You have no excuse to be Bored In Shul!

You no longer have an excuse to be bored at shul!


On Sunday night, February 21, Dr. Erica Brown of the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning gave an enlightening and entertaining talk to an overflow audience in the chapel based on her book Spiritual Boredom: Rediscovering the Wonder of Judaism. She was speaking as part of the special Sunday Night Lecture Series being held as part of the celebration of Rabbi Fishman’s 25th anniversary with Ohr Kodesh.

She skillfully engaged the audience in an interactive session, with individuals suggesting and identifying what they felt to be boring about prayer and services at Ohr Kodesh and in their own personal practices. Participants mentioned, among other things, the lack of relevance of Shabbat morning prayers and uninspiring English translations of these such prayers.

Among the many sources--e.g. philosophical, psychological, sociological, historical--she relied upon in her talk, Dr. Brown highlighted a 2,000 year old excerpt from the Mishnah which mentioned boredom in the context of the ketuba (marriage contract) requirements. The Sages of the Mishna counseled against a man promising his wife that she would have no responsibilities in life (and a woman from accepting such a promise-- better she should get an immediate divorce!) because such a boring or purposeless life is not acceptable.

And how does one avoid a boring life, or for that matter, a boring spiritual practice? Dr. Brown simply suggests the answer is to find something new within our lives and within our prayers. It is, she counsels, each individual's responsibility to find something new when we attend Shabbat morning services or engage in any of our Jewish rituals. By doing so we will regularly re-engage in that practice and find greater satisfaction and wonder in Judaism.

Following her talk, Dr. Brown remained on hand to sign copies of her book and to take additional questions.

Those interested in hearing more from Erica Brown should certain attend the Partnership’s “Routes” program on Sunday, March 7. In addition to Erica Brown, some other notable speakers include:

• Aryeh Ben David on loving difficult people;

• Steve Greenberg on being an Orthodox gay rabbi;

• Tamar Ross on the concept of God;

• Erica Brown on sex and politics

• Andy Polin on Jews and sports

The program will be held at the Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Place NW Washington, DC) located right by the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center Metro, which is on the Yellow and Green lines. Take advantage of pre-registration prices! $18 in advance/$25 at the door. Go to http://www.pjll.org/ to register or call 240-283-6200.

A Taste of Beit Shemesh

Last night’s Israel program, “A Taste of Beit Shemesh,” was a huge success; we had approx. 150 attendees who sampled the SUPERB dishes prepared by our visiting guests from Beit Shemesh, the Greater DC area’s Partnership 2000 sister city in Israel. The food was delicious, the background stories helped to provide affirmation of the incredible ethnic diversity of Israel and the evening was enjoyed by all.

Many thanks to the hard work of many volunteers who organized, purchased food, helped with kitchen prep and/or cleanup, etc: Mickey & Mordy Feinberg, Ellen Elow-Mintz, David Moses, Jan Feldman, David Friedman, Barbara Gerber, Rosalind Goldfarb Levitt, Martin & Donna Goldman, Sarah Hyams, Sherry & Ron Kabran, Sarah Kagan, Helene Kahan, Dora Klayman, Marilyn Polon, Jacqueline Rams, Marla Satinsky, Benson Silverman; Lisa Silverman. Special thanks also to Hannah Burke and to Farlee Wade-Farber for providing day-long oversight for the kitchen. (And my apologies if anyone’s efforts were overlooked!)

Kudos to the team from Beit Shemesh: Smadar Kaplinsky, who coordinated the effort from Israel, and each of the cooks:
· Ety Edlund (Egyptian)
· Rachel Hadar (Persian)
· Naomi Levy (Tunisian)
· Malka Nahmani (Moroccan)
· Leah Siboni (Kurdistan)
· Rachel Sopher (Cochin/Indian)

And thanks also to the staff at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Gilad Golani and Lisa Kleppel for bringing this wonderful opportunity to Ohr Kodesh.