old Jews telling jokes
I'm not sure why I find this website so funny - probably it evokes many strange and wondrous memories of my family. Be warned: it includes some profanity - words and gestures - but nothing, I'm sure, that you haven't heard (perhaps even used, heaven forefend!) yourself. The only problem: some of these "old Jews" aren't much older than I! Do you find the jokes funny, or do you have to be a nearly old Jew to find them so?
Here I share a link to the website Old Jews Telling Jokes.
Here I share a poem I wrote about my father telling jokes:
DIRTY JOKES
After dinner
holidays and home-coming
he sends grandchildren to play games
piano
while we grown-ups -
no longer children, but still his children -
stay behind at table
to hear jokes, stories, he wouldn't tell before
We listen
learning as much from what he omits
as from what he tells
Old world adventure -
escape by wits
cleverness
and the goodness of Christian neighbors
To leave behind homeland, heartland -
to survive in a new country -
no language, no money -
to translate old world skills into new world livelihood:
these are lessons he learned from his parents
We hear of lantsmen -
of friends and family united in courage
through love and death and obligation
With telling, he releases old memories
captives of a bloodied life -
and we, his life-blood, must never forget
This kind, gentle man
caring father, loving grandfather
has many salty layers to peel and savor
He ends with a dirty joke
mild
told with childlike glee
at sharing something slightly naughty
with children grown
nurtured
in the soil of survival
Here I share a link to the website Old Jews Telling Jokes.
Here I share a poem I wrote about my father telling jokes:
DIRTY JOKES
After dinner
holidays and home-coming
he sends grandchildren to play games
piano
while we grown-ups -
no longer children, but still his children -
stay behind at table
to hear jokes, stories, he wouldn't tell before
We listen
learning as much from what he omits
as from what he tells
Old world adventure -
escape by wits
cleverness
and the goodness of Christian neighbors
To leave behind homeland, heartland -
to survive in a new country -
no language, no money -
to translate old world skills into new world livelihood:
these are lessons he learned from his parents
We hear of lantsmen -
of friends and family united in courage
through love and death and obligation
With telling, he releases old memories
captives of a bloodied life -
and we, his life-blood, must never forget
This kind, gentle man
caring father, loving grandfather
has many salty layers to peel and savor
He ends with a dirty joke
mild
told with childlike glee
at sharing something slightly naughty
with children grown
nurtured
in the soil of survival