Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
Print Edition

‘Jew jokes’ — laughing with or at?

Joan RiversThe goal of a comedian is to either make the audience cry or laugh. And everyone knows that a good joke always warms up the crowd. It gets people in a good mood.

But what about Jew jokes? Jokes about big noses? Jokes about money? Jokes about the Holocaust?

Joan Rivers, Jewish, host of Fashion Police on E!, made a joke about the Holocaust on the show in late February of this year.

She said, “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens” when describing Heidi Klum, a German model.

The ADL responded to Rivers’ joke in a press release quoted by the “Today” Show.

“It is vulgar and offensive for anybody to use the death of six million Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust to make a joke, but this is especially true for someone who is Jewish and who proudly and publicly wears her Jewishness on her sleeve,” the ADL said of Rivers.

Madilyn Turken, Cherry Creek High School junior, has been the direct hit of Jew jokes several times.

“When someone says them, I feel like they don’t understand my religion. Most Jew jokes don’t bother me too much unless they refer to the Holocaust. Then I get really angry,” says Turken.

If Jews utter them, it’s “like that gives other people who are not Jewish permission to say Jew jokes.”

Scott Levin, ADL mountain states regional director, says, “Jokes that target anyone for religion reinforce harmful stereotypes.

“Unfortunately, Jewish jokes promote anti-Semitic myths about Jews being cheap and controlling banks. I think that when we promote age old canards, it makes anti-Semitic attitudes more acceptable.”

The rest of this article is available in the IJN’s print edition only. Contact Carol to order your copy at (303) 861-2234 or email [email protected].




Leave a Reply