Shmerl the Narr is a much loved stock character from Jewish folklore -- a "wise fool." In this comic strip version of a well-known story, Shmerl has "foolishly" gone to the wilderness in order to find a sexual partner. Why didn't he just go to a singles bar? Because he's too "foolish!"
Shmerl's bald head symbolizes his phallus, which of course is circumcised. The seemingly dead bear in the last frame is also symbolic of Shmerl the Narr's phallus. It seems to be dead but isn't. It's only sleeping or hibernating. The bear is also an allusion to the bear that the prophet Elijah directed to attack some children who were mocking him (2 Kings 2:23-25.) And it's a reference to the bear in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" ("Exit, pursued by a bear.") Finally, the bear connects us to the song "Bear Necessities" from the animated film version of Kipling's "The Jungle Book."
Can anyone explain the tiny picture between the second and third frames????
Click on the comic strip to enlarge.
