Jewish Humour

Professor Gordon claims that as a result of the nearly 100,000 Jews that were slaughtered throughout Ukraine by Bohdan Chmielnicki and his roving bands of Cossacks in 1661 when the “badkhn”, a type of rather cruel jester in European Jewish life at the time, was spared because of his extremely deprecating and politically-incorrect (as far as the Jewish communities of the day were concerned!) style towards fellow Jews

Samuel George Davis, Junior was born in the Harlem, New York City, an only child, to Sammy Davis, Senior who was an African-American entertainer, and Elvera Sanchez who was a tap dancer of Afro-Cuban descent. He converted to Judaism in 1961 following a very serious motor accident where he lost an eye, and was the first African-American invited to sleep in the White House by President Richard Nixon in 1973

Her son Isaac, a Jewish biblical forefather, was named as a result of that laughter

Relatively unknown to British viewers, the Brooklyn-born comedian Jack Carter (born Jack Chakrin) was well-known for his fast-paced comedic style, working non-stop from the mid 1940s on a phenomenal number of TV (and stage shows as well as in films), to today, where in his 90s, he provides voice-overs for the Family Guy cartoon series

Jewish humour has often been described as self-deprecating, as Jews have an ability to laugh at their own lives, obsessions and weaknesses, while at the same time allowing others to join in the humour as well. It is only when jokes are openly anti-Semitic that Jews take offence

Adam “MCA” Yauch, Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz formed the Beastie Boys in New York in 1981 in essence, it is said, for a "laugh" at the expense of the musical establishment. However, they went on to win several Grammy and MTV awards. Their number 1 "Licensed to Ill" became the best selling rap album of the 1980s and the fourth "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) single from it continues to receive extensive airplay today. In 2012, Adam Yauch died from cancer at the age of 47

Michael Winner’s "Hymie Joke Book" was published by The Robson Press in 2012. He was famed for directing action films, most notable being two of the "Death Wish" series featuring Charles Bronson. Following a successful film director career and his establishment of the Police Memorial Trust after WPC Yvonne Fletcher was murdered in 1984, he became restaurant critic for the Sunday Times, and over the course of 20 years scared many a restaurant owner with his rather outspoken reviews

An astonishing four out of ten Jews in America, according to the non-partisan fact tank, the Pew Research Centre in Washington, think having a sense of humour is more important than being religious

Much Jewish humour acts as a shield against anti-semitic stereotypes by exploiting them first before they exploit Jews, including the mocking of negative Jewish stereotypes. It often takes the form of self-deprecating comments on Jewish culture

David Ben-Gurion was Israel's first Prime Minister with the honour of being named as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th century. Despite being a very serious man, overseeing many of the early important projects needed to develop the fledgling Israel, he had quite a sense of humour