What in the World is a Buddhist Jew?

This July, my immediate family took a well-deserved vacation. The year 2008 personally has been a tough one as I watched my family suffer through the devastating death of a loved one at the age of 42. This trip to San Francisco was a time when we could all come together and laugh ... even through the tears.

Of course, while in the City on the Bay, we visited Chinatown. The shops and the sights were amazing. My sister noticed that I was looking at the various Buddha statues you could find all over the district. At the end of the trip, she bought me a Buddha as a joke and then asked me why I was so interested. She found it hard to believe, and you might as well, that the Buddha intrigued me because so many Jewish people are turning to Buddhism as an alternative to traditional Judaism. Are you surprised? She was and still is!

However, Buddhist Jews are not a new but are a growing phenomenon in worldwide Judaism. As the tenets of traditional Judaism have failed to touch their heart and soul, Jewish people have turned to anything to fill the vacuum in their heart. For you see, and this might surprise you as well, Reform and Conservative Judaism believes that while you cannot be a Jewish believer in Jesus that it is perfectly okay to be a Jewish Buddhist.

So just what is it about Buddhism that attracts so many Jewish people to its teachings? First, Buddhism denies the existence of a real or separate God apart from humanity. Within Buddhism, secular Jews essentially "can have their cake and eat it too". They can embrace a belief system that is agnosticism at best and atheism at worst. However by being a Buddhist, these Jewish people can have a semblance of religion without any spiritual demands that will change their everyday lives. They want something to believe in but not anything that requires an eternal change in their lives. As written earlier, Buddhist Jews are "eating cake" without realizing that these calories have spiritual and eternal consequences.

Second, Buddhism provides the Jewish people, who have experienced suffering on an unimaginable scale, a way to avoid dealing with the pain. Buddhism teaches that if we end our need for personal desires we can find an answer to the question of suffering. Again, Buddhism seeks to provide a shortcut solution to real spiritual issues that some would rather avoid.
By now you still might be asking yourself - are there really Jewish people who follow the tenets of Buddhism? Consider for just a moment the fact that a Jewish person who follows Buddhism can purchase a Buddhist-focused Passover Haggadah at http://www.modernhaggadah.com/haggadahs.html. Perhaps you might be interested to know that some of the Jewish actors in Hollywood are also Buddhist?

What can be done to reach Jewish people who are turning to Buddhism instead of Jesus with the Gospel message? First, we must recognize that to receive Jesus as Messiah would require them to face the questions of life they want to avoid. Second, approach a Jewish advocate of Buddhism as you would any Jewish person - with the truth of Messiah Jesus (i.e., No Sugarcoating!). Third, share with your Jewish friends the truth that God is knowable and approachable. God the Father is not Buddha. He wants to be sought out. In fact, He is waiting for His Chosen Ones to come to Him. Will you help them to find Him? Shalom. God bless.