Shields of Laughter

This is the sermon I gave this past Friday (June 22). It has not been altered to fit your screen nor has it been edited for content. Special thanks to Rabbi Joel Simon who let me mooch some of his ideas.

A man is out in the woods when he comes across a bear. Frightened for his life, he runs as fast as he can to escape the bear and hides in a cave. He is horrified to find that the bear has run after him into the cave, and now the man is trapped. He closes his eyes and begins to recite "Sh'ma Yisrael" in anticipation of his final moments. When he is finished, he opens his eyes and is surprised to see the bear in front of him with his eyes closed - also praying. The man thinks to himself "how lucky am I to be cornered by what must be the only Jewish bear! We're mishpocheh - I'm saved!" And then he listens more carefully to the bear's prayer "hamotzi lechem minhaaretz"

Whether or not you found this particular joke funny, we cannot deny the place of humor and laughter in Jewish tradition. There have been many proposals as to why Jews seem to always be involved in the comedic arts, no matter what the circumstances. In my opinion, the best explanation comes from a very unlikely source, American novelist Tom Robbins. In his book “Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climate” (yes that is actually the name of the book), one of the main characters talks about laughter as a physical force and that one can “fashion a shield out of laughter.” This is essentially what Jews have done; we have used laughter as a means of protecting ourselves emotionally and spiritually even in the most difficult situations. There may be no better example of this than a poem written by Rikle Glaser, a prisoner of the Vilna Ghetto:

The Jewish laughter
Contains so much pain.
When weeping is of no help,
One laughs as much as he can,
Although the heart would cry with pain.
We are laughing
As long as we will live
Let your laughter sound far.
So hope the time is near,
When you will laugh
From the depth of your heart always.

Laughter has power. One might argue that the importance of humor and laughter in Jewish laugh is only a modern development; however even in the Talmud we find evidence of laughter’s importance. We read in Tractate Ta'anit the story of the Amora, Rabi Beroka.[1] Rabi Beroka used to frequent the shuk at Bei Lefet. Elijah the prophet would often appear to him, and Rabi Beroka once asked him if there was anyone in the marketplace destined for Olam ha-ba, the world to come. Elijah pointed out three people in the shuk who were assured of this eternal reward. One was a man who had no tzitzit, and appeared not to be Jewish. Rabi Beroka was surprised and asked the man what he did. He found that the man was a jail guard who risked his life to save Jewish women who were at risk of attack from their non-Jewish oppressors. He also hid his Jewishness from these oppressors so that they would tell him of upcoming decrees against the Jews so that he could notify Jewish leaders and work to annul the decrees. Elijah then pointed to two other men who were guaranteed a place in olam ha-ba. Rabi Beroka asked the two men, “what do you do?” to which they replied, אנשי בדוחי אנן, מבדחינן עציבי, we are comedians, and we cheer up those who are depressed. Making people laugh is comparable, according to the Talmud, with saving lives!
The rabbis were way ahead of their time on this one. More and more scientific and medical studies are being published that show that laughter can in fact make us healthier in general and in some cases help fight serious illness. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, have discovered laughter can help keep your heart healthy. Dr. Michael Miller, indicated people should combine regular exercise with 15 minutes of laughter a day for good cardiovascular health. "It is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease," said Miller. The initial results of a five-year study at the School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), show that regular injections of humour are particularly beneficial for children with cancer and Aids. Increasingly, studies are demonstrating that laughter and humour boost immunity, diminish pain and help people deal with the stress of life. Just a few fun experiences a week will elevate feel-good serotonin levels and help boost your immune system and improve your health. With this in mind, I would like for all of us to take a moment and turn to the person next to you and tell them a joke, or do something to try and make them laugh. Go ahead.

A Priest and a Rabbi are riding in a plane. After a while, the Priest turns to the Rabbi and asks, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?"The Rabbi responds, "Yes, that is still one of our beliefs."The Priest then asks, "Have you ever eaten pork?"To which the Rabbi replies, "Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tasted pork."The Priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading. A while later, the Rabbi spoke up and asked the Priest, "Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?"The Priest replied, "Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith."The Rabbi then asked him, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?"The Priest replied, "Yes Rabbi, on one occasion I was weak and broke with my faith."The Rabbi nodded understandingly for a moment and then said, "A lot better than pork isn't it?"
As we enter into Shabbat and beyond, may we find many opportunities to laugh, chuckle, giggle, snicker, hoot, snort, cackle, chortle and guffaw and may our shields of laughter be strong




[1] Ta'anit 22a