I heard that Jews weren’t known for being funny until they became secular starting in the 18th Century. I don’t find much support for the value of humor in traditional Jewish text. Is the pursuit of the comedic a secular pursuit or can it be holy?
Grok says:
The idea that Jews weren’t funny until they went secular in the 18th century is a half-truth that’s been kicked around, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Humor’s been part of Jewish life forever—just not always in the stand-up comedy, Borscht Belt style we think of today. Traditional Jewish texts like the Torah or Talmud aren’t exactly laugh riots, sure, but that’s because they’re focused on law, ethics, and God, not punchlines. Still, dig into them, and you’ll find wit, irony, and even absurdity if you squint.
Take the Talmud—rabbis debating minutiae like whether a guy who falls off a roof drunk and kills someone owes damages (Bava Kamma 26b). It’s dry, but there’s a dark humor in the sheer ridiculousness of the scenarios they chew over. Or look at the Book of Esther: Purim’s whole vibe—drunken feasts, costumes, mocking Haman—reeks of subversive comedy, and that’s straight outta sacred scripture. Jewish humor didn’t pop up with secularism; it just morphed. Pre-18th century, it was baked into survival—think Yiddish curses or sly folktales like the wise men of Chelm, bumbling through life. Secular Jews like Heine or later, Mel Brooks, took that thread and ran with it, unshackled from religious restraint.
On the “holy” question—traditional texts don’t champion humor as a virtue like, say, charity. The closest you get is Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart does good like medicine,” but that’s more about cheer than comedy. Rabbis like the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, pushed joy as a spiritual act, and humor often tagged along—think of Hasidic stories where a rebbe outwits a skeptic with a clever twist. Yet, the pursuit of comedy for its own sake? That’s trickier. Orthodox voices might say it’s frivolous unless it serves a higher purpose—lifting spirits, teaching, or poking at human folly to humble us before God.
Secularism did turbocharge Jewish comedy, no doubt—think Freud’s quips or Seinfeld’s observational riffs. Freedom from dogma let it bloom into something louder, less veiled. But holy? It can be. If comedy cuts through pretense or connects people, it’s got a spark of the divine—Jewish or not. You laugh at everything—could that be sacred, or is it just your way of dodging the heavy stuff? What’s your gut say?
