{"id":44311,"date":"2018-08-10T14:59:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T20:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=44311"},"modified":"2018-08-10T14:59:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T20:59:37","slug":"off-the-pulpit-serious-or-funny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-serious-or-funny\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Serious or funny?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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Jewish humor has not only enabled an often oppressed people to cope with the world, but taught a great deal about that world. When Henny Youngman tells us that Jews don\u2019t drink because it interferes with their suffering, he swirls up several stereotypes to make a point. It is kin to the concise observation by Joseph Epstein \u2014 a sad Jew is a happy Jew.<\/p>\n

We even have a joke for a Jew who doesn\u2019t want to feel pain: An Eastern European Jew was reading the Nazi paper. His friend was aghast, but he explained: \u201cIn the Yiddish paper all I read is how we are suffering. But here I\u2019m reading how we control the world!\u201d <\/p>\n

There are sermons in stones, wrote the poet. But there are also sermons in jokes. Except the jokes are shorter. <\/p>\n

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