Research On Religion » humor

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 08:00:18 +0000

Does God have a sense of humor? Do jesters go to heaven? Why are Jews so funny? Who better to answer these questions than a statistician?! On this episode, we warmly welcome Prof. Linda Weiser Friedman, a professor of statistics and computer information at the City University of New York, who co-authored God Laughed: Sources of Jewish Humor with her husband Hershey Friedman, a finance professor at CUNY. While one might not normally associate business or statistics professors with laughter, this dynamic duo discuss their decades-long labor of love in compiling a large mound of Jewish jokes and other humorous stories and then using them to explore what it means to be Jewish, religious, and (ultimately) human. (Bonus alliteration in today’s description comes free of charge.)

We start off with a bit of computer humor (?!) as a means of figuring out what humor really is and who it may appeal to at times. Tony reveals a little-known secret of his past during this interchange. Linda discusses the difficulty in getting publishers to take an academic book on humor seriously and this leads to all sorts of ruminations about the role of popular scholarship. We then plunge headlong into an examination of Jewish humor with a tale of a Jewish grandmother on a beach and her relationship with God. Indeed, prepare to be delighted throughout the conversation with some of Linda’s favorite pieces of comedy.

Prof. Friedman then lays out what Jewish humor is and why it is so unique. She observes that few, if any, minority communities have such a rich tradition of using humor to describe and relate the history of their people, particularly when it comes to the often tragic history of persecution that has beset Jews. Linda points out, much to Tony’s surprise, that there is even a tradition of “Holocaust humor” that might appear shocking to a non-Jews ears. But as we come back later to in the discussion, none other than Mel Brooks in answering the critics of his film The Producers, laughter is how Jews can get back at Hitler.

Our attention then turns to sources of Jewish humor. It may come as a surprise to some, but Jews were making jokes and being playful with words long before Jerry Seinfeld or Sid Caesar. In fact, it dates back to the foundational documents of the Jewish faith. To help our host Tony make sense of this all, Linda provides a quick summary of the terms Talmud, Torah, and Midrash, among others. We then plunge headlong into some examples of humor that appear in the Talmud and Midrash, including interpretations of stories involving Abraham, Balaam, Jonah, Joseph, and even Job. Linda points out that one of the key themes of Jewish humor found in these sources is humans arguing with God and God’s rhetorical and ironic questions posed to humans. For example, God calls out to Adam in Genesis asking where Adam is, as if Adam would not know that God knew where he was all along. These little observations made by Prof. Friedman really help to bring subtle new interpretations to Biblical passages that one might not have ever thought about.

We cover a number of other themes of Jewish humor including mocking of idolatry, hubris, the role of rabbis and education, and several other topics. Tony’s complete lack of humor is on full display when Linda explains why the story of Rachel stealing Laban’s idols (Gen 31) is funny. We continue with other ancient tales and more modern forms of humor. The interview then concludes with some general reflections on how humor tends to be culturally specific, how it can cross ethnic and religious boundaries, and whether or not Jews joking about Jews can reinforce stereotypes of the community. We venture some thoughts on political incorrectness and Linda discusses how Mel Brooks could make light of Hitler and the Nazi regime in his movie The Producers. Linda finishes with her thoughts on what she learned from her study of comedy. Recorded: June 24, 2014.

(Please note there is audio interference that was difficult to edit out at the 31-32 minute mark of the interview.)

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor

tonygill — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 08:00:57 +0000

You can find additional bits of humor from God Laughed at our Facebook Fan Page.

(Please note there is audio interference that was difficult to edit out at the 31-32 minute mark of the interview.)

Christopher Grenda on Religious Satire during the Enlightenment (and Today)

tonygill — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:00:38 +0000

Can satire be used to prompt religious reform? Prof. Christopher Grenda, an associate professor of history at CUNY- Bronx Community College, discusses his recent research on satire during the English Enlightenment (c. late 17th and 18th centuries). Chris tells us how he stumbled onto this research topic and then we spend some time discussing what satire is relative to other forms of humor such as parody and irony. Our conversation uses several contemporary instances where satire has led some individuals to get into trouble, including humorist Mark Steyn who was brought up before a Canadian Human Rights Commission for his satirical writings. We then move backwards in time to the English Enlightenment. Chris lays out the historical context of what is happening in jolly old England in terms of politics and religion. It is a time of great ferment, with the early Stuart monarchs trying to consolidate their power at the time when religious dissent is arising. Early satirists such as Charles Blount (a Deist) and Ralph Wallis (an orthodox Christian) become some of the first writers to critique the Church of England for its seemingly corrupt practices. Our conversation then takes various historical turns (not always in sequence) as we discuss other authors such as Thomas Paine, John Witherspoon, David Hume, and Anthony Ashley-Cook (a.k.a. the Third Earl of Shaftesbury). We explore the different ways in which each of these writers used wit to lampoon the powerful ecclesiastics of their day, and Chris provides some memorable and surprisingly cutting quotes from their works. Chris mentions that satire becomes increasingly “democratized” with the spread of literacy and printing technology, and how this affects the style of writing in order to reach new and different audiences. Throughout the podcast, we also learn about how the authorities responded to such satire and how many of these literary figures had to use pen names or circulate their missives underground. We close with some thoughts on satire in the contemporary world and how our present society may be a bit less tolerant of such dissent than in the past. Recorded: February 12, 2013.