Michael:

Look at it this way: comedy is often defined as the tragedy of others. I found this story to be nothing short of hilarious based on that very premise. Sure, for the Neumanns it was awful, but for us, to have it reported by a real news agency, the article comes off as Onionesque. Part of the pleasure here for me is trying to imagine what would have happened at my particularly boring bar mitzvah if the janitor engaged in such shenanigans (my uncle Irving would have crushed his head).

As to your assessment that there's "too much flippancy here, too much dismissal, often in rude terms, of even the slightest critiques of articles, too much deliberate contrariness," it sounds like you've just described a Jewish online forum. Or the State of Israel.

And, I gotta say, comparing the Neumann Bar Mitzvah Disaster with the Holocaust is, um, kinda flippant.

Since you mentioned Guilt & Pleasure as a source for more serious fare, take a look at this article, www.guiltandpleasure.com/missjudea, which presents a tragic Jewish tale that is also humorous. Or at least I meant it to be. I don't mean to be self-serving here, but I apparently can't help myself.