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In Torah and Dharma: Jewish Seekers in Eastern Religions, psychologist Dr. Judith Linzer explores the phenomenon of Jews seeking spiritual fulfillment in Eastern religions, particularly Buddhism. Written with the intention of encouraging unity and understanding amongst all Jews, Torah and Dharma will allow those who are not seeking meaning outside of traditional Judaism to better understand those who are, and it will provide comfort and inspiration to those embarking on a spiritual quest of their own.
Written with deep knowledge of Indian religions (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism) and of Judaism, as both textual traditions and lived practices, and with an understanding of his American audience, The Way of Torah and the Path of Dharma provides an essential introduction to the world’s leading non-Abrahamic religions. It serves as well as a model of bridging the world of religious scholarship with the world of ordinary religious practitioners. When Rabbi Polish embarked on the study of Indian religion at the beginning of his career, India was exotic, and Christianity was at the center of the American Jewish interfaith experience. Now, between globalization on the one hand, and a generation of Indian immigrants coming of age, Indian religion is of growing interest and concern. Rabbi Polish moves the discussion beyond the ways that practices such as Yoga and meditation have been westernized and commoditized, and points to what Jews share with a billion religious practitioners in the U.S. and beyond. In The Way of Torah and the Path of Dharma, Rabbi Daniel Polish takes Jewish readers on a tour of Indian religious practices and beliefs. He shows commonalities and differences and then, challengingly, asks us how what Jews learn about Indian religion might affect how they think about their Judaism and what followers of Eastern religious traditions can learn from Judaism about their faith. Advance Praise “The book is a whirlwind religious tourist visit to the diversity of Indian religions: Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu led by an experienced congregational rabbi with much experience in interfaith dialogue and in teaching world religions. Polish seeks a deeper understanding of the Jewish tradition by discussing specific points of Indian religions in tandem with Judaism: the book of Ecclesiastes compared to the teachings of the Buddha; Chanukah and Purim compared to Diwali and Holi; and Jain reverence for life compared to Jewish law. He sets these parallels within discussions of religious evolution, mythology, and henotheism. Polish provides a pleasurable book to be read on the plane to India for those journeying to find their own points of intersection.” —Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill, author of Rabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish Hindu-Encounter and Judaism and World Religions About the Author Rabbi Daniel Polish has been a congregational rabbi for many years, most recently serving as spiritual leader of Congregation Shir Chadash of the Hudson River Valley in Lagrangeville, New York. Born in Ithaca, New York, he received his B.A. in Philosophy from Northwestern University, was ordained at Hebrew Union College, and earned his Ph.D. in History of Religion from Harvard University, writing his dissertation on “The Flood Myth in the Traditions of Israel and India.” Throughout the years he has been involved in interfaith dialogue at the highest levels on behalf of the Jewish community. He was part of a team of prominent scholars of religion that met with Muslim religious leaders throughout South Asia for the purpose of promoting interfaith understanding. He has served as chair of the International Jewish Commission for Interreligious Consultation (IJCIC), the official interlocutor of the Jewish community with the Vatican and other international religious bodies. Rabbi Polish is the author of several previous books: Bringing the Psalms to Life, Keeping Faith with the Psalms, and Talking About God: Exploring the Meaning of Religious Life with Kierkegaard, Buber, Tillich and Heschel. He serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Reform Judaism and of Current Dialogue, published by the World Council of Churches.
In recent decades there has been a rising interest among scholars of Hinduism and Judaism in engaging in the comparative studies of these ancient traditions. Academic interests have also been inspired by the rise of interreligious dialogue by the respective religious leaders. Dharma and Halacha: Comparative Studies in Hindu-Jewish Philosophy and Religion represents a significant contribution to this emerging field, offering an examination of a wide range of topics and a rich diversity of perspectives and methodologies within each tradition, and underscoring significant affinities in textual practices, ritual purity, sacrifice, ethics and theology. Dharma refers to a Hindu term indicating law, duty, religion, morality, justice and order, and the collective body of Dharma is called Dharma-shastra. Halacha is the Hebrew term designating the Jewish spiritual path, comprising the collective body of Jewish religious laws, ethics and rituals. Although there are strong parallels between Hinduism and Judaism in topics such as textual practices and mystical experience, the link between these two religious systems, i.e. Dharma and Halacha, is especially compelling and provides a framework for the comparative study of these two traditions. The book begins with an introduction to Hindu-Jewish comparative studies and recent interreligious encounters. Part I of the book titled “Ritual and Sacrifice,” encompasses the themes of sacrifice, holiness, and worship. Part II titled "Ethics," is devoted to comparing ethical systems in both traditions, highlighting the manifold ways in which the sacred is embodied in the mundane. Part III of the book titled "Theology," addresses common themes and phenomena in spiritual leadership, as well as textual metaphors for mystical and visionary experiences in Hinduism and Judaism. The epilogue offers a retrospective on Hindu-Jewish encounters, mapping historic as well as contemporary academic initiatives and collaborations.
For Jews, Zen students, "JuBus," and other open-minded seekers--a guide to authentic Jewish and Zen practice and how they illuminate, challenge, and enrich each other. Books like the Jew in the Lotus have helped to define the intersection of Jewish and Zen experience and custom. Now, in the first guide to the practice of both Judaism and Zen, Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, a long-time practitioner and student of both, shares her insights with over one million people who identify as "JuBus," as well as Jews, Zen students, non-Jews, and everyone in the interfaith community who seeks understanding, meaning, and a life grounded in these authentic faiths. Each chapter of Jewish Dharma focuses on common issues that introduce disorder to our lives, using personal narrative, parables, quotations from both Jewish and Zen scriptures, anecdotes, and exercises. Specific guidelines and exercises help readers integrate both practices into their everyday lives--and thereby gain deeper understanding and happiness. A long term Zen student and practicing Jew (who cannot let go of either), Dr. Shoshanna explores the ways in which Zen and Judaism practice illuminate and enrich one another. Zen deepens Jewish experience and Jewish practice provides the warmth and relationships that can get lost in the Zen. Zen is based on radical freedom, individuality, being in the present and nonattachment. Judaism comes rooted in relationships, family, love, prayer to a Higher power and the instruction to always remember. A Jewish heart is warm, giving, human, and devoted to family and friends. A Zen eye is fresh, direct, spontaneous and planted in the present moment. Together they are like two wings of a bird, both are needed to be able to fly. The book includes stories, discussion, information and wonderful exercises. It has been highly endorsed by Rabbis, Zen teachers, and others. "I couldn't put it dwn. ...Dr Brenda Shoshanna guides us into the heart of Jewish and Zen practice which enrich one another in ways that enhance....A must read for anyone who wishes to explore Zen meditatin and Jewish life." --Rabbi Marcia Prager, author The Path of Blessng "Brenda Shoshanna's book tells a story of a woman's coming to terms with the deepest part of each tradition - she is creating a unique path. I highly recommend this book to anyone." --Rodger Kamenetz, author The Jew in The Lotus "Dr Shoshanna's vision embrances both traditions with fidelity and beauty." --Robert Kennedy, S.J. Roshi, author Zen Gifts for Christians "Her good heart and wisdom mind shine through in this delightful, interesting, psychologically astute and practical book. Anyone intersted in finding deeper understanding and meaningful puprose in life will be rewarded by reading any one of the pages." --Lama Surya Das, author Awakening the Buddha Within
This book stands at the crossroads between Jerusalem and Benares and opens a long awaited conversation between two ancient religious traditions. It represents the first serious attempt by a group of eminent scholars of Judaic and Indian studies to take seriously the cross-cultural resonances among the Judaic and Hindu traditions. The essays in the first part of the volume explore the historical connections and influences between the two traditions, including evidence of borrowed elements and the adaptation of Jewish Indian communities to Hindu culture. The essays in the second part focus primarily on resonances between particular conceptual complexes and practices in the two traditions, including comparative analyses of representations of Veda and Torah, legal formulations of dharma and halakhah, and conceptions of union with the Divine in Hindu Tantra and Kabbalah.
Written with deep knowledge of Indian religions (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism) and of Judaism, as both textual traditions and lived practices, and with an understanding of his American audience, The Way of Torah and the Path of Dharma provides an essential introduction to the world's leading non-Abrahamic religions. It serves as well as a model of bridging the world of religious scholarship with the world of ordinary religious practitioners. When Rabbi Polish embarked on the study of Indian religion at the beginning of his career, India was exotic, and Christianity was at the center of the American Jewish interfaith experience. Now, between globalization on the one hand, and a generation of Indian immigrants coming of age, Indian religion is of growing interest and concern. Rabbi Polish moves the discussion beyond the ways that practices such as Yoga and meditation have been westernized and commoditized, and points to what Jews share with a billion religious practitioners in the U.S. and beyond. In The Way of Torah and the Path of Dharma, Rabbi Daniel Polish takes Jewish readers on a tour of Indian religious practices and beliefs. He shows commonalities and differences and then, challengingly, asks us how what Jews learn about Indian religion might affect how they think about their Judaism and what followers of Eastern religious traditions can learn from Judaism about their faith.
While accompanying eight high–spirited Jewish delegates to Dharamsala, India, for a historic Buddhist–Jewish dialogue with the Dalai Lama, poet Rodger Kamenetz comes to understand the convergence of Buddhist and Jewish thought. Along the way he encounters Ram Dass and Richard Gere, and dialogues with leading rabbis and Jewish thinkers, including Zalman Schacter, Yitz and Blue Greenberg, and a host of religious and disaffected Jews and Jewish Buddhists. This amazing journey through Tibetan Buddhism and Judaism leads Kamenetz to a renewed appreciation of his living Jewish roots.
This exploration of the radical, yet ancient, idea that everything and everyone is God will transform how you understand your life and the nature of religion itself. While God is conventionally viewed as an entity separate from us, there are some Jews—Kabbalists, Hasidim, and their modern-day heirs—who assert that God is not separate from us at all. In this nondual view, everyone and everything manifests God. For centuries a closely guarded secret of Kabbalah, nondual Judaism is a radical reorientation of religious life that is increasingly influencing mainstream Judaism today. Writer and scholar Jay Michaelson presents a wide-ranging and compelling explanation of nondual Judaism: what it is, its traditional and contemporary sources, its historical roots and philosophical significance, how it compares to nondual Buddhism and Hinduism, and how it is lived in practice. He explains what this mystical nondual view means in our daily ego-centered lives, for our communities, and for the future of Judaism.
While all have reason to celebrate the greening of Christian-Jewish relations since the Shoah and the promulgation of Nostra Aetate (4), few will deny that much work remains to be done by Christians and Jews seeking the best way forward that they might best serve God's purposes in the world, the mission of God. This book addresses that need by first surveying how each community has historically conceived of its own mission and from that stance assigned an identity to the other. The text illuminates how such construals have often impeded progress and therefore need to be upgraded and supplemented. But how shall this be done? Converging Destinies proposes an eschatological vision and practical suggestions to summon Jews and Christians to prepare for that day when each will be both commended and reproved by the judge of all, sounding a call for more determined action, greater humility, and cooperative effort as together Jews and Christians serve the mission of God, accountable to him for how they have served him and each other in the world that he has created according to his will.
A glimpse into the diverse stories of Black Jews in the United States What makes a Jew? This book traces the history of Jews of African descent in America and the counter-narratives they have put forward as they stake their claims to Jewishness. The Soul of Judaism offers the first exploration of the full diversity of Black Jews, including bi-racial Jews of both matrilineal and patrilineal descent; adoptees; black converts to Judaism; and Black Hebrews and Israelites, who trace their Jewish roots to Africa and challenge the dominant western paradigm of Jews as white and of European descent. Blending historical analysis and oral history, Haynes showcases the lives of Black Jews within the Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstruction and Reform movements, as well as the religious approaches that push the boundaries of the common forms of Judaism we know today. He illuminates how in the quest to claim whiteness, American Jews of European descent gained the freedom to express their identity fluidly while African Americans have continued to be seen as a fixed racial group. This book demonstrates that racial ascription has been shaping Jewish selfhood for centuries. Pushing us to reassess the boundaries between race and ethnicity, it offers insight into how Black Jewish individuals strive to assert their dual identities and find acceptance within their respective communities. Putting to rest the simplistic notion that Jews are white and that Black Jews are therefore a contradiction, the volume argues that we can no longer pigeonhole Black Hebrews and Israelites as exotic, militant, and nationalistic sects outside the boundaries of mainstream Jewish thought and community life. The volume spurs us to consider the significance of the growing population of self-identified Black Jews and its implications for the future of American Jewry.