Ebook: A Club of Their Own: Jewish Humorists and the Contemporary World

This book bases its title on a joke by Groucho Marx who said (approximately, accounts differ) “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member”—a line that encapsulates one of the most important characteristics of Jewish humor: the desire to distance oneself from a group to which one feels superior and in this way to forge a path to emotional freedom. By studying the history and development of Jewish humor, the chapters in this book provide nuanced accounts of how Jewish humor can be described, but also makes a case for the importance of humor in studying any culture. A recent survey showed that about four in ten American Jews felt that “having a good sense of humor” was “an essential part of what being Jewish means to them,” on a par with or exceeding caring for Israel, observing Jewish law, and eating traditional foods. As these chapters show, Jewish humor has served many functions as a form of “insider” speech. It has been used to ridicule; to unite people in the face of their enemies; to challenge authority; to deride politics and politicians; in America, to ridicule conspicuous consumption and diminished American Jewish masculinity and masculine Jewish women; in Israel, to contrast expectations of political normalcy and bitter reality. However, much of contemporary Jewish humor is not designed only or even primarily as insider speech. Rather, it rewards all those who get the punch line.