by David Polish (Author)
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.