LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

And now for something lighter ...

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To the editor:

Is there such a thing as Jewish humor? I suppose it’s humor that captures the Jewish way of facing life — that is, with an attitude of skepticism or distrust.

There’s an old saying that grim, determined people like to utter as they forge ahead in life: “I never take no for an answer.” Well, the Jew is different. He could easily say, “I never take yes for an answer.” 

No matter how good things may get, the Jew somehow feels short-changed and looks for imperfections, and Jewish humor reflects this.

Consider the classic story of the elderly lady who takes her einekel (grandchild) to the beach for an outing, but not before buying him a sailor suit complete from head to toe. But as the child is playing in the sand, a huge wave suddenly appears and carries him out to sea.

The grandmother looks up at the heavens, full of desperation. “God, God, please save him! Please save him!” As if in answer, another huge wave appears and safely deposits the boy back on the sand.

The elderly lady takes one look at him, then raises her fist up at the sky: “He had a hat!”

Another story concerns a man whose wife is not well. She lies in bed in a darkened room day after day. Finally, the doctor tells him, “What your wife needs is a change of attitude. Why not get something to cheer her up?” The husband gets a bright idea and rushes out to the neighborhood pet shop and tells the owner the problem, and the owner suggests that he buy a canary.

The minute the bird is in the wife’s room, it bursts into song and sings as if every lovely melody in the world were in its tiny throat. Miraculously, the wife recovers. The first thing she does is open the blinds to let the sun in.

It is then that the husband notices that the bird is limping, that it has only one leg. Furiously, he darts back to the pet store. “You cheated me!” he yells. “In my haste, I never noticed the canary’s limp. You sold me a deformed bird.”

The pet shop owner looks at him calmly. “Listen, mister,” he says. “What did you want, a singer or a dancer?”

And the last story concerns an elderly man who is crossing the street when a cab makes an unexpected left turn and knocks him down. The cab driver rolls down his window and yells, “Hey, mister! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” The old man, sitting dazedly in the middle of the street, looks up. “Why?” he asks. “Are you coming back?”

“When,” the Jew asks, “is misfortune going to hit next?” He hopes not today. But to tide him over, he has his amazing humor, which helps him look back and somehow turn the rust to gold.

Gerald Lebowitz

Gerald Lebowitz

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