Becker Bros. Printers Office and Factory Forms Commercial & Office Stationery Established 1915 7709 TWELFTH 4 blocks N. of Grand Blvd. r TY 5 - 0547 Challenge to Writers: Need to Resuscitate Jewish Joke (A Seven Arts Feature) By SHIN FEY SAMAKH If it is true, as Dr. Sigmund Freud said, that there is no other people that makes so merry unreservedly over its own shortcomings" as does the 111•1111.4•11•0 ■1■ 01111•10.0.11 ■0■0 il. 0 41 •1100.1■01■ 0!0••• ■ •0 ■ 11,1 411•1• 0 41•11. (.15•11.041 ■ 0411•11. Happy New Year ■••■ 0 •I•11.0 MOW 0S i RISDON MILK ICE CREAM . : . .i a Holiday Greetings BERRY & SEYBURN Property Management 3500 David Stott Bldg. WO 1-8369 Sincere Wishes for a Most Happy New Year CADILLAC BODY SERVICE Custom Collision Work on All Makes of Cars ALL WORK GUARANTEED 8524 Dunbarton Rd., near Grand River TY 8-5600 Best Wishes on the New Year CENTRAL HEATING COMPANY Gas - Oil - Warm Air-Conditioner - Repairs of All Kinds D. A. LAVEN 15905 James Couzens Hwy. UN 2-9517 New Year Best Wishes CENTRAL SCRAP IRON & METAL CO. Metals Jack Levenson and Jack Ellish Dealer in All Kinds of Scrap and 17239 Swift Ave. at 6 Mi. Rd. & Russell, TW 2 8100 - Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons COHEN & SON Kosher Meat & Poultry Market 26035 Coolidge LI 7-4121 New Year Greetings COLLINS AUTO ELECTRIC 25102 John R, Madison Heights LI 3-6464 >- New Year Greetings Waterproofing — Building Restoration TY 8-8490 DETROIT INDEPENDENT SPRINKLER CO. Complete Fire Protection Systems 684 W. Baltimore TR 4-1575 Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons EASTERN POULTRY CO. 2542 Riopelle Ir vilt vissen, ver der kligs- ster mentsh iz? Vel ich aych zogen. Die kligsste folk fun ale Felker zanen die idn. Dos iz doch a y'due-zach. Un die kligsste idn zanen doch gevis die tsionissn--dos is doch oych on a sofek. Un vauter die kligs- ste tsionisstn zanen die russe- she tsionisstn, ver den? Un fun die russeshe tsionisstn die kligsste zanen doch gevis die fun tsentralkomitet, vorum as zey voltn nit geven die kligs- ste, volt men zey doch nit gek- libn in tsentralkomit. Un vider farshteyt men doch, as der kligsster fun tsentralkomitet iz der president. Un der,— hert it?—iz aza shoyte, eyner in der velt. To undertake to translate this would represent a sacrilege. Those who know Yiddish will know it; the others must have it explained; and once a story W. H. BELTER WO 1-0707 Vos is dos? Es Shteyt dach, macht kukireku un is nit kein hon? Answer: A meshugener. An anthology of Jewish humor, translatable and untranslatable, would occupy scores of volumes. Our storytellers have told jokes, have developed the anecdotes, know the value of satire, made use of gags, epigrams, wise- cracks. If they overstepped the bounds of realism they at least may have proved the point in a wisecrack by Benjamin Frank- lin: "Strange! that a Man who has wit enough to write a Satire should have folly enough to publish it!" In our own time, especially in the Jewish press, we are in danger of having become too dull. We have begun to accuse ourselves of lacking in humor Season's Best Wishes BRANDT BROS. INC. Heating Contractors Boilers Repaired and Replaced 6154 BIVOUAC VI 1-3475 Best Wishes for a Happy New Year SAMUEL BRODY & SONS 14411 West Eight Mile Detroit 35 New Year Best Wishes NEW YEAR GREETINGS DYNAMIC IRON & METAL CO Buyers of Scrap Iron & Metal Waste Materials 3800 Lonyo LU 2-1442 Season's Greetings EDER FURNITURE CO. Louis Eder 1753 FORT DU 1-1940 Lincoln Pork Happy New Year to Our Relatives and Friends EIDELMAN BROS. INC. Wholesale Floor Coverings 5875 Concord WA 5-4181 Holiday Greetings BEULAH STARR 908 Mutual Bldg. WO 2-2789 Holiday Good Wishes CADILLAC FENCE & SUPPLY CO. VETERAN Food Products Co. 13675 Plymouth WE 3-8755 13231 Conant TW 3-4393 IIMINNO ■1■ HOLIDAY GOOD CHEER CHARLES M. CLAPSADDLE 33 Vernier Road Grosse Pointe Shores TU 4-3980 New Year Greetings Villa-Zion Geriatric Hospital Kosher Cuisine 13965 Linwood TU 3 - 4444 GREETINGS Best Wishes on the New Year COLLEGE WOODS SERVICE Pollak's Custom Dress Making Mobil Gas - Motor Tuning Repairing - Battery Charging Tires - Tubes - Batteries Service Calls - Towing, etc. 10200 W. 7 Mile, UN 4-2904 HENRY OGARA, Prop. Greetings on New Year's CURTIS DRUGS 18201 Wyoming corner Curtis 1931 East Jefferson WE DELIVER LO 8-3055 DI 1-2450 BOKOS WAFFLE SHOP There is need to recapture the Jewish joke, to have a measure of literature in a light- er vein, to gain new strength through reconstructed self-criti- cism—self-ridicule if necessary. Will the English-Jewish press be able to find a new trek to- wards that most valuable of all human assets: genuine humor? That's the challenge of the hour to Jewish writers. 341-6001 Distributors of U.S. Tires and Batteries Greetings of the Season Happy New Year has to be explained it necessi- tates an addendum of philos- ophy! To prove the point, it is nec- essary to quote also from the Reteneshn — the riddles — in "L'Chayim!" Here is one of them: . New Year Greetings CROWE AND ASSOCIATES 5327 Tireman Jewish people, then we must begin to ask ourselves: what has happened to Jewish humor since it became necessary to translate a Jewish joke? Everybody loves a good story, and if it is a Yiddish jest or pun, even if it is a chestnut, it is certain to draw a laugh. But when it becomes neces- sary to translate the Yiddish joke, it loses its value even if it continues to inspire laughter. Which raises the challenging question: was the tribute to our sense of humor by Freud limit- ed to the Yiddishists, or can the fine quality of telling a story well and enjoying it heartily be resuscitated even by the Eng- lish-speaking Jew? There is a wealth of Jewish humor. It is to be found in the Bible and the Talmud, and even in the dark Middle Ages, Jewish writers punned, resorted to sat- ire, told stories and laughed at their woes. A number of books packed with humor have been publish- ed in Israel, and an enterprising publisher would do well—pro- vided he gets a good translator' —to reissue some of the books in English. The late Israel Supreme Court Justice Cheshin was a master storyteller and the author of several books of Jewish humor one of them having been is- sued by the Jewish Publication Society, containing courtroom stories . Rufus Lea si (Israel Gold- berg) and Nathan Ausubel au- thored books of Jewish humor in this country. The works of Immanuel Olsvanger, contain- ing excellently told stories, in Yiddish, printed in Roman characters, drew wide attention as Schocken publications. One of the Olsvanger stories, in his book "L'Chayim!", is worth retelling. Let it be re- peated as it appears in Olsvan- ger's text: DER KLIGSSTER MENTSH Season's Most Cordial Greetings 19490 Livernois 864-7766 Open Thurs., Fri. and Sat. 'til 9 p.m. HAPPY NEW YEAR MUSKOVITZ & PERSHIN PLUMBING & HEATING 2955 W. Davison TO 8-8870 New Year Greetings DETROIT MILL SUPPLY CO. Sports Outlet Stores 18406 W. McNichols KE 2-2520 Mr. & Mrs. Abe Weisman Ferndale — Royal Oak Dearborn New Year Greetings New Year Greetings NEW YEAR GREETINGS BOND-BILT CONSTRUCTION DORN Fruit & Produce Co. 13800 W. 8 Mile Rd, UN 3-3547 1501 DIVISION Serving Breakfast Lunch - Dinner Carry-outs — Open 8-6 Daily Closed Sundays & Holidays 1909 EAST FERRY WA 2-5600 TE 2-1758 Harold and Carol Blacher and Jeffrey 63 - THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS -- Friday, Sept. 13, 1963 New Year Greetings