Judaism and humor are inseparable. Over the millennia, the Jewish people have accumulated a veritable treasure trove of stories, proverbs, and anecdotes, to which have been added the works of great writers. This anthology traces a journey – baptized in laughter and smiles – that begins in the Bible and reaches our own time. In these pages, Tevye the milkman and the Jewish mother coexist with Franz Kafka and Woody Allen, psychoanalysts and matchmakers. A valuable contribution to universal humor and culture from this resilient people.
More than a book of jokes or “Jewish jokes,” (From Eden to the couch: Jewish humor) explores the origins of Jewish humor in Jewish culture and tradition. The authors find in the stories of the Torah, the Talmud and medieval and modern philosophical texts, the basis for satirical texts and jokes recorded from the 19th century onwards, culminating with the modern American comedians. They contextualize the development of this vision of life in each time period and place in which it was expressed.
