Rosh Hashanah 2026: Humor, the shofar, and the ability to accept the absurdity of life

A reflective essay by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores how humor and the acceptance of life's absurdity are central to the Rosh Hashanah experience. The author argues that the holiday's demand to crown an incomprehensible God is a paradox best approached through humor, which allows one to confront personal inadequacy and the gap between aspiration and reality without despair.

A reflective essay by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo in The Jerusalem Post argues that humor is essential to surviving the Rosh Hashanah repentance cycle. The author contends that the holiday's demand to crown an incomprehensible God is a paradox best approached through humor, which allows one to confront personal inadequacy and the absurdity of life without despair. The piece draws on analogies to fairy tales, childhood, and the experience of Holocaust victims who used dark humor. The author's own narrative voice frames the holiday's central demand as 'almost pathetic' and 'a bad joke,' using emotionally charged language to describe the theological paradox.