History Main / JewishComplaining

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Lampshaded by the [[DeadpanSnarker snarky Mittens]] about herself in "The Coffee Shop" -- she even uses the term "kvetch" to describe what she does. Played with in that while Mittens comes from an urban New York background, she isn't presented as being Jewish.

-->'''[[PsychoForHire Bullet Tooth Tony]]''': [[LondonGangster Brick Top's]] bookie's got [[ArmedBlag blagged]] last night. \\

The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''. Various Eastern European countries also have this practically as a national pastime. Same for the Irish. Germans and Austrians have perfected it into an art form, the [[GermanHumour political satiric cabaret]]. The French-Canadian consider this their natioanl sport after hockey.

[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
* All the way back to [[Literature/TheBible the Torah]]. In Numbers 11:5, the people complain that all they have to eat is manna from heaven, whereas in Egypt they had eaten fish. Even God lost patience, and declared that if they wanted meat so much, He'd make it rain meat instead... nothing ''but'' meat for weeks and weeks [[RadishCure until the Israelites were even more sick of it than the manna]].[[note]]Thus demonstrating that God is the ultimate Jewish Mother.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''. Various Eastern European countries also have this practically as a national pastime. Same for the Irish. Germans and Austrians have perfected it into an art form, the [[GermanHumour political satiric cabaret]].

-->--'''Tom Levitt''', ''Series/{{Smash}}''

* ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'': Ives often complains about changes made to the franchises he follows, and the entire reason he puts up with Tim's girlfriend Ariana seems to be that he loves arguing with her just on principle. He does mellow out a bit in this regard by the time he's a senior in high school and amusingly his family is incredibly mellow and quick to diffuse situations rather than argue.

This is TruthInTelevision, and is actually joked about [[SelfDeprecation more among Jews themselves]] than anyone who's ever been prejudiced against them. Heck, if you see a TV show with Jewish people being big whiners, it's more than likely [[YouHaveToHaveJews a Jew wrote those parts]].

[[folder: Comedy ]]

* A businessman is on his way home after a long day of work, looking forward to a peaceful train ride where he can quietly read his paper. He boards the train and finds an empty seat across from an Orthodox Jewish man. As the train starts, he settles in and begins to read his paper. Suddenly, he hears from the Jewish man across from him, "Oy, am I thirsty! Oy, am I thirsty!" The businessman thinks nothing of it and continues reading, yet the Jewish man goes on, "Oy, am I thirsty! Oy, am I thirsty!" Finally, the businessman becomes so adjitated that he throws down his paper, goes to the next car, retrieves a cup of water and gives it to the Jewish man. The Jewish man thanks him, drinks the water and sighs, his thirst quenched. The businessman settles back down to read his paper, but before he can... [[spoiler:"[[HereWeGoAgain Oy, was I thirsty! Oy, was I thirsty!]]"]]

* An old woman and her grandson are at the beach, when suddenly, the grandson goes way too far out in the ocean. She says to the lifeguards, "Please, save my son! He can't swim out that far!" So the lifeguards save him and give him CPR, but the grandmother says to them, "He had a hat."

[[folder: Comics ]]

* ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'': Ives often complains about changes made to the franchises he follows, and the entire reason he puts up with Tim's girlfriend Ariana seems to be that he loves arguing with her just on principal. He does mellow out a bit in this regard by the time he's a senior in high school and amusingly his family is incredibly mellow and quick to diffuse situations rather than argue.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Estelle Costanza complains about everything, which leads to arguments with her Roman Catholic husband Frank who complains just as much. Helen Seinfeld complains about Jerry's career as a comedian, thinking that there isn't much money in it (despite plenty of evidence to the contrary). As a consequence she constantly sends his gifts back and he in turn will not accept money from them.

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

** Mort Goldman embodies this trope, though he's more of a hypochondriac (who's job is, [[{{Irony}} of course]], in pharmaceuticals) than a straight-up complainer.

--> "[[SarcasmMode Oooo, he can part the Red Sea]]! Y'know, he hasn't called his brother in three years!"

[[folder: Religion and Mythology ]]

The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''. Various Eastern European countries also have this practically as a national pastime. Same for the Irish.

[[folder: RealLife ]]
* According to his ex-wife, the white nationalist Breitbart editor and Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon objected to his daughters' being sent to a school where he believed there would be many Jewish children (based on seeing books about Hanukkah about), complaining that Jews (in his opinion) taught their children to complain too much.
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The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''. Various Eastern European countries also have this practically as a national pastime. As do the Irish.

The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''. Various Eastern European countries also have this practically as a national pastime.

* [[ItsPronouncedTroPAY Shari]] from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''.

The Greeks do this too: it is called ''gana''.

* The ''entire'' Broflovski family (barring Kyle's cousin Kyle, and Ike), especially Kyle and Sheila, from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.

* All the way back to [[Literature/TheBible the Torah]]. In Numbers 11:5, the people complain that all they have to eat is manna from heaven, whereas in Egypt they had eaten fish. Even God lost patience, and declared that if they wanted meat so much, He'd make it rain meat instead... nothing ''but'' meat for weeks and weeks [[RadishCure until the Israelites were even more sick of it than the manna]].

This is TruthInTelevision, and is actually joked about [[SelfDeprecation more among Jews themselves]] than anyone who's ever been prejudiced against them. Heck, if you see a TV show with Jewish people being big whiners, it's more than likely [[YouHaveToHaveJews a Jew wrote those parts]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness but when things get truly serious, the complaining tends to die down as they get more somber.]] This comes from the actual history of the habit: superstitious Jews believed showing happiness or satisfaction brought the Evil Eye, so they complained to ward off the demon world. Actual misfortune "fills the need" for misfortune in keeping demons away, and may well already have been caused by a demon, so why ward them off when they're already here?

--> Archie: Except for you because you're Jewish and you always complain!

* The ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'' sketch "Noah's Lark" models it's Noah, both verbally and vocally, after comedian Richard Lewis, who's acts is nothing but this.

[[folder: Jokes ]]

* A businessman is on his way home after a long day of work, looking forward to a peaceful train ride where he can quietly read his paper. He boards the train and finds an empty seat across from an Orthodox Jewish man. As the train starts, he settles in and begins to read his paper. Suddenly, he hears from the Jewish man across from him, "Oy, am I thirsty! Oy, am I thirsty!" The businessman thinks nothing of it and continues reading, yet the Jewish man goes on, "Oy, am I thirsty! Oy, am I thirsty!" Finally, the businessman becomes so adjitated that he throws down his paper, goes to the next car, retrieves a cup of water and gives it to the Jewish man. The Jewish man thanks him, drinks the water and sighs, his thirst quenched. The businessman settles back down to read his paper, but before he can... [[spoiler:"[[HereWeGoAgain Oy, was I thirsty! Oy, was I thirsty!]]"]]
* A Jewish man in a hospital tells the doctor he wants to be transferred to a different hospital.\\
The doctor says "What's wrong? Is it the food?"\\
"No, the food is fine. I can't kvetch."\\
"Is it the room?"\\
"No, the room is fine. I can't kvetch."\\
"Is it the staff?"\\
"No, everyone on the staff is fine. I can't kvetch."\\
"Then why do you want to be transferred?"\\
"I can't kvetch!"
* Well, it's happened. America has finally elected its first Jewish President of the United States. So he invites his mother to the inauguration. She says, "But, bubele, how the heck am I going to get there? My car is broken down and whatnot!" So the President tells her, "Ma, don't worry about it. I'll get Air Force One to take you." But then the mother says, "Oiy, I'll need to catch a taxi and carry my luggage. It's just too much!" So he says, "Mom! I'm the President! I'll pick you up in my limo! Then my guards will carry your luggage for you!" But the mother says, "But finding a hotel is gonna be extremely expensive!" So the President replies, "Ma, you can just stay with me in the White House."\\
So the next morning, it's Inauguration Day. The President's mother is talking to the person next to her and she says, "You see that man? The one with his hand on the Bible? His brother's a doctor."
* An old woman and her grandson are at the beach, when suddenly, the grandson goes way too far out in the ocean. She says to the lifeguards, "Please, save my son! He can't swim out that far!" So the lifeguards save him and give him CPR, but the grandmother says to them, "He had a hat."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy ]]

* A common aspect of BorschtBelt comedians.

[[/folder]]

This is TruthInTelevision, and is actually joked about [[SelfDeprecation more among Jews themselves]] than anyone who's ever been prejudiced against them. Heck, if you see a TV show with Jewish people being big whiners, it's more than likely [[YouHaveToHaveJews a Jew wrote those parts]].

[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness But when things get truly serious, the complaining tends to die down as they get more somber.]] This comes from the actual history of the habit: superstitious Jews believed showing happiness or satisfaction brought the Evil Eye, so they complained to ward off the demon world. Actual misfortune "fills the need" for misfortune in keeping demons away, and may well already have been caused by a demon, so why ward them off when they're already here?

* ''Film/TheHebrewHammer'' uses this as the final test the "Jewish Justice League" has to gain entrance. [[spoiler:It also turns out to be part of a Jew's ultimate weapon]].

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-->'''[[JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf Statler]]:''' I don't think that these Jewish people should complain about everything all the time.\\
'''Waldorf:''' I agree! That's ''our'' job!\\
'''Both:''' Doh-hoh-hoh-hoh!