Photos by Brandon Schwartz metro » Smith Mediation Center Divorce Mediation No Joke! Humor class helps define what makes Jews tick. Class members share a laugh in the Jewish humor class through Federation’s Adult Jewish Learning program. Linda Laderman | Special to the Jewish News A M ediation is an alternative that can help you retain more time, money, and privacy during your legal battle. Barbara Smith, J.D., former district court magistrate and administrative law judge with more than 25 years of legal experience, lends her unique blend of reason, calmness and tenacity to the process, helping guide opposing parties to mutually agreeable solutions. She has successfully mediated hundreds of cases over the past decade. Bloomfi eld Hills | 248.646.8000 www.michigan-divorce-mediation.com 2043970 T T # (#&53' FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016 P Please l e ase j join o i n us for f an even evening ni ng of f traditio tradition n & excellence as we honor & celebrate Rabbi Daniel B. Syme for his 20 years of dedicated service, retirement, and transition to Rabbi Emeritus. Thi spec This special i l evening ial i will ill f feature t a 6:00 6 00 PM M Sh Shabbat bb t Di Dinner Adults, $36 / Children 12 & Under, $15 (Children under 3, not ordering a meal, are free) followed by Shabbat Services at 7:30 PM Community leaders and guests will honor Rabbi Syme’s twenty years of dedicated service and spiritual guidance at Temple Beth El. REGISTER ONLINE at tbeonline.org/event-registration or contact Laura Lucassian at 248.851.1100 or llucassian@tbeonline.org. 7HOHJUDSK5RDG %ORRPÀHOG+LOOV0LFKLJDQZZZWEHRQOLQHRUJ 2102900 22 May 19 • 2016 s it turns out, Jewish humor is not always a laughing matter. Jewish humor has inspired legions of websites, books and academic discussions. Even Sigmund Freud got into the act with his book Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, in which he asserted that many Jewish jokes speak to the willingness of Jews to take an intro- spective, and often self-critical, look at themselves through a satirical lens. And now, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, as part of its Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning graduate curricu- lum, is holding a 12-week session on the topic, “From Sinai to Seinfeld.” Judy Loebl, Federation’s director of Adult Jewish Learning, says reaction to Teacher Ruth the recently introduced Bergman course has been positive. “We’re not surprised by the response, in large part because Ruth Bergman, who teaches the class, can be very funny,” Loebl says. “Her vast knowledge of popular culture helps to define the nuances and rhythms of Jewish humor from its origins to modern times.” Although the current class ends next week, Loebl says it would be offered again on Thursday mornings this fall. Call FedEd for information at (248) 205-2557. The class is not an exercise in Jewish jokes or a course in comedy, according to Loebl. “It is not about telling jokes; it is about cultural anthropology, sociology and what makes us tick as Jewish people. Humor is a brilliant way to understand our culture, not just from a current look, but also from an historical perspective.” Adult learners like Linda Katzman Spigelman agree with Loebl’s assessment. “I’ve enjoyed the examples of Jewish humor from different historical periods and especially from more recent times. The Mel Brooks’ clips, Woody Allen’s writings and the Israeli comedy series The Jews Are Coming, make it a fun way to explore topics such as our relationship with God, how we’ve survived in the dias- pora and our sense of Jewish identity,” says Spigelman, who is taking the class with her mother, Janice Katzman. Spigelman is not alone in her appre- ciation of Jewish humor. In a 2013 Pew Research Center survey of American Jews who were asked, “What does it mean to be Jewish?” more than 40 percent replied, “Having a good sense of humor.” That exceeded the number of those who answered being part of a Jewish commu- nity and observing Jewish law. Why is humor that important to Jews? “When humor comes out of difficulty there is more to be funny about — we can make fun of the oppres- sor, but never the oppressed,” Bergman says. “Humor is the door to understanding Jewish values, concerns, coping mecha- nisms. It helps us to see what’s important.” Don’t expect this class to make you roll on the floor with laughter, she says. “This is not a class on comedy; with com- edy nothing is really at stake. With humor, we still laugh at ourselves but there is something under- neath it all, maybe we are dealing with an underlying issue.” Issues that are acceptable targets for humorists are always evolving and don’t necessarily adhere to Woody Allen’s claim that “tragedy plus time equals comedy.” “I don’t think there is a set clock that needs to run out before something can be poked fun at. Different people react differently. Some Holocaust survivors, for example, can laugh at Mel Brooks’ “Springtime for Hitler” and for others it is too painful. More than the timing is the content,” says Bergman, whose parents survived the Holocaust. The evolution of Jewish humor follows the same trajectory as all comedy, she says. “Once the envelope is pushed, some- one will come and try to push it some more. Previously taboo subjects now become posts on Facebook. If Saul Bellow is correct and ‘oppressed people tend to be witty,’ then as we have become more comfortable, successful and accepted, maybe we become less funny? “I don’t know. Or maybe it’s just that the humor is not less funny, but differ- ently funny. But basically, if it makes you laugh, it’s funny.” *