The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #33702   Message #452614
Posted By: Ferrara
30-Apr-01 - 11:53 PM
Thread Name: NON IRRITATING JEWISH JOKES
Subject: RE: NON IRRITATING JEWISH JOKES
Well, I too found that once we got into the thread, a lot of the jokes felt offensive to me. But there others that seemed darned funny and not at all derogatory or offensive. Some are "in jokes," depending on factors specific to Judaism and/or Jews; some are just enjoyable jokes.

For example, I found myself LOL at Pseudolus' story of the 80 year old man in the confessional. To me it's a great story. Period. Also the story that ended, "He KNOWS he's Jesus Christ. He THINKS he's Arnold Palmer." This to me is very funny.

Nobody will pay any attention to this, of course, but I suggest that anyone who wants to add more jokes should re-read them at least three times first to decide whether they are a subtle [or not-so-subtle] put-down.

Humor can be a trap, you get used to ethnic jokes and don't see the problems they can cause. I once looked at sheet music of about a dozen "ethnic" American songs of the 19th century. Most of them were horribly offensive. Almost unbelievable from today's perspective.