Every culture has a unique sense of humor, and without a doubt American culture has embraced Jewish humor as a part of its multiethnic heritage. From vaudeville comedians to radio and Hollywood, Jewish comedians have shaped American audiences’ tastes in humor. While American soil has provided the likes of the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Woody Allen, and in more recent times, Mel Brooks and Jerry Seinfeld to create new and original routines, most of early twentieth-century Jewish humor came directly from Eastern European Jewish communities. Such was the case with the classic story of “Saving Time.” Set in the town of Chelm in Poland, “Saving Time” is part of an entire genre of Chelm jokes; however, it is one of the best known, exemplifying the town’s reputation for “foolish wisdom.”
Jews have been living in Eastern Europe since the thirteenth century. They spread east out of Germany, settling in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. Two hundred years later, Poland emerged as the center of Jewish culture in Europe. However, intense waves of persecution during the nineteenth century drove almost two million Jews from Eastern Europe to the United States. These Jews settled primarily in cities in the Northeastern United States such as New York City, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis, bringing their language and folklore with them.
Many of these folktales were of a humorous nature and contained regional and ethnic humor from Eastern Europe. Of special prominence in these stories was the town of Chelm, which had the reputation of being inhabited solely by village idiots. The Jewish American folktale of “Saving Time” is one example of the kind of foolishness practiced by the people of Chelm.
One afternoon in the town market, two friends, Shmul and Bein, ran into each other. Shmul customarily greeted Bein with the politeness of old friends, but Bein uncharacteristically replied, “Go to blazes!” Shmul was very much taken aback and asked if he had done something to offend his friend. Not in the least, replied Bein; he was simply trying to save time. Shmul asked what he meant by that, and so Bein explained: “We have been friends since we were babies, and I know that if I tell you I am going to the baths on Seventh Street, you will tell me that the baths on Avenue A are preferable. Then I will say: ‘No, Shmul, for I have tried them both and the baths on Seventh Street are better.’ You will say to me: ‘Bein, you are a fool.’ And I will tell you: ‘Go to blazes.’”
Borscht Belt
Also known as the “Jewish Catskills,” the so-called “Borscht Belt” refers to a swath of Jewish summer resorts and hotels in upstate New York, which enjoyed a heyday in the mid-twentieth century when an American Jewish middle and upper-middle class had begun to emerge but was still largely segregated from Christians of the same socioeconomic background. The Borscht Belt bred many Jewish comedians, some of whom, like Henny Youngman and Lenny Bruce, went on to mainstream fame and fortune. The Borscht Belt faded as Jewish Americans were able to assimilate more fully into American social life, and thus represents both a halcyon vision of days of yore and the stark reality of the legacy of anti-Semitism in the United States. It is perhaps best known among younger Americans in the last two or three decades, however, as the setting for the iconic 1987 coming-of-age dance film, Dirty Dancing, starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.
C. Fee
Of course, after the explanation, Bein set off toward the baths on Seventh Street, prompting Shmul to mutter that indeed this was a foolish decision for the baths on Avenue A were vastly superior. The subsequent argument unfolded just as Bein had predicted, culminating with Bein shouting “Go to blazes!” at his old friend as he walked off.
Andrew Wickersham
See also Wise Men of Chelm Stories
Further Reading
Barnavi, Eli, ed. 2002. A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People. New York: Schocken Books.
King, Russell, ed. 2007. Atlas of Human Migration. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books.
Novak, William. 2015. “Jewish Humor in America.” My Jewish Learning website. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-humor-in-america/2/. Accessed September 11, 2015.
Schlosser, S. E. “Saving Time.” American Folklore website. http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2008/11/post.html. Accessed September 11, 2015.