ABSTRACT
The great collections of Jewish jokes that are instinctively cited to evidence the existence of a Jewish humor are invariably compilations of the twentieth century. Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic theory of joking regarded jokes as playful facades that often betrayed serious purposes—particularly hostile or critical purposes. There exists a conceptualization of a special relationship between a particular people and a particular form of verbal expression. For some reason, commentators have seen fit to establish a bond between the Jewish people and the joke. It may be more productive to explore the origin and development of this idea rather than the particular witticisms and jokes to which the term is applied. From this perspective, “Jewish humor” is simply that humor which has been conceptualized as uniquely, distinctly, or characteristically reflective of, evocative of, or conditioned by the Jewish people and their circumstances.
