The Land of Milk and Funny
A strong feature of Israeli comedy is the lack of red lines. Irreverence rules the roost and the only rule is that there are no rules.
Ricky Gervais is very much not Israeli, but he does share something in common with the general flavor of the Holy Land. Pretty much anything goes in Israeli comedy, so Gervais might relish in his edge if he were to tour in our funny homeland.
Many topics that are a big no-no around the world (or at least in the US), such as racism or even the Holocaust, are fixtures of Israeli comedy. In some ways, we laugh so we don’t cry. Humor has always been our coping mechanism of choice and we’ve become pretty good at it over the years.
In the first episode of Sababoosh, Guy Sharett spoke of Eretz Nehederet constantly pushing the line forward in terms of what it acceptable to make fun of. People talk at the water cooler the day after a controversial episode, and then the red line moves further along. Imagined lines that we can’t cross are very regularly crossed and a new normal (or abnormal) is born.
A major quality of our lovely homeland’s comedy is irreverence (lack of respect for things that were thought to be worthy of respect). Whether it’s politics or other current events, comedians, cab drivers, and really any Israeli can poke fun at it. In fact, instead of Jerry Seinfeld’s hit show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Israel might have a show called Cab Drivers in Cabs Making Offensive Jokes, or something to that effect.
Two major arenas for this irreverence are acted out in the world of politics with Eretz Nehederet (‘A Wonderful Land’ - SNL/Daily Show hybrid) and the Torah and Biblical history with Hayehudim Baim (‘The Jews are Coming’, which sounds more like an antisemitic statement). The former brings laughter and political engagement while the latter has been the cause of protests and offending large groups. Hayehudim Baim pokes fun at Biblical characters across the board, which has offended some but caused others to engage with the stories. Let’s call it Comedy Kiruv (a term meaning bringing closer - used to refer to organizations or people who want to help others become more traditionally observant). Episodes range from Akedat Yitzhak (The Binding of Isaac) to the Lubavitcher Rebbe and very much everything in between. Some of the actors might be familiar from other shows. With the relatively small pool of actors in Israel, it’s not uncommon to see actors in largely different roles.
Here’s a scene about the Ten Commandments that gives you a taste of the style of the show. There aren’t a ton of episodes with English subtitles, but it could be a reason as good as any to sharpen your Hebrew.
A red line that is mostly held in Jewish circles (and hopefully non-Jewish as well) is that Holocaust jokes are off-limits. That is not the case in Israel. It’s not as if everyone is constantly cracking these jokes, but they do come up. Guy shared in the first podcast episode that שואה (Shoah - the Hebrew word that we use to refer to the Holocaust) has become a slang term for something frustrating or as a negative jab. This can certainly rub some the wrong way. There is a range of these jokes and I haven’t heard many, but it serves as a solid example of the lack of boundaries in humor.
“The Jews of Israel were not apathetic to the Jews of the past, they were simply coping with the destruction that befell us. In fact, from baffled to curious, I found that there were survivors that used humor to cope today and even those that used it in the camps. It was a weapon. They could take everything, but never take away humor. That fighting spirit translated into the modern day Jewish culture of Israel, trying to survive the war on terror. The bomb on their bus. The terrorist in the coffee shop. The empty streets. The darkness. That was their light, and they laughed and laughed.”
Molly Livingstone, “Israel Does Humor: Laughing Our Way Through Life”
We see here from Molly Livingstone that humor has been our coping mechanism for generations and it is sometimes all that we have left. It’s not meant for all situations, but it can certainly break (or even shatter) the ice.
I hope that you’ll try out some Israeli comedians. My new favorite, who just opened for Elon Gold in Tel Aviv, is Yochai Sponder. It’s impressive to be funny in your native tongue, but he manages to do it in his somewhat limited English.
This week’s Sababoosh podcast episode covers Israeli comedy and welcomes Omri Marcus, an original writer on Eretz Nehederet. We cover the evolution of Israeli comedy, AI and comedy, and what makes so many Jews so funny. Omri opens with the importance in Judaism of storytelling and that is what sits at the heart of comedy - good storytelling.
Shabbat shalom and a restful weekend to all!
Song of the Week:
Hurricane by Eden Golan
This is Israel’s Eurovision song this year. Some other songs were submitted and rejected for being too political. It was deemed inappropriate to represent our country’s current feelings through music and could only deliver a song not supercharged with edge or love, but it does sound good. I’m expecting a lot of booing before Eden even takes the stage, but it is a catchy song. I’m proud of her already and I know that she’ll represent us as well as she can.
Slang of the Week:
תעשה חיים
Ta-ah-seh chai-eem
Do life (literal) → Have a great time (slang)
We really are a society that values life a whole lot. We have faced a lot of heartbreak and mourning as a people lately, but we will always value life to the highest extent.