Is Judaism Boring?

Dr. Erica Brown in her recent opinion piece in The Jewish Week addresses the question of boredom and Judaism. Why do so many people find services boring? Shabbat meals boring? Torah study boring? Is there something inherent to the services, the meals, the study, the social action, etc that is boring or is it something else?

She writes in one of the most telling quotes from the article:

One of the reasons we fail to look within is that we blame others for our boredom. If a child is bored, it’s a parent’s fault. If school is dull, it must be the teacher. If shul is tedious, it’s probably the rabbi. The poet Dylan Thomas once said, “Something is boring me. I think it’s me.” When boredom strikes, it may be time to look in the mirror.

The first time I seriously thought about boredom was in a class with Eitzah: Center for Congregational Leadership. One of the directors of Eitzah, Dr. Bill Kahn, challenged us to seriously think about why we get bored. He pushed us to stop blaming the environment, the program, whatever but to rather look at ourselves. Dr. Kahn argued that boredom often times is a defense mechanism to protect us against whatever we are engaged with.

Ever since that class I have tried to assess the moments I get bored. Sometimes I get bored of assessing why I am bored but there are times when it leads me down a path of real reflection and introspection.

I wonder what a larger conversation with members of a synagogue or a Jewish organization would look like around boredom. Instead of ignoring the bored expressions of members, what would it be like to direct that boredom head on?

In any case, I highly recommend reading the whole piece by Dr. Brown. It is well written and quite thought provoking.