Times: Dalai Lama Misses On Judaism's Meditation of Compassion

We are of two minds regarding the Dalai Lama's op-ed about compassion in the world's religions in the Times. On the one hand, we have been working in a chapter of our new book on the premise that the birkat hamazon - the grace after eating - is the quintessential Jewish meditation of compassion, with certain caveats about the universality of that prayer.

On the other hand we were unimpressed by the superficiality of the Dalai Lama's description of the importance of shared compassion the faiths of the world.

Here is the Judaism reference from the Dalai Lama's essay, following upon his appearance this week at Radio City.

Take Judaism, for instance. I first visited a synagogue in Cochin, India, in 1965, and have met with many rabbis over the years. I remember vividly the rabbi in the Netherlands who told me about the Holocaust with such intensity that we were both in tears. And I’ve learned how the Talmud and the Bible repeat the theme of compassion, as in the passage in Leviticus that admonishes, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Not a very deep or profound insight, but well-meaning and he does mention the Holocaust.