Review: "Don’t Yell Challah in a Crowded Matzah Bakery!"

It may not be the Pesach season and this book may not be the most recent but "Don't Yell Challah in a Crowded Matzah Bakery" is a pioneer in a new trend of frum comedy literature, and as a comedy lover it is therefore up there with some of my favorite books. Judaism has always been at the forefront of religious humor and plenty of joke books have been released with a Jewish humor theme. Yet this book is the first I have found, and certainly the first in a while, that is an original frum comedy book. It is dubbed as "The Book of Kosher L'Pesach Humor & Stress Relief" and on many levels it delivers what it promises.

For those of you who are not familiar with the author, Mordechai Schmutter (it's never been clear whether that is his real name or just a pseudonym) is the featured weekly humor columnist in the Hamodia Magazine section. To be honest, his columns vary in laugh out loud humor from week to week. Sometimes I have found that for a couple of weeks columns barely get a chuckle out of me but then there are certain columns that I could not get through without laughing hysterically. The same goes for his book. The beauty of Don't Yell Challah is that it does what comedy is supposed to do, namely taking situations we can all relate to and showing the humor that resides in them. Popular humor topics in this book include the Pesach cleaning process (probably didn't know that could be funny, did ya?), the many different minhagim that exist about what qualifies as "kosher for Pesach", as well as a funny look into the Pesach story. Pharoah definitely comes out funnier in this book than his cameo in the Torah (that's not heresy, is it?). Schmutter does a great job at putting a smile on your face as you read humor bits, such as this one that pretty much sums up Pesach chumrahs in a sentence: "We are also very careful to erect safeguards around anything that may be related to anything that came into contact with anything that can be mistaken for anything within walking distance of chometz, because eating chometz on Pesach is a crime punishable by death, which will come at the hand of Hashem, because it is very difficult to explain to the non-Jewish media why you're stoning your neighbor for eating a bowl of noodles." Bada Boom!

Now, about this books target audience. I can imagine that this book goes over very well in the more yeshivish communities where access to secular stand-up comedy and humor is on a more limited level. This can be a good thing because I have found that in my pursuit for funny jokes a lot of what the secular world has to offer is filled with profanities and inappropriate image use. All in all, is this on the same level at some of the better secular stand-up out there? Not really. Those in the more modern sector who are used to a more sophisticated humor may not find this as satisfying but it does come through with some great laughing moments. While it reaches its peak of enjoyment around the holiday season (Pesach time) when you are actually experiencing on some level the humor, it is a good casual year-round book, great for a commute (not when you're the driver!), pre-bedtime read, or just for a time when you need a pick me up. If you enjoy laughing and seeing the humor in our beautiful Torah ways then I encourage you to check this book out.

(Note: You may also enjoy what is, according to my count, the second recent comedy book, "Adventures in the Produce Aisle" by Mishpacha columnist Perel Grossman. In addition, Schmutter has announced that he is planning a new book release around Chanukah time so keep your eyes out for that one as well.)