Rodger Kamenetz
Encyclopedia
Baltimore
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and educated at Yale
YALE
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, Stanford and Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
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. He currently lives in New Orleans and is Professor Emeritus, retiring with a dual appointment as Professor of English and Professor of Religious Studies at LSU
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
where he was also an LSU Distinguished Professor and Erich and Lea Sternberg Honors Professor. He currently works privately with clients, using dreams in a process of spiritual direction.
He is best known as the author of The Jew in the Lotus
The Jew in the Lotus
The Jew in the Lotus is a best-selling book by Rodger Kamenetz. It is an account of an historic dialogue between rabbis and the Dalai Lama, the first recorded major dialogue between experts in Judaism and Buddhism. The book was the first to introduce the expression "JUBU" for Jewish-Buddhist to a...
(1994), an account of the historic dialogue between rabbi
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...
s 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"...
. A new "plus" edition released in 2007 includes an afterword, bringing the story of the dialogue up to date.
His "Stalking Elijah" (Harper, 1997) received the National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought in 1997. In fall 2007, Harper One published The History of Last Night's Dream which explores the spiritual possibilities of dreaming from Genesis to now. Oprah Winfrey interviewed the author about the book in a two part XM radio broadcast, in her "Soul Series", in August 2008. The material was subsequently webcast.
Schocken/Nextbook Press published Burnt Books in October 2010. It is a dual biography of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav and Franz Kafka.
In 1996, after a personal meeting with 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"...
in Dharamsala, Rodger Kamenetz worked with the Interfaith Action Network of the International Campaign to free the young Panchen Lama from Chinese detainment. The world's youngest prisoner of conscience, Panchen Lama's eighth birthday fell during the first week of Passover. Struck by this coincidence, Kamenetz created a nationwide campaign of Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
s for Tibet, uniting the Jewish memory of slavery and oppression in Egypt long ago with the lack of religious freedom in today's Tibet under Chinese rule. A special seder was held in Washington D.C. on April 24, 1997 and attended by the Dalai Lama as well as numerous U.S. dignitaries, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
and Adam Yauch
Adam Yauch
Adam Nathaniel Yauch , , is a founding member of hip hop trio the Beastie Boys. He is frequently known by his stage name, MCA, and other pseudonyms such as Nathanial Hörnblowér.-Early life:...
of the Beastie Boys. The seder, as well as Kamenetz's visit with the Dalai Lama was featured in a 1999 documentary, The Jew in the Lotus, which was broadcast on PBS.
His books of poetry include The Lowercase Jew (2003) and The Missing Jew: New and Selected Poems (1991).
Kamenetz is married to Moira Crone
Moira Crone
Moira Crone is an American fiction author. She was born in the tobacco country in eastern North Carolina. She is the author of three collections of short fiction and a novel....
a novelist and short story writer. He is the father of Anya Kamenetz
Anya Kamenetz
Anya Kamenetz is an American writer living in Brooklyn, New York City. She is a staff writer for Fast Company magazine and a columnist for Tribune Media . During 2005 she wrote a column for The Village Voice called "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young"...
, also an author.