This small, chunky volume presents the witty, wonderful, deadpan and droll insight of the Jewish culture. Chapters on Wisdom, Mitzvahs, Dybbuks, Proverbs, Jokes, Curses, Conventions, Mores (ethics), Love & Marriage, Men & Women, Children & Family provide reflections gleaned from a wealth of ancient, traditional and modern sources. The range of wise observations on the ways of the world, snappy one-liners, stories and expressions captures the spirit of the Jews throughout the centuries. Illustrated with sixty watercolor paintings, The Big Little Book of Jewish Wit & Wisdom will delight and engage even the toughest Jewish mother.
Examples: When we hear a baby laugh, it is the loveliest thing that can happen to us.
-Sigmund Freud
A child's wisdom is also wisdom. -Yiddish proverb
I don't believe in the afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear. -Woody Allen
May you lose all your teeth but one, and may that one have a cavity. -Anon. (Yiddish curse)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
mostly good, but...:
I was looking for a Christmas gift for my JCC aerobics instructor, who is Christian. This book fit the bill perfectly EXCEPT for the page with 2 lame jokes about whether the Jews killed Christ. These might be amusing in a comedy club routine leading up to them (and where people are half-drunk anyway). Out of context, in a cute little gift-type book? Not so much. I hope the editors cut these "jokes" out if there's another edition.
You'll learn something good:
Some sayings in this book will make you laugh, some will make you cry, some you won't believe them and some had happened to you. Read this book and you'll learn some facts of life that are very important. P.S. When you write or say something that is written in the Talmud you MUST specify exactly where in the Talmud is written.
An Absolute Delight!:
This little book has everything from beautiful citations from the Talmud to hilarious and silly quotes from famous Jewish entertainers. It is definitely worth the money if you delight in Jewish quotes from the righteous to the irreverent. The only reason I could not give this 5 stars was because the author did not include the quotes in their original languages! If there had just been the original Hebrew and Yiddish texts below the English versions it would have made this so much more fun to quote and show... more info
