Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews by Joseph Telushkin

Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews Reviews

• 
  Regina

  Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has written a book that covers history, theology, sociology, psychology, Greek classics, popular culture, the battle of the sexes, and - oh yeah, Jewish humor. He must have had a great time finding the perfect story, anecdote, one-liner, or stand up joke to support all the fascinating, tender, sometimes sad, often ironic and always funny tales to which these jokes have become a response, a defense mechanism, or a distraction from the brutality of life. A wonderful book, and not for Jews only! Highly recommended.
• 
  Patricia Joynton

  This book is just right in many ways. It is funny, but serious. It is informative without being academic. It provides serious information without being overly academic -- you can sit down and enjoy reading it without feeling like you are reading a pedantic historical text on the information. It is selective about the information it provides, which makes it enjoyable (if not sad and thought provoking) to read.
• 
  Zhelana

  This book is a collection of jokes and commentary that range from not very funny to hilarious. Many of them, however, could have been told about a number of different ethnic groups or groups of people. Like there was a whole section about stupid people that could have just as easily been told about a marine, a blond, or a polock. There were also jokes about the synagogue you refuse to go to that I've heard told about christian denominations. Some of these jokes were decidedly Jewish, but the majority were not. I'd even probably heard the majority of them told about other groups. Also, if you have to explain your joke, it isn't funny, and this entire book was dedicated to explaining jokes. I think it would have worked better if he had told the joke and then explained it so that it was funny and not what you were expecting based on the explanation that came ahead of it. But overall it was a good book, and did a pretty good job of explaining the jews.
• 
  Richard Klueg

  I learned in college sociology class that evaluating a culture's humor goes a long way to help understanding that culture. The author does a fine job of doing that for Jewish culture which, he points out, contains a good deal of diversity along with some strong universal traits. My knowledge of (and appreciation for) Jewish culture was filled in nicely by his commentary.
  
  But honestly, I mostly read the book for the jokes.
• 
  Yoshi

  A joke is less funny if you have to explain it, and this book is all about explaining Jewish jokes. It’s funny though and full of a wide variety of Jewish humor. Great for learning about the themes that inform Jewish humor, along with references to other relevant books. Not exactly a joke book though.
• 
  Nicole

  A mix of Jewish jokes and explanations about the jokes and Jews in general. Some of the material taken directly from other writings.
• 
  L

  Fun, interesting, and enjoyable read. Even down to the footnotes and annotated bibliography. Highly recommend.
• 
  Monica Weissmann

  Making fun of ourselves …
  
  Humour is probably more important than knowledge or wisdom and we, Jews, always knew how to make fun of ourselves. Delightful reading.
• 
  Amy David

  This was a really fun read that went beyond just retelling jokes to investigate the values represented in Jewish humor. Relating common Jewish jokes to everything from the Talmud to Zionism, the author provides interesting insight into American Jewish culture.
• 
  Jemma

  This book is about what jew's would joke about. My mom and I arent the most religious Jews out there but this book was hillarious i didnt read the whole thing but i sifted through all the jokes and it was really funny.
• 
  Christopher Johnson

  Wonderful blend of laughs and serious social and historical commentary.
• 
  Sara Goldenberg

  It was pretty funny!