Some Final Thoughts

"That's all folks" is how the animated cartoon series Looney Tunes ended each show for decades. Given that it means "nothing more to add", I could use the same catchphrase.

But a snag shouts out—how can we possibly know that there are no more jokes, sayings and pictures to add to the compilation?

Let's turn to the holy tongue to check what the Editorial Board of the Old Testament decided after the scribes completed Malachi, the very last book. This prophet calls on the Jews to remember the laws of Moses and warns them that God will come and smite the earth with a curse if they ignore them. Imagine a Looney Tunes ending each cartoon with such a curse!

So, after a several sleepless nights, let me share my thoughts on the matter. I identified over 500 jokes after the most challenging job I have ever undertaken. But, who knows, a few may be buried away in say a Dead Sea cave (where the oldest Biblical scrolls were found). Is there perhaps a cave nearby devoted exclusively to Jewish humour? Possible? Likely? Stolen by a humble shepherd? Destroyed because the jokes were awful? I surmise that there are Jewish humourists all over the world who crave to emulate expert archaeologists with the aim of answering this pivotal question, one that is far more significant for humanity than the Holy Grail?

I have come across a cavoodle (pictured) who has been assiduously trained to smell leather and papyrus scrolls on which quills (derived from desert eagles) together with biblical ink –a mixture of charcoal and gum oil (later iron sulphate blended with growths on oak trees caused by the larvae of cynipid wasps)-- have left their mark (what a splendid pun!).

We can feel optimistic in our quest. After all, we are in a buoyant state having laughed our heads off reading the more than 250 jokes in Laughing Jewishly.

Yours encouragingly,
Sidney
(or Shneur ben Shalom Ha' Cohen if you prefer the Hebrew version)