Avi Hoffman and Gordon McConnell star in 'Two Jews Walk Into A War...' at Florida Stage.

Well, it does sound like the set-up for a joke. Playwright Seth Rozin, inspired by a news article, has found humor in the fact that there are only two Jews left in Kabul, Afghanistan, and they hate each other.

But if that were all there was to the story, it would probably make an amusing Saturday Night Live sketch. In Two Jews Walk into a War . . ., now having its world premiere to open Florida Stage’s 23rd season, Rozin explores the comic, begrudging way that Zeblyan and Ishaq work together to preserve their religion.

That’s the easy part. What makes the evening so satisfying is that between the considerable laughter is a tale of renewal of faith.

Sure, there is a natural comic edge to the plight of fervently religious Ishaq (Gordon McConnell) and confirmed skeptic Zeblyan (Avi Hoffman), Mutt and Jeff opposites trapped in war-torn Kabul yet fixated on their animosity for each other. Highly competitive, these desert Sunshine Boys squabble over which of them was tortured worse by the Taliban and whose relatives had a more oppressed life.

By dubious reasoning, they figure that the only way they can keep Afghani Judaism alive is to write down the text of the Torah — the Jewish code of laws — which geeky Ishaq happens to have memorized, punctuation and all. So he recites and Zeblyan transcribes and, along the way, Zeb nitpicks God’s word choices and reasoning.

After all, why is there no mention of elephants in the list of which animals are deemed not kosher? And why is womankind lying down with womankind not expressly forbidden, as it is for men? Does God have a thing for lesbians?

So it goes, with Rozin poking fun of the loopholes and inconsistencies that every religion has. But as Zeblyan keeps questioning, an unexpected respect for the tenets of Judaism grows within him.

Louis Tyrrell stages the intermissionless evening like a vaudeville routine, with choreographed moves and counter-moves, frequent blackouts and occasional out-and-out fisticuffs. Still, the smartest thing he did was cast Hoffman and McConnell.

Hoffman, whose ethnic credentials lend the production instant authenticity, is very funny as the more dense of the duo, noting Torah head-scratchers with innocent curiosity. McConnell is Bud Abbott to Hoffman’s Lou Costello, with a perpetual scowl and a slow burn for his adversary’s stubborn relentlessness.

Scenic design Richard Crowell has some whimsical coups of his own, from the opening demonstration of how dilapidated Kabul’s only synagogue is to stray gunshots, rigged with dust cloud squibs, that land like comic rim shots.

Both timely and timeless, Two Jews Walk into a War . . . should hook its audience with guffaws, then give them something to think about while they are laughing.

R E V I E W
Two Jews Walk into a War …

B+

Where: Florida Stage, 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. Through Nov. 29.

Information: (561) 585-3433 or (800) 514-3837.