Four in 10 American Jews consider having a good sense of humor an “essential part of Jewish identity,” twice as many as those who cited keeping kosher, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
“If this has become a thing that Jews themselves identify as a distinct and defining element of what it means to be Jewish, then I think it’s important that we take it seriously and … we study it,” said Jennifer Caplan, a scholar of American religion and popular culture and a professor at the University of Cincinnati.
She took her research virtually to Beth Chai Jewish Secular Community in Bethesda for a Feb. 8 event on the history of American Jewish humor.
Caplan began with Yiddish theater and vaudeville — live entertainers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She then transitioned to radio, early television and film before reaching the age of contemporary social media influencers.
The 50 attendees — members of Beth Chai, Machar and Kehilat Chadasha — viewed clips from “The Three Stooges” and the 1940s sitcom “The Goldbergs.” Caplan also showed them a TikTok by a Jewish content creator.
“If you look at the history and evolution of popular media in the United States over the last 100-plus years, there were all of these moments of technological shifts and shifts in how we were consuming media,” Caplan said. “At every one of those moments, there were Jewish creators and Jewish executives and Jewish figures who were right there at the moment, grabbing onto all the opportunities that these new media offered.”
One example she gave was actress and screenwriter Gertrude Berg, the creator of “The Goldbergs,” which debuted in 1929 as a 15-minute radio serial program.
“At the height of her popularity with the show, [Berg] made the decision to move the show to television, even though television was nothing yet at that point; hardly anyone had a TV,” Caplan said. “She moved the show to TV in 1949, before anybody was switching over to TV yet.”
That’s how the first sitcom was made.
Although Caplan spoke to the congregations through a Zoom screen, she was impressed by the event’s turnout: “I was really appreciative that they took it so seriously and really wanted to engage with it. So, I think they’re doing a great job with their adult ed there.”
Eric Simenauer, Beth Chai’s chair of adult education, sought out an expert in Jewish humor to highlight American Jewish achievements in the arts. Last year, he facilitated a talk on Jews and magic.
“Jews have been involved in a lot of creative fields, and it’s just a nice addition to talking about other types of issues, like political issues [and] cultural issues,” Simenauer said.
He added that humor is not only a crucial aspect of Jewish identity but also important for people’s mental well-being.
“I think in the past, it’s been a coping mechanism for dealing with a lot of hardship, and I think our community, certainly many members [of the congregation], … I think a lot of them do see it that way,” Simenauer said.
All of Beth Chai’s adult education programs are held in conjunction with the Machar and Kehilat Chadasha communities. Simenauer said he thought Caplan’s presentation was “excellent” and that the scholar and professor is “really knowledgeable” in her field.
“We’re a humanistic-oriented congregation, so with humanistic Judaism, there’s a big emphasis on a lot of the cultural parts of being Jewish,” Simenauer said. “And certainly Jewish humor, Jewish comedians, Jewish comedy are all part of that.”
Beth Chai’s next adult education program will be on Jewish meditation, and after that, Jewish influence on popular music.
