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"LAUGH, AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU?"
The Jewish people lay claim to the oldest of written histories, as well as an endless list of grievances toward the hostile world in which they live. They have endured over four thousand years of persecution, slaughter, torture, inquisition, pogroms and death camps. They were enslaved by the Egyptians, slaughtered by the Philistines, exiled by the Babylonians, dispersed by the Romans, and butchered and chased from land to land in Europe. A history of pain and suffering, of tragedies, of great losses, and of surviving against all odds. Jewish humor, too, has persevered over many a generation. Wit and laughter helped sustain the Jews in their misery. It also provides us with a unique and insightful tool for the examination of the Jew's chronicles, his attitudes, and his way of coping with reality. Jewish humor derives from the immense disparity between what was expected to be the glorious destiny of the "Chosen People" who were to be "light unto the nations" and their long tormented and often bleak existence. The people perceived as the "Nation of the Book," the people who view themselves as an intellectual powerhouse and have pride in their ability in interpreting vast complexities of sacred texts, found themselves powerless in their dealings with hostile rulers, malicious brainless peasants, and anti-Semites throughout their history. Though cohesive in their private world, they felt isolated and apart from the world at large. To help cope with these disparities Jews created a humor where laughter and tears, happiness and fear were inextricable. The typical Jewish joke revolves around those situations that are familiar to all Jews, geography notwithstanding. The point of a traditional joke was grasped as quickly by the shtetl dweller as by his more sophisticated brother in the large metropolis. The humor is full of acute social observations, exposing mental follies and the frailties of human nature. The gist of the jest is often a play on words, double entendres, animated facial expression, and conspicuous body language. An old Yiddish proverb expresses it poignantly, "burdens are from God, shoulders, too." Shoulders at times bear the load, and at time shrug it off. The humorous element of a conventional Jewish anecdote is as amusing today as it was in days past, forfeiting none of its biting relevance to time. One such example is apparent in the following story:
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