Emily Sigalow’s 2019 study of “Jewish Buddhists,” American JewBu, opens with Charles Strauss’s conversion to Buddhism in this city. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this city where the American public’s awareness of Asian spiritual traditions was fostered by Swami Vivekenanda’s lectures at the 1893 Parliament of Religions.
ANSWER: Chicago
[10m] Sigalow’s use of “Jewbu” takes after a 1994 book by Rodger Kamenetz whose title, The Jew in the Lotus, puns on the common translation of this Sanskrit mantra. Recite the mantra, in Sanskrit, one time.
ANSWER: oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ [accept oṃ maṇi padme om or oṃ maṇi padme hūng] (The mantra roughly means “The jewel [is] in the lotus.” Kamenetz used the spelling “JUBU,” in all caps.)
[10h] Sigalow compares Buddhist teachings on compassion to the Pirkei Avot’s (“peer-KAY ah-VOTE’s”) claim that the world stands on three legs: Torah, prayer, and this concept. The King James Bible introduced “lovingkindness” as a translation of this Hebrew word for love and mercy.
ANSWER: chesed (“HESS-ed”) [or hesed; accept gemilut ḥasadim or gemilut chasadim]
<MJ, Religion>