When you get two Jews together, you get three opinions! DISCUSS!?

Question

Do you think this old joke is true? If so, why?

- any nasty answers will be reported and I shall also dispatch my special kosher niinja assassins to find you...!

BLITZMON - your 'joke' was very racist, relying as it does on that tired, and untrue old stereotype. My question is not racist because it's not saying ANYTHING negative!

OK - any of my fellow Jews find my question offensive? If so, do tell me! Apparently quite a few of our non Jewish friends think it is 'racist'!

SHALOM ULTRANATIONAL - good to see you again and thank you, I may well accept your kind offer of some warriors!! :)

MIKE S - this joke does not come from the book I referre to. This one is an old, old one that most Jews have heard. I don't know why some people think it's offensive, as it doesn't actually say anything negative at all! Debate and battles of wits are a big, big part of Jewish culture.

Answer 1

Of course it's not offensive! It's true. I remember sitting at the dinner table with all my relatives, as a very young girl, and everyone was talking at once and putting in their thoughts and opinions and then debating them and then changing them from one to the other and it was all done with love and good humor. Have you ever seen Woody Allen's movie "Annie Hall"? Do you remember the scenes with family? They were priceless and so true and all anyone did was argue and debate. I just love it when Christians answer questions about things related to Jews that they obviously know nothing about.

Answer 2

I've heard this joke many times, and to be honest, I never understood why there would be *3* opinions. I guess I figured it was a way of saying that we love to argue and analyze so much, that to merely say that two Jews have two different opinions would be an understatement. Sort of like, "I'm on your side, 110 percent!"

You know, sometimes a "Jewish joke" is fine with me when I hear it told by Jews, but I get upset when I hear the same joke told by gentiles. That's not the case for this one. I wouldn't find it offensive, no matter who told it. Exploring all sides of a subject, having opinions, those are good things, no?

Speaking of cryptic jokes, my mom used to say, "If ignorance is bliss, then she's a blister!" I never understood that one either.

Answer 3

I've started doing this with my Rabbi when we are in social gatherings with my congregation. There is a particular reason for it.

When there is a judgement against Israel, our prayers are not heard. Lam 3:44 - You wrapped Yourself in a cloud that prayer cannot pierce. The reason this happens is seen in Lam 1:9 ....there is no Torah...

If we were to pray when there was a judgement against us, the accusing angel would say "Wait a minute, they are still sinning, what right do they have to pray." But if we discuss Torah for the sake of learning and doing the mitzvot, there is nothing the accusing angel can say. The other angel says "Look at them, they are studying Torah to find out what you want from them" and Hashem smiles.

The other night, my Rabbi and I did this at a Channukah party. We discussed the meaning of the lamp in the Menorah for about 3 hours. There were about 10 people in the room eagerly listening to Torah. There was no secular talk the entire evening.

So, when Tzaddikim get together and notice the talk turns secular, one will turn to the other and say "Expound for me something about Torah."

They don't actually disagree if you watch closely. They build on a point and then it flows like a stream branching off a river to another point. Each point is taken back to a passage in the Tanach, then to a passage in the Torah. People then join in and talk about what those passages mean.

If they feign opposition, there are a couple of signals that they use. Since know what the other person is thinking, we immediately recognize when something is said for the sake of raising a question. Then a simple look is given. If someone misses the look and gets a questioning look, a raising of the hand in a gentle stop sign quells that. It means they will eventually come around to answering the anomoly in the question.

We do this sort of thing at our shul every Shabbat, and people hang around until 4 or 5 to participate. Sure beats football games.

It's up to the leaders to make sure the study is purely for the sake of learning Torah for the purpose of learning Mitzvot. If there is ever any animosity building they say....

TIME TO EAT.

Shalom,
Gershon

Answer 4

Okay PB I warned you that I might not get them all. But the stream of your responses seems to think that the joke is offensive. May I be allowed to ask a question? Okay here goes anyway, 'Who compiled this book of Jewish Jokes you mentioned the other day and where you got this one?'. Personally I don't think it's racist or even anti Jewish. There are a lot of jokes out there about just about anyone you have a disagreement with. As a kid I remember the "POLACK" jokes and I'm not polish. I also recall after the '6 Day War' someone came out with a joke book about the Arab forces lack of a warlike ability and I for one got a hell of a laugh out of most of the jokes in it. No it's not racist as far as I am concerned but many people have lost the ability to laugh at themselves or anything else for that matter. Sorry if this isn't what you're looking for.

Answer 5

As my chaplain at University said "The Septugaint (Greek version of the bible translated by Jewish scholars - all 70 came up with exactly the same translation) was not a miracle, if they'd put all 70 in the same room and they came up with the same translation that would have been a miracle."

Watch "Fiddler on the Roof" note the number of times Tevye says "on the other hand".

Answer 6

Can anyone read here at Y/A under this section more than a day and disagree with that? LOL!

I think it is true because in many Jewish communities it is a centuries old tradition to debate and discuss things to the finest detail.

There is even a Yiddish term for it..pilpul..and while my Talmudic scholar friends will be quick to note..that is the name of a method of Talmud study..it took on a meaning of its own..to describe hairsplitting a point beyond reason anytime in the common vernacular..Jews get together and dissect anything we discuss to death.

I know I've done it.

Dee Zee..great answer on this one! :)

Answer 7

We, the Jews, don't find it offensive at all because we know it, its old and its true for the sake of arguing. Sometimes, even if an opinion is not really ours, we put it on the table - to continue the discussion.

The none Jews think its offensive because they don't know that this is part of our culture.

I find that any culture can dis and joke on its own and not on the others.

Being PC is all about being careful about the OTHERS feelings. But since one is not part of the OTHERS, he is being over sensitive about OTHERS then about oneself. Because he can not understand the subtleties.

I think that in this day and age, we just might over done it. But its better that people are sensitive about others and not insulting as it was in olden days.

Answer 8

Of course. Jews always try back up their opinions with facts. Putting the two people's facts and opinions together, results in a third opinion. This leads to more and more opinions and facts. And obviously, each Jew wants to prove their point.

So are you going to send the ninjas after me? LOL.

Edit: Why is this racist? It's true in a good way.

Answer 9

true, but i find its usually for the sake of arguing, well at least in my family. But hey, its always fun to listen to lol

thought the joke itself is only really funny when told to other jews who live around the arguements so much its mildly amusing, otherwise it can be deemed to be slightly anti-semitic

Answer 10

I don't think that's true but on the other hand it can be true although I have to add that it might not be true or untrue or both.. I still have to think about it because I have an answer - or don't I have one? maybe I have one.