Abstract
The chapter focuses on the function of the comic in pre-modern Rabbinic Judaism. It describes the attitude of religious authorities, who are the sole authors of texts, toward the comic.
It demonstrates that joking is regarded in Rabbinic Judaism as degrading the subject of laughter and is therefore typically oriented to the outside - namely, onto the non-Jews. The laughter is restricted to specific and usually ritualized moments, such as weddings or some of the festivals (especially Purim).