(JNS) — Theodor Adorno, the German philosopher of Jewish descent, famously called poetry after Auschwitz “barbaric.” Experts told JNS that there’s still room for humor in a post-Oct. 7 world.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research planned to debut its online, self-paced, 13-hour course titled, “Is anything okay? The history of Jews and comedy in America” in November. On Oct. 9, the institute’s staff met to discuss the course and decided to postpone it.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘We can’t launch this.’ It’s just not appropriate,” Eddy Portnoy, YIVO’s senior academic advisor and director of exhibitions, told JNS.
