Word Prompt – VERKLEMPT – Kylie Lobell

Even though I wasn't born Jewish, as a kid, I knew Yiddish because of "Coffee Talk" on "Saturday Night Live." This was a sketch where Mike Myers plays Linda Richman, a New York Jewish mother based on Myers's real-life mother-in-law at the time. My sister and I would talk like Linda and record messages on our family's answering machine (am I dating myself?).

Before I converted to Judaism, I always loved Jewish humor, from "Coffee Talk" to Woody Allen, Adam Sandler, Joan Rivers, and Larry David. The comedians from the Catskills and the decades that followed it were the golden age of Jewish comedy. Today, we need to bring that back. In times of darkness, the Jews have always brought the world light and laughter. Now that the world is increasingly going crazy, we need laughter more than ever.

I encourage everyone to find a good Jewish joke to tell around your Shabbat table this week, and, after Shabbat, laugh at your Havdalah ceremony to start the week with joy.