Rabbi Grossman has spoken like a true Jewish mother. Her moral finger-wagging at those who crack a few jokes is either obvious or prudishly naive about human nature. Yes, Jewish mother jokes can be insensitive and downright hurtful. But they also can be, at times, acutely accurate.

To use Rabbi Grossman’s line of thinking: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a lightbulb? Jewish mother replies: “It’s ok i’ll just sit here alone in the dark.” Of course not all Jewish mothers are such martyrs, but I sure know a few who would qualify. What makes a joke step over the line from being a positive form of social critique to a weapon wielded by the hands of cruel bigots, is something no one has ever figured out. But just because Jewish mother jokes have the potential to be hurtful and false does not mean that the whole genre of humor should be morally outlawed.

Humor shows how ironic life can be. Even amidst something as painful and as sensitive as 9/11 or the Holocaust (as Roberto Benigni’s demonstrated with his tragicomedy “Life Is Beautiful”), there is room for laughter. Someone who can’t laugh a little at themselves is missing out on a very serious part of what it means to be human.