Friday, April 4, 1947

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

P'D Bight

The Jew Laughs With Tears in His Eyes

By DR. M. A. LIPKIND
IT AND HUMOR is one of the
inherent qualities of the Jew-
ish people. This characteristic
helped the Jew to maintain his
sanity in the long years of the
bitter Gslut. This sense of hu-
mor served him as a defense
mechanism against humiliations
and outrages caused by a hostile
world.
In general, Jewish wit is identi-
fied by its sophistry, its sharp sar-
casm or cutting irony, and as rule
it contains a philosophical obser-
vation and reaches deep into the
soul. The Jew has the ability to
make fun of himself, and at any
occasion however oppressive. The
Jew is the only kind of person

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traditional customs, beliefs, talesland discoursed for seven days and
and sayings. I seven nights the problem of how
to illuminate the streets on dark
nights preceeding the full moon.
BIBLE AND TALMUD
Finally they devised a brilliant
IT MAY BE STATED that
there is one basic recipe for uni- trick: when it was full moon they
versal humor, but every nation placed iri the market place a bar-
seasons its humor to suit its taste; rel full of water and captured the
the Jew takes his humor well sea- moon. They covered it was sheets,
tied them around the barrel with
soned and frequently. -
The first seeds of humor are strong ropes, sealed the knots with
found in the Bible; it grew and the seal of the Rabbi.
When the end of the month
developed in the Talmud and Mid-
rash; it assumes a definite form in came around and the night be-
the Hebrew literature of the came dark, they gathered in the
Middle Ages. From among the market place to take the moon
countless gems of wit and humor out to illuminate the streets. They
which is found in the Bible one
can cite the following examples' fr.
Elijah mocked the prophets of
Baal and said: "Cry aloud, for he
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is God, either he is talking. or he
is occupied, or he is on a journey
or peradventure he sleeps and
must be awakened."
Isaiah ridicules the makers of
KAPLAN & STERN
graven images: "A carpenter fa-
shions a God from a wooden board
and from the remainder of the
wood he kindles a fire and bakes
his bread."
The Talmud says: "At Purim
one is obliged to drink so much
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that he can no longer tell the
difference between cursed be Ha-
man and blessed be Mordecai."
_0_
IN MIDDLE AGES
IN THE EARLY PERIOD of
Jewish history, wit and humor,
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like culture, was the heritage of
the spiritual aristocracy — the
prophets, scholars, and poets. La-
ter in the Middle Ages, appeared
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many humorists from the plain
people. They created humor from
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their own life experience.

who seems to laugh with tears in
his eyes.
During the centuries of exile the
Jew has absorbed and was influ-
enced by the culture and way of
life of the people among whom he
sojourned. As there is nothing
more contagious than humor, the
Jew has as well adopted a great
deal of the non-Jewish wit and
humor and in a Judaized form it
may be considered as part of our
own folklore.
Those who insist that Jewish
humor is distinctive and not con-
taminated can point only to the
witticism, jokes and anecdotes
which depend entirely on Hebrew
or Yiddish assonance, expression
or phraseology., and humor hav-
ing the indelible stamp of Jewish

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The free development of the
Jewish wit and humor begins
among the East European Jews in
the middle of the 18th century
with the appearance of Hassidism.
In this humor is preserved the
true Jewish essence in an unad-
ulterated form.
They produced humorists whose
witty sayings and humorous stor-
ies passed from generation to gen-
eration enriching the treasury of
Jewish folk-lore. However, the
Eastern European Jew had some-
thing else besides humor to sus-
tain him; he had a strong faith
and a feeling of unity with his
God which borders on the humor-
ous side.
—o—
The Jew appeals to God in a
familiar way: "Dear God, help
me; Thou hast pity on total stran-
gers, so why not on me?"
—0_.
Or when a Jew cannot stand
anymore his afflictions he speaks
to God with holy impudence:
'Dear God! You are trying your
best that I should forsake being
a Jew, but I warn you that all the
trouble you cause me will not
-hinge my mind; I was born a
Jew and will remain a Jew."
_0_
Or listen to the Hassidic Rabbi
argue with God: "Great God:
You dispersed your Jews among
the peoples of all the world and
you wouldn't send the Messiah to
redeem them, not until they re-
pent. I swear by You by my
beard and side locks, that they
will never repent, so please hurry
and send the redeemer."

—0-

13830 LIVERNOIS

HO. 2836

I

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BRUNSWICK-BALKE

COLLENDER CO.

HIGHLAND

the Wise Men of Helm, or as they
are called in Yiddish "The Helmer
Naronim" are very popular. Al-
though they have parallels in the
world literature, the Jewish ver-
sions have the advantage of deep-
er content and are richer in ideas.
_0—
A Helmite was asked: "If you
would find a million dollars would
you return it to the owner?"
After deep thought he replied:
"If the loser would be a Roth-
schild I might not be able to
stand the temptation and may
keep it; but if the loser would
be our poor Rabbi, I would re-
turn it immediately, every cent
of it."
—o—
Jews were discussing whether
or not smoking is injurious to
health and shortens life. One said
he believes that it does not, "My
father was a heavy smoker all his
life and lived to the age of 80."
A Helmite substantiated the man's
opinion with this evidence: "I had
a brother who never smoked in
his life and died at the age of
nine months."

One of the most charming Helm
stories is the following: The Helm-
ites convened in the synagogue
-
-

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WE DELIVER

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Best Wishes To All For A
Happy & Joyous Passover

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P. B. SERVICE CO.

La Measure Bros.

Laundry & Dry Cleaning

2429 National Bank Bldg.

1450 - 21st STRJET
LA. 2200

CA. 6545

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Passover Greetings and Best Wishes

THE HUMOROUS STORIES of

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PL. 2320

HELM STORIES

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•

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EAST SIDE

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became terror-stricken; the moon
was missing.
"The moon has been stolen,"
they lamented. "What a pity, we
should have had enough sense to
put a night watchman over the
barrel."
—o—
SIMPLETON STORIES
A PUPIL ASKED the "mela-
med": "What causes people to
become drunk?" The melamed
explains: "Normally the good and
evil spirits of man are situated to
the right and left inside of the
person. One does not come in
contact with the other, but when
the belly is filled with strong
(Continued on page 10)

To The Entire Jewish Community

Compliments of

A FRIEND

*

I-

Passover Greetings

—0--

k WALTON PIERCE CO.

2110 Park Avenue

