美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Let There Be Laughter': Modern Jewish Jokes Poke At Assimilation

'Let There Be Laughter': Modern Jewish Jokes Poke¹ At Assimilation 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0000:00repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

Michael Krasny joins us now from his studios at KQED in San Francisco, where he hosts Forum³, the highly regarded daily program which is also on Sirius XM. He's also an author and professor of literature at San Francisco State.

And he has a book, "Let There Be Laughter: A Treasury⁴ Of Great Jewish Humor And What It All Means," which boasts on the cover more than 100 of the funniest Jewish jokes of all time. Michael, thanks so much for being with us.

MICHAEL KRASNY: Delighted.

SIMON: So tell us joke number one, please.

KRASNY: Well, older man in Miami Beach falls down, is hurt. And someone puts him on a stretcher and says, are you comfortable? And he says, I make a living.

SIMON: (Laughter) What about the guy on his deathbed who smells noodle kugel?

KRASNY: Well, that's another classic joke. His daughter is dutifully there. And he says, I smell kugel. And she says, yeah, Mom is making some kugel. And the curtain is just about to fall. He's on his last breaths. And he says, just to taste Kugel once before I die. And she says, of course, Daddy.

And she runs into the kitchen, gets back. She sits down. She folds her hands. He says - barely even able to say the words - where's the kugel? And she says, Mom says it's for after.

SIMON: (Laughter).

KRASNY: It's one of those jokes that, really, in some ways, presents the Jewish mother in a bad light. And there are a lot of them. And you get into this question. And this is what I try to take up. What do these jokes mean? And where do they come from? And what do they tell us? And that joke tells us of things that are both strangely misogynistic⁵, perhaps, one could say, but also celebrated⁶ about the toughness of Jewish women.

SIMON: What about the idea that a lot of the Jewish sense of humor springs from suffering?

KRASNY: The old line about that is, you know, Jewish humor - all masochistic. No, if I heard that one more time, I'm going to kill myself.

SIMON: (Laughter).

KRASNY: But yeah, a lot of it did come out of suffering. There's no question about that. But as Jews became more prosperous and secular⁷, as they became more assimilated, that did change. And it changed to the point where you see almost the alternative of suffering.

SIMON: You say in the book that modern Jewish jokes often take aim at assimilation or at least the idea that American Jewish families, for example, will take on names that you would never hear in the shtetl or in the old country. I - actually, I was pleased to see my own name come up in a joke about a kid named Shlomo.

KRASNY: It's a joke about a kid who is walking with his father in the middle of the 21st century. And someone says, your son is so handsome. And he says, thank you. I'm flattered. And so is my son. He says, what's your son's name? He says, his name is Shlomo. Shlomo? What kind of name is Shlomo? He says, well, he was named after his dead grandfather, whose name was Scott.

SIMON: (Laughter) The joke being that some of us got a name like Scott to make it more American than - I think mine was supposed to be Solomon.

KRASNY: That's exactly the joke. You've done a good interpretation⁸ of it.

SIMON: Do you have any concern that, in writing a book about Jewish humor that doesn't engage in some analysis, you'll just make the jokes not funny?

KRASNY: Well, there's always a danger in that, you know, like, when you go see a movie and you analyze⁹ it after. Or you read a novel and people start talking about, what does it mean? - and so forth¹⁰. But I find this fascinating. And it's not just a game. You know, there's a lot to learn from these jokes. There's a lot about the considerable role that Jews have played in comedy and in movies and in so many facets¹¹ of popular American culture, particularly where humor is concerned.

SIMON: Has Jewish humor become all tied up with American humor?

KRASNY: I think it has. When you think about, you know, all of the extraordinary number of Jewish stand-up comics that have been dominant¹² in terms of American comedy, you think of shows like Seinfeld.

And it almost stands to reason that American humor would, in some ways, take on so much of the nuances and coloration of Jewish humor. You take a Woody Allen and Mel Brooks¹³ and Sid Caesar and so forth. That's the American locus¹⁴, often, for humor.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED HOST: Now here he is, your man Friday, Milton Berle.

MILTON BERLE: Two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort. And one of them says, boy, the food at this place is really terrible. The other one says, yeah, I know - and such small portions.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Genghis Khan.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Genghis Cohen was his real name.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JERRY SEINFELD: I saw a thing - actually, a study - that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the No. 1 fear of the average person. No. 2 was death. This means, to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy¹⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: I know a good audience when I see one. And when I see one, I'll let you know. Good night.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I LOVE YOU MORE")

SARAH SILVERMAN: (Singing) Jewish people driving German cars.

SIMON: Michael Krasny - his book "Let There Be Laughter: A Treasury Of Great Jewish Humor And What It All Means." Thanks so much for being with us, Michael.

KRASNY: Thank you, Scott.

1 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 misogynistic   

参考例句：

• And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 facets   

n.（宝石或首饰的）小平面( facet的名词复数 )；（事物的）面；方面

参考例句：

• The question had many facets. 这个问题是多方面的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fully cut brilliant diamond has 68 facets. 经过充分切刻的光彩夺目的钻石有68个小平面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

13 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 locus   

n.中心

参考例句：

• Barcelona is the locus of Spanish industry.巴塞罗那是西班牙工业中心。
• Thereafter,the military remained the locus of real power.自此之后，军方一直掌握着实权。

15 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。