Call number
567 TEL
Collection
Publication
New York : W. Morrow, c1992.
Description
Here are more than 100 of the best Jewish jokes you'll ever hear, interspersed with perceptive and persuasive insight into what they can tell us about how Jews see themselves, their families, and their friends, and what they think about money, sex, and success. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is as celebrated for his wit as for his scholarship, and in this immensely entertaining book, he displays both in equal measure. Stimulating, something stinging, and always very, very funny, Jewish Humor offers a classic portrait of the Jewish collective unconscious.
User reviews
LibraryThing member raizel
I read this several years ago and what I remember is that there were interesting ideas and lots of good examples.
LibraryThing member justine
Interesting look at Jewish culture through its jokes.
LibraryThing member fingerpost
This was the most serious book of humor I've ever read. The subtitle is accurate: This is a book about the Jews. not as much a book of humor, or a book about Judaism. Because jokes usually poke fun at the people who are the subject of the joke, the Jews on these pages are frequently cast in a less
To get the majority of these jokes, one must have an understanding of the background, not only of Jewish beliefs and rituals, but also of the country of origin of the joke and the time period in which it was told. Telushkin gives us all of the necessary preamble to each joke, but this often makes the joke less funny by the time one has read it.
As a sociological work, it was very interesting reading. However, I did not end up with a great arsenal of new jokes to share with my friends.
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than ideal light. There are also plenty of jokes which Jews could tell to ridicule others. To get the majority of these jokes, one must have an understanding of the background, not only of Jewish beliefs and rituals, but also of the country of origin of the joke and the time period in which it was told. Telushkin gives us all of the necessary preamble to each joke, but this often makes the joke less funny by the time one has read it.
As a sociological work, it was very interesting reading. However, I did not end up with a great arsenal of new jokes to share with my friends.
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LibraryThing member Fledgist
Jewish jokes together with analysis of them and what they tell us about the Jewish people and Judaism from a Jewish perspective. Very worth reading.
Subjects
Original publication date
1992
ISBN
0688110274 / 9780688110277
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