That was my tip-off, actually. I have heard that joke before, and from very proud Jews; it's not really self-deprecation, either, because they're honestly and legitimately proud of their cultural disposition towards fractious, vigorous intellectual debate. As I've said about religion and jokes before, religious jokes are great as long as they're offered in the right spirit. That spirit is the one that jokes from a place of love for the thing being joked about.
Anti-Semites Abound!
I won twenty dollars today off a professor I know who took this piece, published at Volokh, to be anti-Semitic. I wagered it would prove to be self-deprecating humor by another Jew; the author proves to be a board member of the Jewish Center for Religious Liberty. He's apparently drawn fire from progressive faculty before, who have trouble telling the difference between jokes like "Two Jews, three opinions" and actual anti-Semitism.
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4 comments:
One more example that lefties have no sense of humor.
I have missed jokes right under my nose before. I think the trick is to hesitate and check before making accusations.
I generally like Volokh Conspiracy, even though matters of law do not fascinate me as much as they do others.
As for "two Jews, three opinions," there is also the medieval rabbinic saying "Perhaps the opposite is also true."
Unless the two adopted perfectly contrary opinions, that principle would entail that the debate required at least four (six?) opinions.
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