Bugs: Asserting the Jewishness of this Funny Bunny

Allow me to diverge for a moment from the wonderful world of philanthropy and shift to a different kind of giving: humor. Namely, Jewish humor.

David Kaufman has written a great article for The Forward called: “Carrot and Shtick– A Looney Question: Can We Claim Bugs Bunny as Jewish?”

His article draws parallels between Bugs antics and the humor of the Marx Brothers and the Ritz Brothers. Prime among Kaufman’s arguments for Bugs covenental connection is the following:

“Bugs is pure New York, a fine mixture of Brooklyn and the Bronx. Nor for him the posh elongated vowels of a Roosevelt (“I hate wahhhhhr”). Rather, his are the clipped nasal sounds of a smart-aleck rabbit on the streets (“Ain’t I a stinka?”). Nothing patrician there. Bugs is a bunny of the people, a working-class hero who clearly isn’t Irish and is hardly Italian.”

He adds:

“Rabbits ain’t kosher, but what does it matter? The “Looney Tunes” shorts in which Bugs appears are always structured around extinction and endurance, the two great poles of Jewish thought and dream. They are purimshpiels in which Haman is played by an amiable stooge with a rifle that chronically misfires. What more do we need? Seventy years is surely long enough. It is time to embrace the bunny.”

Asserting my own proof, I will add: who is Bugs’ number one enemy but Porky Pig. You can’t get more treyf than that.

Shabbat Shalom