The Jew in the Lotus is a best-selling book by Rodger Kamenetz

Rodger Kamenetz

Rodger Kamenetz is an American poet and author. He was born in Baltimore and educated at Yale, Stanford and Johns Hopkins University...

. It is an account of an historic dialogue between rabbis

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

, the first recorded major dialogue between experts in Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 and Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. The book was the first to introduce the expression "JUBU" for Jewish-Buddhist to a wide audience. The title is a pun on the Tibetan mantra, om mane padme hum, or "the jewel in the lotus."

First published in 1994 by Harper San Francisco, it is now on its 33rd reprint. ISBN 978-0-06-064574-8 In Fall 2007 the paperback was reissued in a PLUS edition that includes an afterword by the author bringing the story of the Jewish-Buddhist dialogue up to date.

The Jew in the Lotus was made into a PBS film which was first aired in 1999.