A Joke to Start the Week - "Home Therapy"

It's Monday again, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. 

We're always surfing the internet and looking for new jokes. Of course we know there are no new Jewish jokes, but there are different ways of telling the old ones, and each joke teller has a unique way of getting to the punch line.

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for humor to put us in a better mood as we gradually find our way back to normalcy. The rise of Zoom and other live streaming technologies have made it easier for organizations to present humorous programs to reach large audiences. 

Last September the Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, New York sponsored a book talk with author Joseph Telushkin about his book Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews.

Rabbi Telushkin, named by Talk magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States, is the prolific and scholarly author of many books that have been hailed by leading figures in politics, religion, ethics, values, social action, and humor, among the topics that he has covered in his writings. He has written for television, including programs for PBS, CNN, ABC TV; as well as film. He appeared in a CNN eight-part documentary on The History of Comedy in America broadcast in early 2017. In that same year, he was the featured speaker before a live audience of 1,800 people speaking on The Best Jewish Jokes and What They Show About the Human Condition.

Here's Rabbi Telushkin, in an excerpt from his talk, telling a classic Jewish joke. 

Here's the setup: Goldstein has been in therapy for ten years, seeing his therapist an average of twice a week. And then...

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin Tells the Fifty Best Jewish Jokes at Chautauqua

Last Thursday Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews, delivered a 45 minute speech at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York on The Fifty Best Jewish Jokes and What They Say about the Human Condition.  

As part of Chautauqua's Week Six, “The Spirituality of Humor,” Telushkin connected humor in Judaism to society at large.

The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit education center and summer resort for adults & youth located on 750 acres in Chautauqua, New York, about an hour from Buffalo. It offers programs in the arts, education, religion and music. 

We don't usually post such long videos, but we think this one is worth your time. If you don't have 45 minutes to spend on it now, we suggest that you take it in 10 minute bites over the course of a few days. At the end of the lecture, Telushkin takes questions from the audience, whose members used the opportunity to tell some of their favorite jokes.

We watched the whole lecture and enjoyed it thoroughly. We didn't count the jokes, but Telushkin easily wove many old favorites into his talk.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

"Jewish Humor" Author Rabbi Joseph Telushkin Analyzes and Tells Five Jewish Jokes

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is an ethicist and best-selling author of many books including Jewish Literacy,  Biblical Literacy, and The Book of Jewish Values. He is also the author of Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews. 

Rabbi Telushkin has been delivering lectures about the evolution of Jewish humor, explaining how humor in the Jewish culture has shaped the language and other aspects of Jewish life.

Larry Gelbart, author of Mash and Tootsie said that “I don’t know if Jews are really the chosen people, but I think Joseph Telushkin’s book makes a strong argument that we’re the funniest.”

Today we're sharing a video clip from one of Rabbi Telushkin's lectures on Jewish humor, in which he delivers five classic Jewish jokes.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)