Musch traces the history of Jewish-Buddhist encounters from the fin de siècle to the start of the Second World War. He shows the strong influence of Buddhist thought and culture on Jewish writers and intellectuals, including Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, Theodor Lessing, Jakob Wassermann, Walter Hasenclever and Lion Feuchtwanger. Musch demonstrates how these writers reflections on Buddhism formed an important part of their negotiations of Jewishness.