Big in the Borscht Belt

I've been busy with work, so wasn't thinking I had done too much worth talking about but then I came across some commentary and found out I was going in the wrong direction. Last night I attended a networking event and lecture that was a sort of joint Israel-US thing. The event was a bit expensive and the agenda had been confusing so I wasn't going to go but got offered a comp ticket. So there I was, trying to maintain the positive attitude, reminding myself not to say anything bad about anyone (and oh I really could of) when I ran into some folks I knew, and out of my mouth flew my "joke", basically that you could tell there were a lot of Jews in the room because you couldn't even get near the food, I may have even added a comment about a cousin's bar mitzvah where the stampede for appetizers looked like the rush for a lifeboat off the Titanic. I thought this joke was so clever I shared it a few more times, including with my husband when I got home 4 hours later, exhausted and famished and more than a little frustrated. I had been working so hard at not slamming the event, and the event organizer that this joke was my frustration outlet. But it didn't feel right, and am not sure the laughs I got were all that comfortable, except on the home front. Now I know why. It is a grave sin to speak against the Jewish people as a whole. Yikes, there goes the entire schtick of a bunch of comedians. Now you might think this doesn't count really, talking about a stereotypical behavior, but one of the specific examples from the Midrash was Yeshayahu (is that Joshua) said to G_d, "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For this statement he was severely punished. I am not sure if it was a punishment but the first group of folks I was talking to walked off, and they are current and hopefully future clients, the second group of folks, the conversation just didn't go well. And like I said the rest of the evening, well that was punishment in itself. I've had a bad habit of self-deprecating comments for years under the mistaken belief that if I put myself down under the guise of humor it will protect me someone else doing it. And in a way this is more of the same. So no more Jew Jokes I guess. Particularly if it could add to someone's prejudices.

I definitely lost my mojo last night. So all I can do is ask forgiveness and keep on going. I can't avoid frustrating situations, time-wasters, obnoxious people, traffic, bad food, bad service. Because to avoid those things you'd have to be a hermit and where is the joy in that? So just as I hear myself speak and am on the watch for La Shon HaRa will extend the philosophy to the Jewish people as a whole. The first stone should not be thrown by me.