The Golden Book of Jewish Humor [antikvár]

IntroductionBefore I wrote my first book, I knew two jokes. One was: Who was that lady I saw you with last night; and the other one wasn't.I stared out my window. I saw three men on the street corner. I remembered. One Jew on the street corner is overcoming all history. Two Jews are a cabal. Three Jews on the street corner are wondering why a fourth doesn't give more to charity.Jewish humor comes from different neighborhoods.Probably all humor at its core expresses the same three or four or five and six sentiments. The playwright Euripides said, "Write the promises of women on water," and two centuries later, the American journalist and politician Boise Penrose advised his lovelorn: "Never write a letter to a woman you can't cool a beer on."One of the best ways to understand a people is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter encompasses the limits of the soul. In humor life is redefined and accepted. Irony and satire provide much keener insights into a people's collective psyche and values than do years of research.People have little sympathy with stolidity. Dick Gregory was most effective when he introduced humor into the civil rights struggle.11-