ABSTRACT
Throughout Europe and North America Jews probably figure more frequently in jokes than any other ethnic group and there are three sources of these jokes. They are Jewish Jokes, Anti-Semitic Jokes and Hebredonian Jokes. Jokes that can also be told in much the same form about, say, the Scots, the Netherlanders or the Cardis, who are not the victims of anti-Caledonian, anti-Dutch or anti-Cardi hostility are probably not anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitic jokes about Jews committing arson are a very specific metaphor of the general anti-Semitic belief in secret Jewish conspiracies that destroy people, economies and societies so that the Jews may prosper. The Jewish pride in and preoccupation with cleverness takes many humorous forms that are much less common in other people's jokes. The affinity of Hebredonian jokes with Scottish/Dutch ones indicates both that they are not specifically Jewish and that they are relatively unlikely to be rooted in the hostile prejudices of others.
