The Jew in the Lotus: Judaism, Buddhism and the Spiritual Imagination

During the historic Jewish-Buddhist dialogue recounted in his international best-seller, The Jew in the Lotus, Rodger Kamenetz heard two question the Dalai Lama asked the Jewish delegates. How did Jews survive spiritually during two thousand years of exile? And what practices do Jews have for overcoming afflictive states of mind?

This second question is where Kamenetz’s latest book, Seeing into the Life of Things begins. We are suffering from a sustained attack on our attention. We spend too many hours in a reactive state of high anxiety or outrage in reaction to political provocations, and social media. As a result we suffer from what William Wordsworth called "imparied imagination"-- our imaginative capacity is injured and without imagination we cannot experience the sacred.

Exploring both questions, Kamenetz will share answers he’s found through daily Jewish practices that encourage slowing down to contemplate the blessings in our everyday lives. The talk will follow with a Q&A moderated by Rabbi Danny Newman of HaMakom and a book signing.