Torah and Dharma: Jewish Seekers in Eastern Religions

Rating:
Summary: Explores the Human Dimension, Wonderful!
Review: Judith Linzer has written a truly great and wide-ranging book, much more than the title might imply. Whereas the title "Torah and Dharma" might sound like you're in for a heady comparison of the philosophical concepts of Judaism and Buddhism, the real strength of the book lies in Linzer's unwillingness to separate these "concepts" from the human beings who believe them, live them, and struggle with them. She is wondefully sensitive to the fact that the "same" concept can mean very different things in the lived experience of two people.

It is difficult to summarize this book. It is dense, though it is not hard to read; it is simply packed with concise, beautifully articulated thoughts and quotes. A large part of the book was originally written as a thesis, and consists of excerpts from interviews with 20 Jews who explored, usually in a quite intense way, both Judaism and an Eastern religion. Some were raised with very little knowledge of Judaism, became Buddhists or TM practitioners for example, only latter feeling drawn to explore their roots in Judaism. Others were raised in Modern Orthodox or Chasidic homes and left, finding spiritual experiences in an Eastern path. Some have, at the time of the interview, "decided" upon one path, be it Judaism or, say, Sufism, and others are involved in combining practices. From this diverse selection of people, Linzer highlights certain themes that she saw repeated in the stories, and shares many personal quotes from the interviews. She allows people to speak for themselves. If you enjoy hearing people really share on a deep level about their spiritual lives, in a very sincere and non-fluffy way, this is a very enjoyable aspect of the book.

Yet the book is more than this. The beginning of the book contains a great description of "the spiritual search" with a lot of incredible quotes from Jung, Elie Wiesel, Hesse, and many others. Then there is a section on Jewish identity. I wish every American Jew could read this section. She discusses Jewish self-hatred and evasion of Jewish identity, again filled with amazing quotes, in such an articulate and deep way. She offers no easy answers, and understanding rather than judgment informs her tone.

The second half of the book explores in particular "Jewish-Buddhist encounter," but it is composed of many subsections, each of which highlight particular aspects of the issues involved. There is humor and humanness throughout, which is impressive considering the level of ideas and tensions she is discussing. Linzer herself explored Orthodoxy, however at the time of writing she saw herself as a "Jewish renewal" person, and some of the bias and particularities of that point of view come across, especially in the second half of the book. However, overall she remains very honest and objective, in the best sense - involved, passionate even, but wanted to really see what's there and not project it.

One criticism of the book is that there is a formality and sometimes dryness to some of it, which relfects its academic origins. At the same time, this is refreshing. There are lots of books by now on "new-age" Judaism and so on which discuss only the "fluffy clouds" happy mystical aspects, and are happy to say in the name of Judaism almost anything which will appeal to people. Linzer does not shy away from any aspect of the participants' experiences, and discusses specifically how pain and confusion were essential parts of their spiritual journey. There is much that is inspiring here, but what makes it particularly powerful is that it honestly emerged from listening deeply to people's actual stories, and is not imposed from without. She is concerned with substantiating her statements, so will sometimes bring a few quotes around one issue. The quotes are never just repetition; nonetheless, the casual reader who is not interested in subtlety and proof may find this aspect of the writing tiresome.

Again, overall, a really great book, and absolutely essential for anyone interested in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Title Only
Review: Well, I can only rate and comment on the concept, title, and contents, because I haven't read more than that. What I will say is that in their respective tongues, both Dharma and Torah mean about the same thing--law, truth. Now, a Sanskrit-speaking friend tells me that what we call "dharma" is pronounced by natives closer to "dharum." Add to that what I've been reading by one Gene Matlock about the spread of Indo-European languages, and I would lean towards believing that the words may have a common root. I am currently questioning whether the mystics who handed down Torah teachings and those who handed down Dharma teachings may well have originated from the same practice. Decide for yourself: learn the relevant languages, read Matlock (as well as his critics), and ask yourself the difficult question: "Does righteousness demand separateness?"

P.S. Perhaps ruminate on the arguments put forth in "Jesus Taught Yoga" and that author's other writings (use a search engine).