Wish A Joke

I first encountered the joke in Jacques Derrida's quotation of it in his eulogy for Sarah Kofman. He announces it well in advance of its citation and thus builds up anticipation and tension which is released when he quotes Kofman's Pourquoi rit-on? Freud et le mot d'esprit. He offers up a retelling of the joke as a sort of posthumous postscriptum.

Two Jews, long-standing enemies, meet at the synagogue on the day of the Great Atonement. One says to the other [by way of forgiveness]: "I wish you what you wish me." And the other replies, giving tit for tat: "See, you're at it again!"

I found this quite hilarious. Others not so. It is even funnier without the intercalation of the phrase "by way of forgiveness".

Two Jews, long-standing enemies, meet at the synagogue on the day of the Great Atonement. One says to the other: "I wish you what you wish me." And the other replies, giving tit for tat: "See, you're at it again!"

To try and explain robs the effect of an infinite regression. Just try and explain why a recurring loop is funny, why a deadlock is seriously twisted.

Of course the moral edge of the joke is sharp and depends on delicate balancing: image of words as dangerous weapons is offset by words as superb defences. It is not just a good joke, it's a refined joke.

I wish the others that do not find the joke as funny as I do will some day experience the full force of the humour. Of course, I'm at it again.

The English translation of Derrida's words in honour of Sarah Kofman are found in The Work of Mourning.

And so for day 1072
19.11.2009