Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, who hated the sound of Jewish laughter

Virginia Woolf is not amused Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer January 25, 2021

Today marks the birth date of brilliant novelist and thinker Virginia Woolf, whose writings are a staple of modernist literature and whose feminist philosophy laid out some of the blueprints for the feminist movement we enjoy today.

Sadly, Virginia Woolf hated Jews a lot. Jewish characters in her novels were written as ugly stereotypes, and she spoke about her regret for marrying Leonard Woolf, a Jew. (Her reasoning for disliking her husband and Jews in general was, “They have immense vanity.”)

And once, in her diary, she wrote,

I do not like the Jewish voice; I do not like the Jewish laugh.

Now, anyone who has spent 11 continuous hours on El Al knows what she’s talking about. However, since Woolf was not Jewish herself, her comments are — how can we put this? Unadulterated antisemitism. To celebrate Woolf’s brilliant contributions to the world, and to celebrate just as fondly the vital joy and freedom of laughing while Jewish, here are 10 Jews laughing in honor of Virginia Woolf’s birthday. Happy 139th birthday, Virginia!

Harrison Ford, laughing while Jewish and remarkably sexy:

Mila Kunis, laughing while Jewish and pretending to be high:

Jeff Goldblum, laughing while young and Jewish:

Max Greenfield (Jewish) laughing with Zooey Deschanel (not Jewish — Woolf would adore her laugh!)

Drake laughing at a Raptors game (and briefly strutting courtside like a Jewish raptor):

The Most Interesting Man in the World — a Jewish gent named Jonathan Goldsmith — laughing in a luxurious booth:

Josh Groban, laughing while a kinda Jewish:

via GIPHY

Elizabeth Banks laughing while Jewish and blonde:

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Jason Segel, laughing while very clearly Jewish:

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And finally…

Gal Gadot laughing reluctantly, while Jewish:

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Gal Gadot laughing while looking like a Jewish Neutrogena model:

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Gal Gadot laughing Jewishly while throwing shorts (?) at someone:

via GIPHY

Looks like Jews had the last laugh, Virginia, but happy birthday anyways! We still love you all the way to the lighthouse and back.

Jenny Singer was the deputy life editor at the Forward. You can follow her on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

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