Thank you for calling out Claudine Gay's treatment of Roland Fryer. You made a mistake in calling her part of a Cabal that led to his suspension, she led the cabal. She forced a 2 year suspension, forced the shutting down of his education lab and tried to have his tenure revoked. Why? Because research he conducted in Houston showed that police were less likely to shoot black suspects than white ones. It also showed that they were more likely to use force with black suspects. He's back at Harvard now but can only teach undergraduate students and cannot serve as an advisor.
Jewish humour is up there along with all the other wonderful things Jews have contributed to humankind.
Humour is at the heart of human existence. In the most unlikely and unexpected places, in the middle of pain and anguish, catastrophe and crisis, humour is an uplifting source of courage.
It can also be a powerful weapon, which is why totalitarian regimes are not known for their eye-rolling, rollicking, satirical humour. Old Ji, for example, banned pictures/cartoons of Winnie-the-Pooh because the resemblance of his all-powerful self to a lovable English bear might have given his people good reason for a belly laugh at his expense.
I imagine humour is pretty thin on the ground in Hamas-ruled territory, North Korea and in Iran.
The best writers wind humour into dark stories in unexpected and original ways that bring us closer to understanding the tragedy and sadness of situations we may never have experienced ourselves.
I recently asked a friend who is a Holocaust survivor if there was humour in the camp? Of course there was, was her reply.
A hallmark of the woke, the DIE fanatics, BLM, Me-Too, dictators, totalitarian regimes, religious fanatics, climate-change warriors and our increasingly humourless students is a complete lack of original and freewheeling humour, especially any humour that makes fun of them and their obsessions.
I've watched their English skits, they are way better than 90% of SNL. I wish the ones in Hebrew were subtitled in English. Like the one linked above where the two trendstars visit the army encampment - looks funny but I want to know what they are saying.
That Columbia sketch was about as preachy, unoriginal, and unfunny as SNL, but with more awkwardly timed dialogue. If that's representative of the whole show, how has it survived this long?
Oh I’ll explain. The point was that Hamas would kill all the blue haired protesters and LGBT+ too given the chance, yet they’ll all line up for the slaughter anyway. They chant slogans without knowing what they mean because “white supremacy” and “oppression” and “colonizers” If you don’t understand that, well, they’ll be happy to come for you too.
I'm (almost?) certainly not stupid. What's more, my stunningly average intelligence is accompanied by a fairly reasonable (if I may say so myself) sense of humor—and that video was only barely humor. Sure, I know wokeness is ridiculous, but I also think that grabbing every clichéd caricature of your opponents and shoehorning them unceremoniously into a single sketch with no creativity added—and bad timing to boot—does not exactly make top-notch comedy. Sure, it's not quite as low as an SNL cold open with literally and deliberately no jokes in it, but surely a sketch show can clear a higher bar than that.
Or maybe I just have incomprehensibly bad taste, or maybe incomprehensibly good. Pick one, I guess.
That skit about the Columbia students was gold. SNL could take pointers on being political and funny instead of just shallowly political. I shouldn't ding SNL too hard. They are severely hampered by their self-imposed holier than thou ideological bubble.
The creation myths of many societies are imbued with laughter and humor. And the Hebrew Bible contains several stories which are intended to inspire laughter for different reasons, e.g., satire, joy, irony. Thus, laughter is an integral, life-affirming part of Jewish culture.
Great piece, one must laugh through one's tears. Brings to mind the old saying, which i don't believe has a Jewish origin: "The best revenge is to live well".
I’m a big believer in the power of comedy. I think its great what they are doing. I also find that laughter can be the cleansing. If you are so easily parodied as “racist fluid” maybe you should reconsider your actions.
The first days of the war were difficult. Against the backdrop of frequent shelling of the center of the country and the south, there were still heavy attacks and infiltrations of terrorist groups into Israel. People were busy with many things. Transportation of those called up from the reserve, equipment of protective premises, packaging of things necessary for soldiers. I saw people who were returning from kibbutzim, I talked with people who participated in the center for identifying the bodies of victims. It seemed to me that these people would never be able to smile. And they themselves thought so. All the world's media show lies and manipulate the consciousness of the crowd. Israel's voice, opinion and condition are nowhere to be seen.
And now the show Eretz Nehederet comes out. It really worked like a medicine. The humor is so thoughtful and precise. Simple in appearance, but did not hurt feelings, did not cause irritation. This speaks volumes about the level of the authors.
And in case you missed it, Eretz Nehederet strikes again! With apologies (I assume) to J.K. Rowling. This time it's the Hogwarts Code of Conduct. Not surprisingly, it's all a matter of context. SNL should take note.
This is incredibly funny.
https://youtu.be/xcLCe5iBvVc?si=is4TwiwF5-CzxHuM
Thank you for calling out Claudine Gay's treatment of Roland Fryer. You made a mistake in calling her part of a Cabal that led to his suspension, she led the cabal. She forced a 2 year suspension, forced the shutting down of his education lab and tried to have his tenure revoked. Why? Because research he conducted in Houston showed that police were less likely to shoot black suspects than white ones. It also showed that they were more likely to use force with black suspects. He's back at Harvard now but can only teach undergraduate students and cannot serve as an advisor.
Thank you for posting this article.
Jewish humour is up there along with all the other wonderful things Jews have contributed to humankind.
Humour is at the heart of human existence. In the most unlikely and unexpected places, in the middle of pain and anguish, catastrophe and crisis, humour is an uplifting source of courage.
It can also be a powerful weapon, which is why totalitarian regimes are not known for their eye-rolling, rollicking, satirical humour. Old Ji, for example, banned pictures/cartoons of Winnie-the-Pooh because the resemblance of his all-powerful self to a lovable English bear might have given his people good reason for a belly laugh at his expense.
I imagine humour is pretty thin on the ground in Hamas-ruled territory, North Korea and in Iran.
The best writers wind humour into dark stories in unexpected and original ways that bring us closer to understanding the tragedy and sadness of situations we may never have experienced ourselves.
I recently asked a friend who is a Holocaust survivor if there was humour in the camp? Of course there was, was her reply.
A hallmark of the woke, the DIE fanatics, BLM, Me-Too, dictators, totalitarian regimes, religious fanatics, climate-change warriors and our increasingly humourless students is a complete lack of original and freewheeling humour, especially any humour that makes fun of them and their obsessions.
I've watched their English skits, they are way better than 90% of SNL. I wish the ones in Hebrew were subtitled in English. Like the one linked above where the two trendstars visit the army encampment - looks funny but I want to know what they are saying.
I think Shay's quoted statement about jokes and the creator is an example of a devine spark.
That Columbia sketch was about as preachy, unoriginal, and unfunny as SNL, but with more awkwardly timed dialogue. If that's representative of the whole show, how has it survived this long?
Oh I’ll explain. The point was that Hamas would kill all the blue haired protesters and LGBT+ too given the chance, yet they’ll all line up for the slaughter anyway. They chant slogans without knowing what they mean because “white supremacy” and “oppression” and “colonizers” If you don’t understand that, well, they’ll be happy to come for you too.
I'm (almost?) certainly not stupid. What's more, my stunningly average intelligence is accompanied by a fairly reasonable (if I may say so myself) sense of humor—and that video was only barely humor. Sure, I know wokeness is ridiculous, but I also think that grabbing every clichéd caricature of your opponents and shoehorning them unceremoniously into a single sketch with no creativity added—and bad timing to boot—does not exactly make top-notch comedy. Sure, it's not quite as low as an SNL cold open with literally and deliberately no jokes in it, but surely a sketch show can clear a higher bar than that.
Or maybe I just have incomprehensibly bad taste, or maybe incomprehensibly good. Pick one, I guess.
Weekend update is the only reason to watch SNL, has been so for decades
Laughter is the best medicine.
That skit about the Columbia students was gold. SNL could take pointers on being political and funny instead of just shallowly political. I shouldn't ding SNL too hard. They are severely hampered by their self-imposed holier than thou ideological bubble.
The creation myths of many societies are imbued with laughter and humor. And the Hebrew Bible contains several stories which are intended to inspire laughter for different reasons, e.g., satire, joy, irony. Thus, laughter is an integral, life-affirming part of Jewish culture.
A couple of years ago I wrote an essay on this topic called "God at the Comedy Club": https://thewellexaminedlife.com/god-at-the-comedy-club/
Great piece, one must laugh through one's tears. Brings to mind the old saying, which i don't believe has a Jewish origin: "The best revenge is to live well".
Apparently George Herbert wrote "Living well is the best revenge." He was Church of England, not Jewish.
So was Benjamin Disraeli. One of my all time favorite Sefarditas.
I’m a big believer in the power of comedy. I think its great what they are doing. I also find that laughter can be the cleansing. If you are so easily parodied as “racist fluid” maybe you should reconsider your actions.
SNL lost its way many years ago.. I do love the links posted.
The first days of the war were difficult. Against the backdrop of frequent shelling of the center of the country and the south, there were still heavy attacks and infiltrations of terrorist groups into Israel. People were busy with many things. Transportation of those called up from the reserve, equipment of protective premises, packaging of things necessary for soldiers. I saw people who were returning from kibbutzim, I talked with people who participated in the center for identifying the bodies of victims. It seemed to me that these people would never be able to smile. And they themselves thought so. All the world's media show lies and manipulate the consciousness of the crowd. Israel's voice, opinion and condition are nowhere to be seen.
And now the show Eretz Nehederet comes out. It really worked like a medicine. The humor is so thoughtful and precise. Simple in appearance, but did not hurt feelings, did not cause irritation. This speaks volumes about the level of the authors.
I think that only in Israel this is possible.
Watch the sketches.....painful....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW_k-mUfzhE
And in case you missed it, Eretz Nehederet strikes again! With apologies (I assume) to J.K. Rowling. This time it's the Hogwarts Code of Conduct. Not surprisingly, it's all a matter of context. SNL should take note.
Why does anyone bother with SNL?