Some Serious Thoughts on Jewish Humor
A COMMENTARY ON THE NATURE OF WISDOM
Commencement Address at Brandeis University, May 26, 1991
George Bernard Shaw once remarked that a speaker should never tell an audience where he is going, for he may never get there. But the Talmud also says: If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there. I have only 15 minutes, and I need to be quick. (There is also the sign that used to be in the inns in the shtetl: Sleep faster, we need the pillows.)
The title of my talk is “Some Serious Thoughts on Jewish Humor: A Commentary on the Nature of Wisdom.” Given the heavy burdens of the world, it may seem strange to speak on such a light-hearted topic. I trust, however, that you will bear with me.
Many years ago, a graduating student sued Columbia University on the ground that he had not received any wisdom. The court dismissed the suit on the ground that a university does not, cannot, teach wisdom. (Since times change, and litigation has become an American way of life, the American Association of University Professors now offers malpractice insurance to liberal-arts professors — it is called professorial liability — at $75 a year for $500,000, and $125 for a million dollars. Not a bad deal for those interested in the test of contingency and necessity.)
But the court was right. A university provides information and knowledge — which is different from information — ways of thinking, construction of arguments, explication de texte, but not wisdom. Nor, I would venture to say, do many of you, as yet, have wisdom.
You May Also Enjoy
The entirety of the Christian faith hinges on the fact that God assumed creation to Himself in an unmatchable and eternal way.
Can the destructive side of the capitalist growth process be mitigated while doing minimal damage to the creative side?
Why are wealthy bankers being handed golden government parachutes while our neighbors who are being foreclosed are kicked to the curb?