ABSTRACT

Humor has had a profound effect on the way the Jewish people see the world, and has sustained them through millennia of hardships and suffering. God Laughed reviews, organizes, and categorizes the humor of the ancient Jewish texts-the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, and Midrash-in a clear, readable, and accessible manner. These works have influenced the Jewish people in many ways, and all are replete with humor and wit. Inevitably, this oeuvre of Jewish humor has itself influenced generations of comics, as well as genres of humor. The authors use examples of Biblical humor from several broad categories, including irony, sarcasm, wordplay, humorous names, humorous imagery, and humorous situations. Because their primary purpose is not to entertain, but to teach humanity how to live the ideal life, much of the humor in the Talmud and the Midrash has a single purpose: to demonstrate that evil is wrong and even, at times, ludicrous. This may help explain why approximately 1,500 years after its closing, the Talmud is still such a fascinating work.

part 1|31 pages

Introduction

part 2|67 pages

Heavenly Humor

part 3|194 pages

Humor in the Talmud and Midrash

chapter 7|22 pages

Recurring Characters and Themes

chapter 8|13 pages

Satire, Irony, and Self-Deprecating Humor

chapter 9|28 pages

Sarcasm

chapter 10|12 pages

Exaggerated Imagery and Other Hyperbole

chapter 11|21 pages

Wordplay: Puns, Acrostics, and Riddles

chapter 12|21 pages

Humorous Sayings and Remarks

chapter 13|11 pages

Allegories, Parables, and Fables

chapter 14|30 pages

Talmudic Tales

chapter 15|20 pages

Humorous Cases and Other Absurdities

part 4|11 pages

Conclusion

chapter 16|9 pages

Is There a “Jewish” Sense of Humor?