Jewish Buddhist

A Jewish Buddhist is a person of Jewish ethnicity who practices a form of Buddhism, with or without simultaneously observing Judaism. ^[1]

Some practice forms of Dhyana Buddhist meditation, chanting, or spirituality. ^[2] An individual may identify with both Judaism and Buddhism in terms of their religious practices. In many instances, the person may be ethnically designated as Jewish while practicing Buddhism as their primary religion. Rodger Kamenetz introduced the term JewBu or JUBU in his 1994 book The Jew in the Lotus . ^{[3] [4] [5]} Similarly, many will use the terms BuJews or even BuddJews to refer to themselves. ^[6]

Demographics

In her 2019 book on the subject entitled American JewBu, Emily Sigalow surveys the demography of American Buddhism, estimating ethnically Jewish Buddhists comprise between 16.5% and one-third of all non-Asian American Buddhists. ^[7]

Origins

Further information: Buddhism in the United States

At the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions, a Jewish man named Charles Strauss declared himself a Buddhist following talks delivered by Buddhist delegates Soyen Shaku and Anagarika Dharmapala. ^{[8] [9]}

In the late 1960s, following the rise of Zen within the Beat Generation, many Jews began to explore Buddhism. Key figures included Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat, a Zen Buddhist; Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon Salzberg—founders of the Theravada-based Insight Meditation Society; and Sylvia Boorstein, who teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. They primarily practice Vipassana meditation as taught Thai teachers. ^{[10] [11] [12]} Another generation of Jewish Buddhist teachers emerged in the early 2000s, including author Taro Gold, expounding Japanese traditions such as Nichiren Buddhism. ^[13]

Notable people

• Alfred Bloom ^[14]
• Bhikkhu Bodhi ^[15]
• Sylvia Boorstein ^[16]
• Tara Brach ^{[ citation needed ]}
• Thubten Chodron ^[17]
• Leonard Cohen ^{[18] [19]}
• Surya Das ^[20]
• Robert Downey Jr. ^[21]
• Mark Epstein ^[22]
• Anthony Ervin ^[23]
• Zoketsu Norman Fischer ^[24]
• Allen Ginsberg ^[25]
• Philip Glass ^[26]
• Tetsugen Bernard Glassman ^[27]
• Craig Taro Gold ^[28]
• Natalie Goldberg ^[29]
• Yuval Noah Harari ^[30]
• Joseph Goldstein ^[31]
• Shinge Roshi Cherry Chayat ^[32]
• Julius Goldwater ^[33]
• Daniel Goleman ^[34]
• Dan Harris ^[35]
• Goldie Hawn ^[36]
• Jon Kabat-Zinn ^[37]
• Ayya Khema ^[38]
• Jack Kornfield ^[39]
• Jay Michaelson ^[40]
• Ethan Nichtern ^[41]
• Mandy Patinkin ^[42]
• Jeremy Piven ^[43]
• Linda Pritzker ^[44]
• Nick Ribush ^[45]
• Jonathan F.P. Rose ^[46]
• Larry Rosenberg ^[47]
• Sharon Salzberg ^[48]
• Morrie Schwartz ^[49]
• Nyanaponika Thera ^[50]
• Helen Tworkov ^[51]
• Adam Yauch ^[52]
• Shinzen Young ^[53]

See also

• Buddhism in Israel
• List of American Buddhists
• Jews and Buddhism
• List of converts to Buddhism
• Buddhism and Judaism

References

1. "What is an American JewBu?". The Jerusalem Post. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
2. Amran, Mia (15 August 2023). "When Judaism and Buddhism Meet". The Librarians. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
3. Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (2010). "Jewish Buddhists". Judaism Today. London; New York: Continuum. pp. 98–100. ISBN   978-0-8264-3829-4.
4. Frankel, Ellen (January 24, 2013). "5 Reasons Jews Gravitate Toward Buddhism". HuffPost . Retrieved 2019-08-19.
5. Shupac, Jodie (August 23, 2017). "The Jubu in the Lotus: Why do so many Jews become Buddhist?". Canadian Jewish News . Retrieved 2019-08-19.
6. Sigalow, Emily (27 May 2020). "Emily Sigalow on American JewBu". Princeton University Press. Princeton University Press. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
7. Sigalow, Emily (2019). American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change. Princeton ; Oxford: Princeton University Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-691-17459-4.
8. Kamenetz, Rodger (2007-08-21). The Jew in the Lotus. New York: HarperOne. ISBN   978-0-06-136739-7.
9. "At the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions". Pluralism.com. The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
10. Joseph Goldstein
11. Silvia Boorstein
12. Teachers at Spirit Rock
13. Books by Taro Gold
14. "About Dr. Bloom". Shin Dharma Net. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
15. "An Interview with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi". Urban Dharma. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
16. Fleet, Josh (September 28, 2011). "Is The Jew Still In The Lotus?". Huffington Post . Retrieved November 2, 2018.
17. "Daikini Power" . Retrieved September 11, 2015.
18. Rohter, Larry (February 25, 2009). "On the Road, for Reasons Practical and Spiritual". The New York Times . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
19. Wolfson, Elliot R. (2006). "New Jerusalem Glowing: Songs and Poems of Leonard Cohen in a Kabbalistic Key". Kabbalah: A Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts (15): 103–152.
20. Das, Surya (1998). Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World . Broadway. pp.  40. ISBN   0-7679-0157-6.
21. De Vries, Hilary (November 21, 2004). "Robert Downey Jr.: The Album". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
22. "You Can't Fail at Meditation". Lion's Roar. April 12, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
23. "Swimming Heroes From the past" (PDF). Splash Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
24. Loundon, Sumi (2006). The Buddha's Apprentices: More Voices of Young Buddhists. Boston: Wisdom Publications. pp. 125–130. ISBN   086171332X.
25. Ginsberg, Allen (April 3, 2015). "The Vomit of a Mad Tyger". Lion's Roar . Retrieved September 11, 2015.
26. Gordinier, Jeff (March 2008), "Wiseguy: Philip Glass Uncut", Details , archived from the original on August 9, 2014, retrieved November 10, 2008
27. Christopher S. Queen. "Buddhism, activism, and Unknowing: a day with Bernie Glassman (interview with Zen Peacemaker Order founder)". Tikkun. 13 (1): 64–66. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
28. Taro Gold Biography
29. "Natalie Goldberg & Beate Stolte: A Jew in Germany". Upaya Institute and Zen Center. June 28, 2010. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
30. Adams, Tim; @TimAdamsWrites (2016-08-27). "Yuval Noah Harari: 'We are quickly acquiring powers that were always thought to be divine'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-04-04.
31. "Multiple Religious Identities: The Experiences of Four Jewish Buddhist Teachers" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
32. "Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Interview" (PDF). Retrieved March 1, 2012.
33. Prothero, Stephen (Winter 1997). "Julius Goldwater: The Good Shepherd". Tricycle. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
34. "Will Mindfulness Change the World? Daniel Goleman Isn't Sure". Religion Dispatches. November 15, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
35. Harris, Dan (2014). 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, And Found Self-Help That Actually Works-A True Story. pp. 85–96.
36. "Interview With Goldie Hawn". CNN . Retrieved May 6, 2010.
37. Booth, Robert (October 22, 2017). "Master of mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn: 'People are losing their minds. That is what we need to wake up to'". The Guardian . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
38. Wheeler, Kate Lila (1999). "I Give You My Life". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
39. "How Jack Kornfield Went From Ivy League Grad To Buddhist Monk (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post . December 18, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
40. "Jay Michaelson". New York Insight. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
41. Nichtern, Ethan (June 1, 2018). "Ep. 1 - Introducing the Road Home Podcast with Ethan Nichtern" . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
42. Paskin, Willa (September 9, 2012). "Mandy Patinkin on Season Two of 'Homeland'". New York Magazine. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
43. "Jeremy's journey". Star-ecentral.com. 2006-10-17. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
44. Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Linda Pritzker July 2018
45. [https://www.lamayeshe.com/directors-page/ Director, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: Nick Ribush
46. IN PERSON; Developer With Eye To Profits For Society" By TINA KELLEY April 11, 2004
47. "The Art of Doing Nothing: Amy Gross interviews Larry Rosenberg". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Spring 1998. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
48. "Yid Lit: Sharon Salzberg". The Forward. February 24, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
49. Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. Random House.
50. "Buddhism and Judaism: Exploring the phenomenon of the JuBu". Thubten Chodron. March 19, 2010. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
51. "The Jewish-Buddhist Encounter". MyJewishLearning. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
52. "Buddhism In America". Time. October 13, 1997. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008.
53. "The Point of Contact". Shinzen Young. Fall 2005. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2015.

Further reading

• Kamenetz, Rodger (1995), The Jew in the Lotus , [San Francisco, Calif.]: HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN   978-0060645748
• Bader, David M. (2002), Zen Judaism: For You a Little Enlightenment , Harmony, ISBN   978-0609610213
• Tatz, Akiva (2005), Letters to a Buddhist Jew, Targum Press, ISBN   978-1568713564
• Boorstein, Sylvia (1998), That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist , HarperOne, ISBN   978-0060609580
• Drescher, Frank (2017), Jewish Converts to Buddhism and the Phenomenon of "Jewish Buddhists" ("JuBus") in the United States, Germany and Israel, Grin Publishing, ISBN   9783668514034
• Lew, Alan (2005), Be Still and Get Going: A Jewish Meditation Practice for Real Life, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN   978-0316739108
• Musch, Sebastian. Jewish Encounters with Buddhism in German Culture. Between Moses and Buddha(1890-1940). Palgrave 2019. ISBN   978-3-030-27468-9.

External links

• The “Oy Vey” School of Buddhism
• AFC News Source – Jews by birth who practice Buddhism
• Story of a Jewish Buddhist
• You don't look Buddhist
• A frank encounter between religious Jews and Tibetan Buddhists
• Excerpt from Letters to a Buddhist Jew by Akiva Tatz