Chapter 14
Good Monday morning!
Welcome to the 14th week of 2023.
Jewish Humor appeals to more than just Jews because of how it relates to the human experience – maybe there’s a little “Jewish” in everyone, and that’s what we’re all laughing at. Jewish humor was one way to cope with the Jewish experience and the human experience. Many horrible things have happened to us. People have tried to wipe us out many times. But we can still laugh. As the old joke goes, “Jewish holidays all go something like this: ‘They tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat.’”
This story takes place near the famous city of Chelm, which is known for its quote “wisdom.” In this story, the rabbi of Chelm goes missing. Local men go looking for him, and they find a body in a field. But the body has no head, so they are not sure whether
it’s the rabbi or not. No one can remember whether the rabbi actually HAD a head or not, so they figure if he didn’t have a head, it was the rabbi after all. So they go to ask people who might know.
So they went to ask the Shammes, who had always served the rabbi. The shammes replied:,“To tell the truth, I am also not sure if he, peace be upon him, had a head or not. He was always wrapped in his talis [prayer shawl] and I could only see what appeared below the talis.”
So the Khelmites went to ask the bathhouse attendant. The attendant said, “In truth, almost every erev shabes [Sabbath eve] I washed the rabbi. He would, however, lie on the topmost bench, which is wrapped in thick steam, so I would see only his feet.
So the Khelmites went to the rebitsin [rabbi’s wife]. The rebitsin answered, “I know only that my husband, may he have a bright paradise, had a nose, because every erev shabes he would prepare snuff to snort. If he also had a head – this I do not know.”
And thus, until this very day, the Khelmites do not know whether their rabbi had a head or not.
What’s the lesson of the story? First, be careful of focusing on the little details and forgetting the important thing – the rabbi is missing, and they’re debating whether he had a head or not. Second, sometimes you need to quit while you’re ahead {pause}. If they were going to ignore the bigger problem of the missing rabbi, what’s the point of debate in the first place? This could be a criticism of people who are very focused on the little details of Jewish religion and Jewish law instead of the big picture of being a good person. And lastly, if you’re going to laugh at the Chelmites, you might as well laugh at yourself as well, because there’s a little bit of Chelm in all of us.
Wishing you a good start to this new week!
Philemon