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Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor: From Biblical Times to the Modern Age
Hundreds of colorful, witty, and downright hilarious stories, anecdotes, quips, jokes, and yarns reflect and poke fun at Jewish culture from ancient times to the present.
480 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 22, 2021
Many humour books are offensive, but this isn’t one of those. This was hilarious and informative. I read the 39 chapters out of order, which worked since some jokes clicked the second time around. My favourite chapter was the gambling/drinking one, but the joke of beating someone over the head with a diploma was solid too.
November 24, 2018
Exactly as advertised, this is a comprehensive volume of Jewish Humor organized by topic. Some are more authentic than others, some number relying upon a liberal application of Yiddish to make them fit the bill, but the ratio of smiles to page turning with a sigh is excellent.
Want to Read
February 11, 2020Piece of shit
February 9, 2026
I'm probably one of the few people to have read this book twice, and I still think there are about 1 or 2 good jokes in its 400+ pages, and even then, those jokes aren't even that good.
This is one of those "So bad it's good" pieces of media, which fueled the addictive search for a diamond amidst the rubble (which I never found).
But then why did I read it a second time? Well, it was after a few years, at which point I erased most of the jokes from my memory, so out of morbid curiosity, I had to read through it again to verify there weren't any other "good" jokes I missed (There weren't). Actually, now that I think about it, the funniest joke is the fact that this book exists.
The only merit this book has is its insight into the culture of American (and sometimes European) Jews in the 20th century (and that's why I gave it 2 stars). But after reading the foreword, it really seems like the author had the delusion that this was an ultimate compilation of funny jokes, so that probably wasn't their intention. But who knows? Maybe the older generation of American Jews liked these kinds of lame jokes back in the '60s.
In short, if you want to embarrass yourself at a dinner table, this book has enough jokes to stop you from getting invited to any more dinner tables.
This is one of those "So bad it's good" pieces of media, which fueled the addictive search for a diamond amidst the rubble (which I never found).
But then why did I read it a second time? Well, it was after a few years, at which point I erased most of the jokes from my memory, so out of morbid curiosity, I had to read through it again to verify there weren't any other "good" jokes I missed (There weren't). Actually, now that I think about it, the funniest joke is the fact that this book exists.
The only merit this book has is its insight into the culture of American (and sometimes European) Jews in the 20th century (and that's why I gave it 2 stars). But after reading the foreword, it really seems like the author had the delusion that this was an ultimate compilation of funny jokes, so that probably wasn't their intention. But who knows? Maybe the older generation of American Jews liked these kinds of lame jokes back in the '60s.
In short, if you want to embarrass yourself at a dinner table, this book has enough jokes to stop you from getting invited to any more dinner tables.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews