you "I Could Have Saved Mama". Now that's a funny joke.

This is the definitve work on all of the old Jewish stories and/or jokes which your parents knew. A must have

This book is so unfunny, so corny, so stupid.
I am sorry for not mustering up more intelligent words but this book doesn't deserve an intelligent review. I am only writing this to warn others not to waste their money. The jokes are so not funny. I mean, not funny at all! Sometimes you can't even tell what the punch line is. And lest you say that it is a cultural thing and I am missing the nuances of Jewish humor, I will just mention that I am fluent in Yiddish and grew up around Jewish humor my whole life.

One more thing... it is a CRIME to call this an encyclopedia. There is nothing encyclopedic about it. It's not organized as a reference book. It's ridiculous to call this an encyclopedia. Whatever... I am wasting too much time on this review already. Don't buy!!!