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Laughter is good for the soul - Laughter is good for the body Laughter is an indispensable and a wonder-working catharsis for pain. It diminishes the magnitude of one's trials and tribulations, it elevates man from victim to conqueror, from a weakling to one possessing strength and stature. Sholom Aleichem's characters, though all destitute and impoverished found merriment in the mastering and taming of fear. One of his most famous and celebrated personalities is "Motl, son of Peysi the cantor." Motl's family was forced due to "financial" difficulties to sell their humble abode and all its contents. When Motl's sick, dying father hears his wifes cries, he calls out from the next room, wanting to know what the commotion was about. "'Nothing' mother answers, wiping her red eyes, and the way her lower lip and her whole face quiver you'd have to be made of stone not to burst out laughing." Sholom Aleichem, like others, was distressed and terribly shaken by the pogroms afflicted on his brethren in czarist Russia. He expresses the terror and dread in a humorous manner with Motl as his mouthpiece. Motl says, "At first when I heard people talking about 'a pogrom' I was all ears. Now when I hear the word 'pogrom,' I run! I prefer happy stories." "Better to laugh than to cry," says an old Yiddish proverb, and another famous quotation circulating in the Jewish community concurs: "Tears cleanse the heart, but laughter makes it lighter." In the United States, where the majority of the world's Jewry resides, the trend continues. Approximately 70 percent of the America's working comedians are Jewish, while Jews account for less than 2.5 percent of the country's total population. The explanations given above as to the reasons for this occurrence, and for the function of Jewish humor in every day Jewish life are not entirely relevant. Though anti-Semitism exists, oppression does not. A Jew is no more in danger walking down a New York street than anyone else. What then is the major drive that nourishes this phenomenon? A story is told of an old woman who approached a blonde, blue-eyed man.
To which she replied, "That's funny, you don't look Jewish." The tradition of Jewish humor gains force by the fact that the American Jew cannot escape his birthright, hard as he may try. With his Jewish identity a constant companion, he invariably feels an outsider - different. In addition, there is a reflection he sees of himself when he observes the society around him, according to Sig Altman. Mr. Altman, in his research of the phenomenon of the Jew's comic image, asserts that "on the basis of the popular culture survey . . . it can be confirmed that the media indeed not only conveys a comic picture of the Jew, as expected, but that there exists a Jewish Comic Image, in the sense that the Jewish image is more comic than that of any other group." Regardless, the aspiration for total acceptance and assimilation persists. And to gain this coveted acceptance Jews resort to the well-practiced routine of self-ridicule and self-criticism. Self-degradation is still prominent in Jewish comedians monologues and presentations, though displayed somewhat differently. While in the past most Jewish jokes were directed by Jews at other Jews and focused on the intricacies and complexities of Jewish life, nowadays Americas Jewish comedians share their comical observations with the gentile world. Consequently the focus has changed. What constitutes a Jewish joke in contemporary culture is the ridiculing of what is seen as Jewish weaknesses and characteristic vices. Humorous barbs are aimed at the "traits" of the "Jewish American princess," the Jewish mother, the cheapskate, the miser, the studious nerd, and of course, Jewish Hutzpah. Though some see it as camouflaged anti-Semitism, American Jewish "Badchans" presume that people sharing laughter cannot possibly be laden with hate and prejudices. The comedians hope, and maybe even believe, that by inviting outsiders into their world, by broadcasting the fact that human nature is universal, and by championing the fact that Jewish or not, we're all similarly "endowed" with virtues and faults, they will procure society's approval and attain the ultimate goal. "Laugh, and the world laughs with you?" Maybe. In any event the Jew will continue to rely on humor to see him through rough times. And, as age-old prejudices against Jews persist with remarkable tenacity, so will this mistreated and tormented nation persevere in its quest for survival. They also will continue to laugh. And while Saddam Hussein and his disciples in Iraq, Le Penn and his followers in France, the members of Pamyatt in Russia, and America's Ku Klux Klan associations conspire to eliminate these beleaguered people, the Jew will tremble--but tell he will his fellow brothers the following anecdote with a knowing smile.
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