As Mel Brooks says, "Comedy is Dr. Jekyll's antidote."  He calls the basic Jewish condition: anxiety and worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow—and Jewish humor is the answer to that.

When Jews tell Jewish jokes, we often make a point and deal with problems. This point can be about the jokester's shortcomings, a person or a people that they don't like, or anything else, even Jewish ethics. I have divided the uses of Jewish humor into four main categories:

1. Jokes that deal with oppressors, such as Chelm jokes or Russian jokes,
2. Jokes that deal with ourselves, our families and the type of people that we are, like grandmother jokes and those that make fun of jerks (shmucks, shnorrers, putzes),
3. Jokes that make fun of one (or more than one) denomination of Jews, generally by making them seem stupid or insignificant; and then there are
4. Jokes that make fun of Jews' relationship with God. These jokes can also make fun of Jewish ethics.

Jews throughout the ages have found themselves oppressed by different groups time and time again. Certain groups of oppressors like the Poles and the Russians oppressed us for so long, that we began to make jokes about them and their corrupt governments. Even in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII, the Jews used the mythical city of fools that they called Chelm. The stupid Chelmites represented the Poles, but since it was dangerous for the Jews to tell jokes in which they depicted the Poles as stupid outright, they used themselves as a front for the abuse that they dished out to the unwitting Poles. A good example of this is:

Two wise men of Chelm went for a walk, when suddenly it began to rain.
"Quick" said one man, "Open your umbrella."
"It won't help," said his friend, "my umbrella is full of holes."
"Then why did you bring it in the first place?"
"I thought it wouldn't rain."

This joke depicts the Poles in their stupidity while appearing to make fun of the Jews who were telling the joke.

This type of humor continues today in the work of Mel Brooks. The depiction of the Romans in The History of the World Part I is one of stupid, marijuana-smoking autocrats who only think about pleasure and having fun. This is perhaps revenge for the Romans destroying the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Mel Brooks covered many other areas as well, including the Romanians in Young Frankenstein, and nearly everybody else in The Two Thousand Year Old Man.

Another common type of jokes against oppressors is Russian jokes. These jokes for some reason, have no proxies, and make fun of the Russian government directly, through the people in the government, or the KGB. A good joke about the KGB and Russia is:

An elderly man is sitting on a park bench studying a Hebrew book. A KGB agent walks by, looks over the man's shoulder, and says, "What is that strange writing?"
"This is Hebrew," says the old man. "It's the language of Israel."
"Don't be silly," says the agent. "At your age you'll never get to Israel."
"Perhaps not," sighs the old man. "But Hebrew is also the language of heaven."
The agent replies, "What makes you so sure you're going to heaven?"
"Maybe I'm not," says the old man, "but I already know Russian."

This joke shows Jews' attitude towards the Russian/Soviet government. Both the Russian and Chelm jokes helped the Jews live through hard times by belittling their oppressors, making the oppressors seem inferior to the Jews. This type of humor helped to keep some Jews in concentration camps alive until they could be rescued.

Politics influences Jewish humor today. Jacob Weisburg (probably Jewish) edited George W. Bushisms, quoting phrases like "If the terriers and barrifs are torn down, this economy will grow," and "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." Dubya may be disabled, but he is also great material.

The next use for Jewish humor is dealing with one's family. This includes mother jokes, father jokes, jokes about children, mishpoke, and yes, grandmother jokes. These well-known jokes help us to escape from problems that are not threatening, but are simply annoying. For instance if my parents are making me do my work (such as this speech), and I am mad at them (which I was), I could tell jokes about parents to my friends to relieve my stress (which I did as often as I could). Or, if your in-laws annoy you (as stereotypical in-laws do), then you can tell a mishpoke joke and ease your irritation without provoking your conscience.

Jokes about family sometimes ridicule how our oppressors see us. These jokes depict our oppressors as shallow people who are locked in a world of stereotypes and cannot see beyond our religion. For instance:

Four Jewish ladies of a certain age are sitting in a booth in the back of a restaurant.
The first one says, "Oy vey."
The second one says, "Oy gevalt."
The third one says, "Oy gevalt is mer."
And the last one says, "If you don't stop talking about the children I'm leaving."

This joke shows a ridiculous dichotomy between the stereotype of Jewish grandmothers and their generally loving nature. It has also been told with the punch line "If you don't stop talking politics I'm leaving." Told in this form, it mocks a Jewish obsession with politics. Now I know that I may have said more than my fair share about this last election, but even the Mintzes talk of other things at times, like jokes.

At the end of the 19th century, the life was hard in the shtetls, so Sholem Aleichem wrote comical stories chronicling one man, Tevya, and his life in the small shtetl of Anetevka. These were eventually compiled into a play that you all know: Fiddler on the Roof. In these pieces, Sholem Aleichem shows the world what life was like in the towns, and did all this through humorous situations, that reverted to sad ones. This Jewish tradition of making fun of neighborhood, family, and politics in loving ways continues on primetime TV shows like Seinfeld, and with comedians like Woody Allen.

There have also been some very funny Jewish women comedians, who celebrated their lives instead of their second-class status in Jewish law and culture. One of the greatest of them was Sophie Tucker, called the "Red Hot Yiddishe Mama." She said things like "From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 19 to 35, she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs good personality, and from 55 on, she needs cash" and "I've been rich and I've been poor, rich is better."

A third use of Jewish humor is the jokes dealing with other Jews. These jokes critique our society for allowing people to become beggars, but they also teach us an important lesson: tzedakah. They teach us that there are always people who have less than we have, people who are poorer than we are, and that you should always give to them.

We can still laugh, however, for we can bring things on ourselves, or just plain lie. As a result, Yiddish had lots of words for "jerk." One of these jokes is:

A schnorrer was going from door to door asking for alms because his house had been destroyed in a fire.
"Have you a document from the rabbi confirming that your story is true?" he was asked.
"Alas," he answered, "That too was destroyed in the fire."

Jews also tell religious jokes about the different Jewish denominations. These jokes are usually mean, making the other denominations seem as stupid as the Chelm jokes make the Poles seem. Jews also make jokes to illustrate what makes Judaism better than the rest of the world's religions. Here is an example of a joke that bashes every one of the three major American Jewish denominations.

A suburban family bought a new Mercedes, and wanted a rabbi to bless it.
They called the Orthodox Rabbi.
"Rabbi, would you make a bracha over our Mercedes?"
"How can I do that?" he replied. "I don't even know what a Mercedes is."
Next they called a Conservative Rabbi.
"Rabbi, would you make a bracha over our Mercedes?"
"I'm sorry," he answered, "I'm not sure whether I can or not."
Finally, they called a reform Rabbi.
"Rabbi, would you make a bracha over our Mercedes?"
"Sure," he answered, "But what is a bracha?"

Jews also joke about their relationship with God. We routinely tell jokes like:

A rabbi decides to take the weekend off and go golfing. So he gets one of his junior rabbis to preach for that week, and goes golfing. One of God's angels looks down from heaven, sees him, and tells God.
The rabbi gets up to the first hole and hits a hole in one. Then he gets up to the second hole and again he hits a hole in one. He golfs a perfect game, and when he is done, the angel who told God is horrified. He goes up to the Almighty and asks, "Is this a punishment?"
To which God answers, "Who can he tell?"

This joke pokes fun at not just the rabbi, but Jewish law as well. By making fun of God we also make fun of ourselves. These jokes also serve a purpose: to bring people closer to their concept of God. You may ask yourself: How can a joke bring people closer to God? By giving God a sense of humor, these jokes make him or her seem more human, and with shortcomings. This makes them feel that there is perhaps a way of getting close to their God. The story is so silly that it makes atheists, agnostics, and secular Jews feel that they were right all along.

In most instances, Jewish jokes serve a purpose. Whether the joke illustrates a stereotype, brings the listener closer to his or her concept of God, or just improves the listener's spirits, a Jewish sense of humor helps to pass the time, comment on politics, kvetch (who needs jokes for that?), or just laugh. Humor is almost always welcome, and is generally a good way to celebrate our lives and relieve the stresses of Jewish life in any age.

Remember what Mel Brooks said. Don't be stuck in your Mr. Hyde. Let Dr. Jekyll out with Jewish humor.

Shalom Aleichem – peace be with you,
Good night.