Prove Your Comedy Chops with Moment’s Cartoon Caption Contest
Welcome to the Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest, founded with the help of New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, and drawn by New Yorker cartoonist Ben Schwartz.
Do you have a way with words and humor? If so, look at the cartoon below and send us a caption—or two or three! Plus scroll down to vote for your favorite caption. It’s free and fun!
Winners may claim a free Moment subscription for a friend of family member. Contest open to U.S. residents 18 and above.
Plus: Read interviews with some of our most prolific caption contest contributors here.
Submit a caption for this cartoon by February 20 by writing it in as a comment at the bottom of this page!
Vote for your favorite caption by filling out the form immediately below!
“Stop running! We just need a tenth man for the minyan!”
— Stephen Jackson, El Paso, TX
“But we always have the Frankensteins over for Hanukkah.”
—Stephen Nadler, Princeton, NJ
“Wait…we just want to know if any of your parts are Jewish!”
—Lee Lacewell, Heber Springs, AK
Vote for your favorite! The winner will receive a free subscription to Moment to give to a friend. Any U.S. resident age 18 or older can enter.
Vote for your favorite caption
Chuckle at the Fall 2025 winning caption—and see who wrote it!
“On Shabbat, Max only chases cars that are parked.”
—Larry Lesser, El Paso, TX
How to Submit Your Caption(s)
Submit as a comment below by October 1. Finalists will appear in the upcoming issue. To vote for the winner of the Summer 2025 contest (see finalists above), use the vote form.
Note: By submitting a caption, voting or leaving a reply, you are agreeing to receive Moment‘s award-winning newsletters.
Caption/cut line for the cartoon: ‘I knew I shouldn’t have stopped and asked for directions!’ — Frankenstein
“You should get your money back from your makeup artist.”
“We have a wager where half of us say you have a flat-top and half say you don’t! So if you wouldn’t mind standing on your head for a few hours tonight there might be a few quid in it for you in the morning!”
“Is it true that you are a RE-FORM JEW?”
“We verified that you do have a conscience; it came from a MAGA Supporter so we feel safe in saying it’s never been used!”
“Make sure she signs a lease.”
“Have they ever caught the Birdman of Alcatraz?”
NEW CARTOON
“Our religion produces new generations of life!”
“This is what is known as a HEADS-UP MITZVAH!”
“When it comes to promoting our Judaism, you now have a heavier burden!”
“Would you like to start a BIRD FEED ME FUND?”
“Are you sure there’s a huge fine for disturbing this species when they’re nesting?”
“These birds are classified as an ‘Endangered Species’ and the fine for disturbing their nest is five-thousand dollars!”
“Let’s name them, ‘Aleph, Bet, Gimel, and FARSHAFTE FROY!'”
“Are you immune to BIRD FLU, if not start praying!”
“I’m somewhat relieved to find it’s not the ‘Ole Bat’s in the Belfry’ situation again!”
“Have you heard of ‘Birds Nest Soup’?”
“Stop! You’re under a nest.”
“No,it’s not distracting.”
“Nest Gadol Haya Sham!”
“Worms?!? This isn’t 1096!”
“it’s okay — they’re kosher, not predators!”
“those Jewish Momma birds are always serving food!”
“You are now an honorary member of the National Audubon Society! Stoop down for better observation from others!”
“Refrain from using cheap cologne, the birds need clean air!”
“Some might say these are the ‘NEST YEARS’ of your life!”
“The ‘Four A.M Feedings’ gotta be rough!”
“It could be worse; if it was rabbits you’d be spending ten times more on ‘Hare Care’!”
“Just think what a ‘Pain in the Neck’ it would be if it was a ‘Wild Horse’ instead!”
“If it was a rabbit you’d have real ‘HARE’ issues!”
“They wanted a bird’s eye view of our simchas!”
“This may be the ‘NEST’ year of your life!”
“Well, if they were LOVE BIRDS NESTING, then you could be arrested for promoting pornography!”
“I can be your partner in producing a new fur hat labeled the WILDLIFE SHTREIMAL!”
“A bird in the hat is worth two in the burning bush!”
“How miraculous! Nest gadol haya po!”
“May I suggest, in the future, you don’t hum ‘The Little Bird is Calling’ while outdoors?”
“I could put a beehive in my hat, then we could lecture marriage couples about the BIRDS & BEES!”
“When it comes to BIRD WATCHERS, the sky is the limit!”
“Speaking as a friend and a Career Orinthologist, I believe this situation is over your head?”
“At least they’re not Game Birds!”
“They call us right-wing, but the birds remind us that it takes both wings to fly!”
“Of course they say a bracha before eating — these are ‘birds of pray’!”
“I’ve heard of putting a feather in your hat, but never putting birds in your hat!”
“In boxing, you could be listed as a FEATHERWEIGHT!”
I know you shooed away the mother birds before taking her chicks, as commanded, but what does the Torah say if the mother comes back?
“A little birdie with a yellow bill, sat upon my window sill. When I forgot to feed it crumbs, or bits of bread, the ungrateful ‘Little Squatter’ pecked me on the head!”
“At least the parents aren’t parrots cussing you out for your ungrateful attitude!”
“Ask the bird if it wants a cracker? If the bird says ‘so now you think a cracker is enough to live on these days?’….you’ll know it’s Jewish!”
“Consider my request not to use pet nicknames like: LARRY BIRD, THUNDERBIRD, JAIL BIRD, or BIG BIRD!”
“I got it, I’ll invent ‘Shtreimel bird repellent’ and you can be my first customer. I’ll make tens of dollars!”
“Accumulate the fluffy feathers and have a tickle nose contest with your children.”
“Bird Flu is probably not as bad as the news outlets make it out to be!”
“Singing, ‘Birds of a Feather,’ by Billie Eilish. Will you join me?”
“Now that’s unorthodox!”
“Since Shtisel, everything flocks to more traditional Judaism!”
“Whirling a bird over our heads before Yom Kippur inspired this!”
“Well, I don’t think I can take you duck hunting any time soon!”
“Do you see them as ‘Birds of Pray’ or ‘Birds of Prey’?”
“These days, all are flocking to Shtisel!”
“I tried to tell you, …. bagels with tiny seeds are nothing but trouble!”
“You have ‘A Cute Avian Magnetism’.”
“You can’t stop birds of sorrow from flying overhead, but you should be able to keep them from nesting on your head!”
“This is another fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into!”
“How do you keep the nest from flooding when it rains? Is it GEFILTERED?”
“I apologize and I will no longer call you ‘Egghead’. Now that the nestlings have appeared ‘Birdbrain’ fits you much better!”
“Do you look a bit silly you ask? Should I get you a mirror?”
“For the first time in my adult life I can’t think of a question to answer your question with!”
https://larrylesser1.bandcamp.com/track/why-do-you-ask
“You can list them as ‘Deducts’ and get a huge tax refund!”
“So, you thought HUMAN HEAD LICE was a serious problem. Now you have BIRD LICE on you also!”
Remember, you have to wait for the mother to fly away before you remove the little ones
“Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near…”
“The invitation to you doesn’t include a plus one to plus three.”
“Dos is a strommel,nicht a birds nest.”
Nest Gadol Haya Sham
that caption was entered a week earlier
My kids got me a Twitter account.
Herschel, please be reasonable, we agreed we would share custody.
“Your shtreimel makes both a statement and a question.”
“If these birds BUG you, then I will use insecticide on them!”
“I said let’s look forward to the farbrengen words, not for bringin’ birds!”
“Is that really a hat or are you cooking bird’s nest soup?”
“Did you know that birds after mating exercise FLEE-DONE to find food?”
“The same thing happened to my Nephew from Wisconson except it was five mice in a cheese hat!”
“Just be glad the ‘Bird of Paradise’ didn’t fly up your nose!”
“Birds see colors as they are tetrachromatic. So don’t be BLUE, because they see blue also!”
“On the other hand,the hiring committee may just think your nuts.”
“I’m not sure if they are doves of peace or doves of inconvenience.”
“I’ll flip a coin; heads they stay, tails you don’t remove them.”
“‘Easy come and easy go!’ Except when it comes to birds arriving & leaving the hat nest!”
“Furthermore,worms are not kosher.”
“Where is your Wisconsin cheese hat with mice inside?”
“Have you considered a ‘Ten Gallon Western Hat’ with ‘White Swans’. “
“This is way better that a ‘Belfry with Bats’!”
“I admit it, being a ‘Freeze Model’ might not be as much fun as I told you it would be!”
“You are not a BEAST of BURDEN, but you still may qualify as a JACKASS for your troubles!”
“What’s the shtik, Feygl on the Roof?”
“Not what I meant that wearing these ‘is for the birds’.”
“This doesn’t make up for you and Ruth being ’empty nesters’.”
I call them Bob Marley’s 3 little birds. yes, I found them on my door step.
“Don’t worry, they are not Immigrants they are Migrants”
“Shmuel, your shtreimel shows it to be shpring.”
“It is good that you are ‘BIG HEADED’ for the sake of the birds!”
“Do I hear birds chirping or is it your pacemaker low battery warning!”
“Is that a PEEP-PEEP sound, or a PEE-PEE sound?”
“It’s a tikkun! After being chased by foxes, birds finally feel safe around fox fur!”
“Are you the Saba?”
“We would like you to deliver the speech to the rest of the meshuganas.”
“My philosophy, don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes/wearing a bird hat!”
“I thought your wife said, ‘You’ve been in Berat’ not, ‘You’re into Bird Hats’!”
“When you said you would tweet me,I was expecting something different.”
“Natural Selection favors the development of the bird species. Now steady yourself and look important!”
“Where can I get some feygl for MY shtreimel, Feivel?”
“Humane, yes, but it doesn’t count as a mitzvah.”
“We never use the hat check but if we do we leave a tip.”
Oh, I see you have some shacharit buddies.
Oh good, we only need four more for the minyan.
“I thought you said ‘You like Berat’…. not ‘You like bird hats’!”
“You are loved, at least from the neck upwards!”
“Do you sometimes see stars and birds flying around your head?”
“Are these ‘BIRDS’ here now?”
“You have 4 BLOOD TYPES; birds have at least 30 BLOOD TYPES. ‘Suck it up,’ Count Dracula!”
Chasida birds of a feather flock together! (Parshat Shmini)
“I long for the days when the only bills I saw were on little birdies.”
“You have to pay a penalty for zoning violations for an unauthorized bird shrine!”
“You should count you’re blessings…. it could be beavers putting logs on your head!”
“I’ve heard of ‘bats in the belfry’, but…”
It’s the latest foodie trend -“straymel to table.”
“I’ve heard of “bats in the belfry”, but this really is over the straymel.”
“I think a small drone would provide more enjoyment with a lot less cleaning?”
I’ll retire when I’ve built up my nest egg.
So that’s one of those eco-friendly shtriemels that are all the rage.
“Just don’t BLOW YOUR TOP and make your little birds go flying!”