Dr. Marc Lieberman, an ophthalmologist and self-proclaimed Jewish Buddhist, passed away at his home in San Francisco on August 2, the New York Times reported. Calling himself a “JuBu,” Dr. Lieberman practiced both faiths and sought to bridge the gap between them. In 1989 he organized the first formal dialogue between Jewish scholars and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at a Tibetan Buddhist temple in New Jersey. The following year, Dr. Lieberman traveled with seven rabbis and Jewish scholars to Dharamsala, where they met with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist leaders for over a week to discuss the two religions and address a question from His Holiness: How had the Jews survived in exile over two millennia? After returning to the United States, Dr. Lieberman founded the Tibet Vision Project to treat the many Tibetans with cataracts. Beginning in 1995, he traveled to Tibet twice a year and helped approximately 5,000 people regain full sight.

Each Saturday, Buddha Buzz looks back at the events of that week in the Buddhist world. Read the full Buddha Buzz article here.

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