Product Description
I AND THOU by MARTIN BUBER TRANSLATORS INTRODUCTION HIS work in its original, German form has already, since its publication fourteen years ago, exercised on the Continent an influence, quite out of proportion to its slender size. In view of this influence alone it may be affirmed that I and Thou will rank as one of the epochmaking books of our generation. It has hitherto been comparatively unknown among Englishspeaking students of philosophy and theology. I and Thou is to be understood in the context of Bubers previous intensive study, chiefly of Jewish mystical writings. It is not an isolated phenomenon among his works, but represents the culmination of the intensely religious interest that characterises them all. It is, indeed, philosophical but it is not an academic work of discursive philosophy. It is mystical, but it belongs to what PringlePattison has termed the higher Mysticism of real communion with God, as distinguished from the debased1 mysticism that sub stitutes for the real present world a world of illusory delights, where absorption in the Diym is experi enced. The decrying of mysticism as a whole, fashion able today among Protestant writers, has a weighty retort in the present work. For an indubitably real mystical experience is here set forth, not with contempt for the means of human expression but with finished and delicate power. For this reason, though we might call and Thou a philosophicalreligious poem, it belongs essentially to no single specialised class of learned work. It has a direct appeal to all those who are interested in living religious experience rather than in theological debates and the rise and fall of philosophical schools. It has first and foremost to be judged on its intrinsic meritsby the impact, that is to say, which it makes on our actual, responsible life, as persons and as groups, in the modern world. This immediate value of Bubers work becomes clear if we consider its main thesis. There is, Buber shows, a radical difference between a mans attitude to other men and his attitude to things. The attitude to other men is a relation between persons, to things it is a connexion with objects. In the personal relation one subject I confronts another subjectThou, in the connexion with things the subject contemplates and experiences an object. These two attitudes represent the basic twofold situation of human life, the former constituting the. world of Thou , and the latter the world of It The content and relation of these two worlds is the theme of and Thou. The other person, the Thou, ,is shown to be a realitythat is, it is given to me, but it is not bounded by me: Thou has no boundsthe 1 Though the second person singular pronoun has almost dis appeared from modern English usage, it remains in one important spherein prayer. By its retention in the English text, therefore, far from suggesting an obscure situation, it keeps the whole thought iii the personal and responsible sphere in which alone it is truly to be understood. TJiou cannot be appropriated, but I am brought up short against it.Amazon.com Review
I and Thou, Martin Buber's classic philosophical work,is among the 20th century's foundational documents of religiousethics. "The close association of the relation to God with therelation to one's fellow-men ... is my most essential concern," Buberexplains in the Afterword. Before discussing that relationship, in thebook's final chapter, Buber explains at length the range andramifications of the ways people treat one another, and the ways theybear themselves in the natural world. "One should beware altogether ofunderstanding the conversation with God ... as something that occursmerely apart from or above the everyday," Buber explains. "God'saddress to man penetrates the events in all our lives and all theevents in the world around us, everything biographical and everythinghistorical, and turns it into instruction, into demands for you andme." Throughout I and Thou, Buber argues for an ethic that doesnot use other people (or books, or trees, or God), and does notconsider them objects of one's own personal experience. Instead, Buberwrites, we must learn to consider everything around us as "You"speaking to "me," and requiring a response. Buber's dense argumentscan be rough going at times, but Walter Kaufmann's definitive 1970translation contains hundreds of helpful footnotes providing Buber'sown explanations of the book's most difficult passages. --MichaelJoseph Gross ... Read more

Customer Reviews (43)

Iconic work
Thiswork is a stream of vignettes, more poetry than prose, which weaves a delicate path betwen mysticism and philosophy.There is a thread of connection between his work and that of Hannah Arendt (the Human Condition), so readers of that work may be able to appreciate Büber's beautiful work. Parts of the work can be difficult to grasp at an intellectual level. It is probably necessary to break free of the intellectual approach to fully appreciate it, because it is a work of art and emotion as much as a work of intellect.

bad binding
this is a wonderful book, and the Smith translation is fine, but this binding isn't worth the high price for this edition. While it's nice that the book is in hardcover, there's no way that it justifies the price, as the book is glued, rather than sewn, meaning that repeated readings and use will eventually result in lost pages, etc. I returned my copy. What's worse, the book appears to be photocopied, with left-hand text blocks often skewed to the printed page, and a postage stamp randomly photocopied on top of some text on p. 75. Somebody is trying to make money (off you) from this book's being past copyright.

Patience and Dedication
I have read this particular edition of I and Thou several times.The Introduction by Walter Kaufmann is superb.He accurately extracts some of the essence of Buber's text, and places it in the context of Judeo-Christian thought.I say "some of the essence" because Kaufmann would likely be the first to say that he is not an interpreter of Buber's complete vision of human relationship to the "Other."Kaufmann prepares one for the shock of Buber's direct use of simple language (at least in Kaufmann's translation) to depict one's personal relationship with another.Key to the popularity of Buber is the fact that his philosophy of human interaction applies to human-human relationships as well human-God relationships.

Beautiful path to spiritual truth
This translation gives English-speaking readers the opportunity to follow a beautiful and psychologically-sound path to spiritual truth.

Quoting from "I and Thou",

"The primary words are not isolated words, but combined words.

The one primary word is the combination I-Thou

The other primary word is the combination I-It."

This is a relational view of our individual impressions. We must necessarily express it in objective terms; that is all we have for written communication. But our individual impressions really precede the objects.

Before proceeding to where the primary words lead, I find that reading biographies of Martin Buber, rather than trying to absorb the introductory explanations of philosophers and scholars, facilitates my understanding. I think the most suitable for me is "Encounter on the Narrow Ridge", 1991, by Maurice S. Friedman.

As a Christian, I don't seek conversion to Judaism (Christianity in its origin is best understood as a sect of Judaism anyway), but the book "I and Thou" speaks to everyone. I believe that to do it full justice it must be read over and over. If we don't have time for that right now, we can at least look ahead to where it leads.

Practice in experiencing the I and Thou encounter will lead to its enrichment. Our appreciation of others will become warmer and more understanding. Finally Thou will become God. Atheists may not be willing to acknowledge this last step. But if they are truly resistant, they should understand that they have an open invitation to embrace God.

I & Thou
Friends,

If you happen to be a nature mystic, this book is inspirational.

Jim Olsen ... Read more

Product Description
Martin Buber's classic philosophy of dialogue, I and Thou, is at the core of Kenneth Paul Kramer's scholarly and impressive Living Dialogue: Practicing Buber's I and Thou. In three main parts, paralleling the three of I and Thou, and focusing upon Buber's key concepts --"nature," "spirit becoming forms," "true community," the "real I," the "eternal Thou," "turning,"--and the two fundamental dialogues--the "I-Thou" and the "I-It"--the book clarifies, puts into practice and vigorously affirms the moral validity of Buber's philosophy, with its extension to love, marriage, the family, the community, and God, in the conviction that "genuine dialogue" will effect better relations with one another, the world and God.

Well-researched, and replete with a glossary of Buberian terms, practice exercises for true dialoguing, and discussion questions, Living Dialogue emerges as an invaluable guide to I and Thou.

Highlights:

· a lens through which to see and understand the philosopher and his work anew · a must-read for undergraduates, as well as relationship counselors, therapists, and general readers, who will benefit from the work's clarity and ease of expression · includes a foreword by Maurice Friedman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Classic Companion
Martin Buber's I and Thou: Practicing Living Dialogue is an excellent introduction and overview of Buber's I and Thou.Kenneth Kramer is extremely readable and conveys complex ideas in a manner that allows the reader to grasp the concepts with much more facility.Through the use of illustrations, referencing other work by Buber, side by side exerpts of Smith's and Kaufmann's translations, and additional insights offered by Kenneth Kramer and Mechthild Gawlick, Buber's challenging masterpiece is presented in a way that is engaging and understandable.I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a "user friendly" introduction to Buberian thought.It is a great resource for students and teachers of philosophy,theology, or modern thought.This book made such an impact upon me, that I am keeping multiple copies on hand so that I don't have to lend my own. ... Read more

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Profound & Deep
After reading several Carl Rogers books and papers I was led to Martin Buber's works.Martin Buber was one of the most profound thinkers of our times. Not an easy read but a one well worth the time and effort.Illuminating and insight on the subject of good and evil.

A oasis in the dryness of my time
There is a sense that this is one of the most important book in my life.I have re-read it for the last 3 summers and i have found different things that i needed.Buber has a distinct method of communication that pullsfrom you who you are... i hear his subtlety in my ear even now.Buber isbrilliant. ... Read more

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Martin Buber believed that life's deepest truth lies in human relationships. In this classic work he puts this belief into practice, applying it to the concrete problems of contemporary society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Buber...on Buber...on You
Classic Buber...insightful, introspective...a good read...you wil learn a lot about Buber...and if you think about it...soemthing about yourself.

the most important book of my life
I read this book as part of a high school class, and the conversations within our class as a result of it were just amazing.a very deep and spiritual book.buber believes that there are three relationships peoplecan have:relationships between man and things, between man and god, andbetween man and man.to put it simply, to have a relationship with things,you must go to them.to have a relationship with god, god has to come toyou.but in relationships between man and man, we can come to eachother...

read "Dialogue" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This will give you a deeper understanding of the Bible
This volume contains eighteen essays by Martin Buber on the Bible.Some of the essays are excerpted from works of previous works of his on Biblical themes, such as " Moses' and " The Prophetic Faith". The work has an extraordinarily rich introductory essay by Harold Bloom in which he often compares the work of his mentor, Gershom Scholem to Buber both on Hasidism, and on Biblical study. It has an afterword by a pupil of Buber, the volume's editor Nahum N. Glatzer.
Bloom contains among other things that Buber is one of the greatest of all writers on illuminating the literary greatness of the Biblical Text. For Buber though, Biblical Literature is not about the creation of Character or the development of plot, but rather about the Encounter between Man and God.
Among the essays in the volume are : The Man of Today and the Jewish BibleThe Tree of KnowledgeAbraham the Seer
The Burning Bush (Exodus 3)Holy Event ( Exodus 19-27)The Election of IsraelThe Words on the Tablets (Exodus 20)What are we to do about the Ten Commandments? The Prayer of the Frist FruitsSamuel and the ArkBiblical Leadership Plato and IsaiahRedemption( Isaiah and Deuteroro- Isaiah)False Prophets ( Jeremiah 28)Prophecy, Apocalyptic, and the Historical HourJobThe Heart Determines (Psalm 73)Biblical Humanism.

I will just cite one passage to give a bit of the flavor to this very deep and instructive work.
In his essay on leadership he writes, " The biblical question of leadership is concerned with something greater than moral perfection. The biblical leaders are the foreshadowings of the dialogicalman , of the man who commits his whole being to God's dialogue with the world, and who stands firm throughout the dialogue. The life of those people .. is absorbed in this dialogue, whether the dialogue comes about through an intervention as in Abraham's talk with God about Sodom, or Moses after the sin of the Golden Calf: or whether it comes about through a resistance they offer against that which comes upon them and tries to overpower them.(as in Jeremiah and Moses)....... or whether the dialogue comes about through the struggle for a purpose and a task , as we know from that dialogue which took place between David and God. Whatever the way, man enters into the dialogue again and again; imperfect entry, but yet one that is not refused, an entry that is determined to persevere in the dialogical world. All that happens here is here experienced as dialogue; what befalls man is taken as a sign; what man tries to doand what miscarries is taken as an attempt and failure to answer, as a stammering attempt to respond as well as one can. ... Read more

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This edition, bringing together Volumes One and Two of Buber's classic work, contains marvelous tales - terse, vigorous, often cryptic - of the Hasidic masters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Delightful stories that are told vey well
Chassidic tales - the stories of Chassidic rabbis - is the subject of scholarly study. Papers, books, and dissertations are written on the subject. Scholars identify all kinds of issues and debate them with fervor.
Why, they ask, were these stories told and why were they written down? Does the story teller's intent for the tales of the early days of the Chassidic movement differ with the intent of those that were written later? Are there stages of development in intent, in style, in how the rabbi is perceived? Do some tales, such as those of Nachman of Braslav, stand outside of any characterization of any other group of stories? How does mysticism play in these stories?
Martin Buber (1878-1965), who gathered and published this collection, was a brilliant scholar, philosopher, Bible translator, the author of the famous "I Thou" philosophy. He was the first and arguably the best of the people who collected the Chassidic stories.
Buber began to publish Chassidic tales as early as 1906. The stories in this edition were published in English for the first time in 1947. The book is a classic. It is a book of very well told tales that any scholar concerned about the history of Chassidic stories must deal with. And, what is more, much more, the book offers its readers truly pleasing, easy to read, and instructive stories, small vignettes that will surprise and delight and entertain them, Jew and non-Jew, believer and non-believer.

One of the Best Books On Jewish Mysticism
As someone who has taught Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) classes, I had to choose carefully what texts to recommend to my students.

"Tales of the Hasidim" was always one of the first books that I suggested that they read.

Filled with stories of the holy people of the 18th century Hasidic movement of Eastern Europe, it is a painless introduction to Jewish mysticism, ritual, prayer, and meditation. Each short tale -- most less than a page long -- contains a profound spiritual insight, under the appearance of a simple incident.

The book is not just for introductory students of Jewish mysticism. I count it as one of the most valuable books in my Jewish bookshelf. I have re-read it many times.

I have never opened the book without soon encountering an inspiring spiritual anecdote that lifted my spirits and drew me closer to Judaism.

If I could give it six stars, I would.

Literary, Not Historical, Merit
In translating and publishing Hasidic tales in early twentieth century Germany, Buber was attempting to present Hasidism as an untapped repository of the authentic Ashkenazic Jewish folk legacy, a bulwark against secularism. His Hasidic leaders were folk heroes who had uplifted the downtrodden and revitalized Jewish culture. He hoped that his stylized renditions of Hasidic tales, which are much more gritty in their orignal forms, would spawn a Jewish national renaissance. When sifting through tale collections, he privileged episodes that portrayed their protagonists in revolt against the elite. His Tales of the Hasidim achieved such wide currency that their portrayal was for many years accepted as historical. While we can sympathize with Buber's mission to forge a modern Jewish culture out of what appeared to be authentic Jewish folkways, much in the way that the Grimm brothers employed fairytales, Buber's neo-romantic Hasidism is historically speaking, quite distorted. Recently, more realistic and ideologically neutral studies of Hasidism have appeared which seek to capture the movement's lived experience. See, for example, "Men of Silk", by Glenn Dynner or "The Regal Way", by David Assaf.

A pioneering work
This work has great historical importance. Buber more than any other person conveyed to the general Western even Christian culture something of the feeling and taste of 'Hasidism'. This movement which has its origins with the teachings of Israel Baal- Shem Tov ( 1700- 1760) came at a critical time in the history of the Jewish people and infused in it new spirit and hope. Buber who came from a scholarly Galician background and the discovery of the world of Hasidism opened up to him personally a whole new way of thinking and feeling about Judaism.
He is such a great writer and storyteller that he makes these tales which in themselves are moving come alive doubly.
A historic, classic collection which is also a literary treasure.

Khasiduth as metaphor
Martin Buber was one of the great humanists of the modern era and his extraction and retelling of a small part of the Hasidic corpus is a great poetic and ethical achievement. Readers should keep in mind, though, that in this book Buber was using traditional Ashkenazic pietism to represent a more cosmopolitan and higher reality. When he composed this book, there was every reason to believe that the Hasidim who survived the genocide perpetrated by National Socialism would fall prey to Communism or, more slowly, to secular education and one or another form of democracy. Hence sentimentality led Buber to transfigure Khasiduth into something as etherialized as Platonism or his ally Paul Tillich's Protestantism.
History has astonished us. Hasidic courts of one kind or another are common in America and Israel and may even be encountered in Europe. It is a reality, not just a historical memory.
This reality in its folkloric aspect may be found, at least for the Hebrewless reader, in Jerome Mintz' "Legends of the Hasidim : an introduction to Hasidic culture and oral tradition in the New World", published by the University of Chicago Press. Unlike Buber, Mintz is a professional folklorist and not only presents the tales in their veritable form but fully contextualizes them by informant, court, place and time, with other cultural information supplied as appropriate.
Readers of Mintz' book will experience Hasidic folklore in its present variety and become acquainted with the bigotry, ignorance, viciousness and pomposity found among the Hasidim just as they are in most living religions. Folklore, like religion, is not just a vehicle for a particular individual's view of the universe but an intimate part of some real sociology, lived by some real people in some real context. Mintz gives us a picture of Khasiduth which the great Buber in his goodness and humanity could not. ... Read more

Product Description
Martin Buber was one of the most significant religious thinkers of the twentieth century. In this short and remarkable book he presents the essential teachings of Hasidism, the mystical Jewish movement which swept through Eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Told through stories of imagination and spirit, together with Buber's own unique insights, The Way of Man offers us a way of understanding ourselves and our place in a spiritual world. 'There is something', he suggests, 'that can only be found in one place. It is a great treasure, which may be called the fulfilment of existence. The place where this treasure can be found is the place on which one stands.' Challenging us to recognize our own potential and to reach our true goal, The Way of Man is a life-enhancing book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

the true road that is less travelled
I teach a graduate counseling course on Martin Buber's anthropology and philosophy of dialogue as it illumines the art and science of pastoral counseling. A rabbi at a workshop I did for military chaplains told me about it. It is a gem - one of the top ten books I have ever read. It is without question my favorite book of Buber's ouvre. All of 41 pages, it sets forth in very simple and poignant way, the essence of the I-Thou encounter rooted in the personal dialogue between God and humanity. If you want to read the Bible in order to realize that God is not an idea or a belief but One wh is wholly "Other" yet approaching you directly, intimately and accompanying you every minute of life, read this book. If you want to enter the "way" that leads to becoming fully human and living with others in real community, read this book. In our age of information acquisition and craving for new experiences to break through the numbing of our hearts, and the sleep of ouir conscience, what Buber speaks about in the "Way of Man" is truly an invitation to the "road less travelled."

The wisdom of Buber
Buber is one of the great original thinkers of modern Judaism. He reads here six Hasidic tales and infuses them with his own fundamental perceptions as to the nature of the religious life. He writes with grace and power. And there is in his interpretations and retellings a sense of the holy and the inspired.

From the Existential to the Spiritual
Martin Buber has a way of speaking to my heart. He speaks as a human who has always struggled with the cynicism and skeptical spirituality of our age. Yet he has retained a strong faith in God, and a strong faith in God's real presence in our struggling human everyday life. We may not always feel His presence...but in Buber's words we hear another's testimony that God is with us even when He seems absent. In these short parables, Buber introduces us to other humans...ordinary men...who likewise have struggled to walk with God. Their walk is grounded in the existential. But unlike other ways such as Zen, their walk gradually reveals the real presence of God who has been walking with us since day one. It is as if in our faithful walk God gradually becomes trulu felt as walking beside us...and in our hearts.

With the depth and simplicity of a true seer...
...Martin Buber encompasses the whole world in the span of 50 pages.He relates new interpretations of a handful of old myths and stories, making each one reflect the individual's personal journey towards enlightenment.Poignant and marvellously efficient and concise in his style and vocabulary, Buber has created a book which is accessible to small children, but which will resonate with anyone even slightly interested in spirituality.It can be read in an hour, and is a book to which I return again and again for guidance and inspiration.Truly, a miracle of a book.

short and sweet
41 pages of wisdom from the standpoint of Hasidism (from "hasidut":allegiance, piety)--but Hasidism seen through the heart of Martin Buber.

This too-brief book really asks only one question:why are we here?

Buber responds with thoughts, anecdotes, and reflections, all of it extraordinarily condensed and yet marvelously lucid.

Here are two quotations:

"Our treasure is hidden beneath the hearth of our own home."

"Man was created for the purpose of unifying the two worlds.He contributes towards this unity by holy living, in relationship to the world in which he has been set, at the place on which he stands." ... Read more

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This work contains the autobiographical fragments Buber selected, and also wrote afresh, at Princeton in 1958 and in Jerusalem in 1960, in collaboration with Dr Friedman. ... Read more

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The condition Buber calls the "eclipse of God" is the reality that modern life and the teachings of many scholars have in many ways destroyed the opportunity for intimacy with an eternal, ever-present, Thou, or God. Based in part on a series of lectures he gave in the United States in 1951, this bo ... Read more

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"Moore focuses on Buber's central message about what it means to be a human being, a person of faith, and what mankind can do to overcome the eclipse of God."
—Shofar

"Solid, well researched, and sympathetic.... might well spur a person to go back and read Buber."
—Commonwealth

Product Description
Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber -- considered by many the most important Jewish philosophers since the 12th century sage Maimonides -- knew each other as associates and friends. Yet although their dialogue was instructive at times, and demonstrated the esteem in which Levinas held Buber, in particular, their relationship just as often exhibited a failure to communicate. This volume of essays is intended to resume the important dialogue between the two. Thirteen essays by a wide range of scholars do not attempt to assimilate the two philosopher's respective views to each other. Rather, these discussions provide an occasion to examine their genuine differences -- difference that both Levinas and Buber agreed were required for genuine dialogue to begin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Long Overdue
A volume such as this is long overdue and welcome to those of us who feel near to Buber and Levinas. In the introduction, the editors announce the intent of the volume as "not to assimilate their respective views to each other, but to point out their differences - differences that both Levinas and Buber agreed were required to begin." (2) While the question of rapprochement is always in the not too distant background, this work eminently achieves its intentions, even in those essays that modestly gesture toward rapprochement.

As I read, I was struck by the pathos, the energy produced in drawing Levinas and Buber into proximity. In each essay, one feels the preference of each contributor, a nearness beyond intellectual specificity, a proximity that resembles filial obligation. Levinas and Buber inspire commitment in us. The import of their excurses reach through yet beyond formal questions to the vitality of flesh and breath. In reading I found myself drawn into this drama. Thus, my own filiality might be manifest in this review.

The book is organized into four parts. Part one, "Dialogue," presents a short essay by Buber entitled, "Samuel and Agag," and an essay by Levinas, "On Buber," responding to it. These selections are well made in that the "little disagreement" they illustrate is enceinte, in all the multivalence of the term, signaling the divergent trajectories each take in their respective accounts of inter-subjectivity.
Part two, "Ethics," queries the differences and similarities in Levinas's and Buber's ethical thinking. Stephan Strasser's "Buber and Levinas: Philosophical Reflections on an Opposition" delicately traces the philosophical tensions that emerge in their proximity. As he critically presents both thinkers, he allows the oppositions to meet without, admirably, seeking to resolve them. Robert Bernasconi, in "`Failure of Communication' as Surplus: Dialogue and Lack of Dialogue between Buber and Levinas," brings Levinas and Buber into a contact that allows their respective insights to operate without utterly assimilating one to the other. I recognized, however, that this contact has a quintessentially Levinasian flavor. In my view, Bernasconi models the most viable strategy for a rapprochement between them. Andrew Tallon's essay, "Affection and the Transcendental Dialogical Personalism of Buber and Levinas," seeks to invite Levinas into Tallon's own Buberesque project. This essay is especially intriguing to those of us interested in pre-deconstructive phenomenological analysis and the situatedness of these thinkers with respect to tradition. Neve Gordon in "Ethics and the Place of the Other," and Maurice Friedman in "Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas: An Ethical Query," are refreshing in their forthright criticisms of Levinas. Gordon convincingly suggests that Levinas's ethical inter-subjectivity cannot be teased out of, or integrated within, the I-Thou without damaging Buber's central theses.
Part three, "Religion," discusses Buber's and Levinas's embeddness in the Jewish tradition and their different locations within this locale. These essays are especially interesting. The authors seem more comfortable with the tensions produced in the dialogue. They imply, it seems to me, that the tautness between communion and concern for justice, evolution and tradition, consolation and responsibility, reciprocity and height, may be necessary for religion to authentically operate. The tension is none other than that space familiar to us, that space where the pastoral and prophetic meet (or perhaps we might say the dialogical and the ethical). Ephraim Meir, in "Buber's and Levinas's Attitudes toward Judaism" masterfully presents these differences, such that I was touched by the vitality. He is valiantly even-handed though he hints at a Levinasian leaning. Michael Fagenblat and Nathan Wolski, in "Revelation Here and Beyond: Buber and Levinas on the Bible," tackle the problematic of revelation in Levinas and Buber. Robert Gibbs's "Reading Torah: The Discontinuity of Tradition," presents Buber's and Levinas's respective approaches to the reading of the Torah with special attention to the (non) mediation of tradition. Tamra Wright, in "Beyond The `Eclipse of God': The Shoah in the Jewish though of Buber and Levinas," compares their different trajectories in the wake of the Holocaust. The one exception to the aforementioned comfort is Andrew Kelley's essay, "Reciprocity and the Height of God: A Defense of Buber against Levinas." Kelly's "defense" is unconvincing as I will show below.
In Part four, "Heidegger, Humanism, and the Other Animal," the culminating essays draw Levinas and Buber into current debates on these issues. Richard Cohen's important essay, "Buber and Levinas - and Heidegger," traces Buber's and Levinas's respective relation to Heideggerian ontology. Cohen successfully discloses how this relation structures their own meeting. Matthew Calarco, in "The Retrieval of Humanism in Buber and Levinas," convincingly argues that Levinas, passing through yet beyond Buber, provides a pregnant site from which to address the contemporary problematic of humanism. Peter Atterton's essay, "Face-to-Face with the Other Animal," is an interesting attempt to extend Levinas's thought beyond its explicit specifications, integrating Buber's concern for a non-human I-Thou relation. Passionately argued in the best sense, Atterton highlights an ambiguity in the application of Levinas's thought. Though he raises some complex questions, unfortunately, he may only be convincing to those who share his sentiments. Atterton confronts Levinas's (alleged) anthropocentrism with his own, implicit, anthropocentrism (or more precisely, anthropomorphisms).

The Promethean thread strung throughout this volume suggests that the questions of reciprocity and formalism posed to Buber by Levinas are the decisive points of contention. The essays that most decidedly side with Buber suggest that these criticisms are not well founded when giving Buber a close reading. Gordon, Friedman, and Kelley aim at answering Levinas's challenge on these grounds while critiquing his positions. Gordon (elsewhere) writes, "I believe that it is more becoming to begin reading Buber's ideas without assimilating him to Levinas" (119). While this may be so, it may be equally "becoming" to read Levinas in the same vein.For example, Friedman writes: "Levinas's...most insistent critiques of Buber's philosophy are tied up with his own assertion that the relation to the Other must be asymmetrical, and correspondingly, I must place the Other at a height above me..." (119). Kelley makes similar moves when he writes: "For Levinas, there is something about the other - the person opposite - that I cannot grasp" (227). These simple statements, meant to convey Levinas's position in relation to Buber, betray an ignorance of Levinas's point and the implications of his challenge. While it is true that the question of asymmetry and alterity are decisive, Friedman and Kelley seem to miss why they are decisive. In other words, the other is not placed at a height by the I, but is always already a height, and as such, the other person is never initially "the person opposite." I want to dwell on the why of these criticisms because I do not believe the above are mere `slips of the pen,' but expressions of a deep fissure irrupting between Buber and Levinas.
Cohen's essay explicitly draws out the why behind Levinas's criticisms of Buber, a why not adequately addressed by Gordon, Friedman or Kelley: what has priority, ontology or ethics? Cohen writes, "Buber's critique of Heidegger is not based on a critique of ontology as such, but rather on a different version of ontology" (241). This is Levinas's qualm with Buber and the reason he raises questions of reciprocity and height. As such, no amount of amendments or qualifications to Buber's ideas can ameliorate the tension; it resembles analytic opposition. The question is not: can ontology (in this case Buber's) have an ethics? The Levinasian question is more basic: is Being adequate to Goodness? For Levinas, the answer is no and if one answers in the affirmative one must philosophically and ethically account for the horrors of human history, one must become an apologist for Being. As our contemporary milieu demonstrates, nihilism and fanaticism seem preferable to such an apology, or perhaps, proceed from it.

Numerous statements throughout specific essays, as the examples above hint, miss this basic point. Tallon's essay attempts to extend Buber's insights while "...comparing and contrasting...by circling several times..." the challenge of Levinas (49). Tallon constructs epistemological categories in seeking to make Buber's ontology more rigorous. While he is successful at integrating some of Levinas's broad concerns in his dialogical perspective, his recourse to "co-constitution," "broadened intentionality," "intimate co-presence," and the construction of a "dialogical transcendental," would draw ethics back into ontology, rendering it derivative. Kelley writes elucidating the I-Thou: "I allow the other person to be who he or she is. It is in this way that speaking...does not destroy the height of the other" (230). And: "The word `Thou' merely indicates the initiative on the part of an I of turning toward and addressing that which confronts the I" (232). It is hard to see how the relation is not determined by the I's own comportment, that is, the I determines the relation in "allowing," in its "turning toward," the other to "be who he or she is." Being is still the underlining term. It seems to require sheer heroism to keep the "-" from subsuming the "I" and "Thou." The issue is not that we should not efface the other's height, but that we absolutely and utterly can not. The height of the other is inviolable, and this is precisely what traces the rupture of Being by ethics. Kelley, and Friedman quoted above, already presuppose reciprocity. Such a position already reduces the "ungraspable alterity" to a derivative status, (i.e. the other is different from me) setting the relation into an economy, the play of polarities, and so on. For Levinas, the other's height marks a (pre) originary alterity, an alterity before all presence and reciprocity. Before any question of economy or reciprocity can be raised, the command-the height of the other-elects the subject to an infinite responsibility. In ethics, the I is elected to an orientation before any choice of how and whether I comport myself in such and such a manner.
I do not wish to be uncharitable in these criticisms. Yet in order "not to assimilate their respective views to each other, but to point out their differences - differences that both Levinas and Buber agreed were required to begin," (2) the question of the priority of ethics to being must be addressed. If it were a question of assimilation, it seems to me that Levinas would fare far worse in that he essentially evaporates in Buber, as ethics always does when subordinate to an ontological relation. Buber fares better than Levinas, in that Levinas ruptures the process of assimilation as such. Buber's deep insights can operate in Levinas's orbit without being obliterated. It would be interesting and important to elaborate what Buberian intimacy would look like while taking Levinas's criticisms seriously, that is, while maintaining the primacy of ethics over ontology. For instance, what would "communion" mean when it no longer means diffusement in a totality? I'm not sure that Levinas's descriptions in his phenomenology of eros are exhaustive, or even, perhaps, adequate. For instance, what happens in an intimate and personal friendship taking the priority of ethics seriously?

As I intimated earlier, Gordon convincingly suggests that Levinas's ethical inter-subjectivity can not be teased out of, or integrated within, the I-Thou without damaging Buber's central theses. In that these theses assume an ontological basis he is absolutely correct. It must be stressed that the issue is not Buber's "nominal" use of the language of Being, but rather, that the very structure of inter-subjectivity he elaborates requires Being, and in such a way that can allow the I its hegemony. Bernasconi successfully argues that it is not the case that Levinas "fails" to give Buber a close reading. Given the basic opposition in their founding orientation, Levinas is as charitable as he can be in his evaluation of Buber. At the close of his fine essay, Bernasconi writes: "For our model of dialogue should also recognize the alterity of the other which shows itself in `the restlessness of the same disturbed by the other'...and in the failure to communicate" (97). To modify my opening comments, this exhilarating volume repeats previous communicative failures, in that the dialogue is yet to adequately address the question of priority between ethics and ontology. As things stand, the dialogue can not help but fail, unless Buber's concerns are elaborated on an ethical rather than ontological basis. So the failure of this book is precisely its success, in that the challenge is now more explicitly and directly presented. With Bernasconi and Cohen, we must admit Buber's ontological rather than ethical bias, that is, the very structure of Buber's intersubjectivity is at issue and no amount of qualifications really address Levinas's basic challenge. The task, it seems, is to set ourselves to articulate what the intimacy of the I-Thou would look like on an ethical rather than ontological basis.

A quick note on form: though the cover art leaves something to be desired, the publisher is to be commended for the attractive and reader friendly layout and font selection. The substantive index will be welcome to students and researchers. Taking into account the few critical exceptions noted, this volume is, I think, an eminent success. As I intimated earlier, reading Levinas and Buber in close proximity generates pathos. The essays in this book are sure to inform and inspire, even those that offer perspectives one rejects. This volume will no doubt set off some intense dialogue as we continue to engage these questions.
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Product Description
The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber spoke directly to the most profound human concerns in all his works, including his discussions of Hasidism, a mystical-religious movement founded in Eastern Europe by Israel ben Eliezer, called the Baal-Shem (the Master of God's Name). Living in the first part of the eighteenth century in Podolia and Wolhynia, the Baal-Shem braved scorn and rejection from the rabbinical establishment and attracted followers from among the common people, the poor, and the mystically inclined. Here Buber offers a sensitive and intuitive account of Hasidism, followed by twenty stories about the life of the Baal-Shem. This book is the earliest and one of the most delightful of Buber's seven volumes on Hasidism and can be read not only as a collection of myth but as a key to understanding the central theme of Buber's thought: the I-Thou, or dialogical, relationship.

"All positive religion rests on an enormous simplification of the manifold and wildly engulfing forces that invade us: it is the subduing of the fullness of existence. All myth, in contrast, is the expression of the fullness of existence, its image, its sign; it drinks incessantly from the gushing fountains of life."--Martin Buber, from the introduction ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This is Not the Best Choice
I was originally drawn to Judaism by Martin Buber's wonderful "Tales of the Hasidim" (which has a good section on the Baal Shem Tov). But Buber disavowed his earlier "Legend of the Baal Shem" because it was too flowery and departed too far from the original material; it is also only a mere snippet from the sources. My book "The Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov," which is the only comprehensive book on the founder of Hasidism, is a better choice. I'm sure Buber would agree. (Although it's a big book and may be daunting to a beginner.) -- Yitzhak Buxbaum

A Hasid on the great founder of Hasidism
Buber is the Jewish teacher who more than any other helped bring the attention of the West to Hasidism. The Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760)is the founding teacher of Hasidism. In this work Buber tells twenty stories of the Baal Shem and reveals to us a world of deep faith, of deep connection of the Jew with nature and all creation, of the special hitlahavut or enthusiasm which the Hasid brings in his relation to the Divine. Buber is a Hasid of Hasidism, and he tells the stories of its great founder with the same kind of enthusiasm the movement itself generated throughout the Jewish world.

Greet the day which enchains thee . . .
Martin Buber (1878 - 1965) was a German Jewish philosopher-theologian and one of the most original and influential thinkers of the 20th Century.In this work, he does not set forth his own theology so much as trace one of its roots."The [Hasidic] legend is the myth of I and Thou [the title of Buber's most famous work], of the caller and the called, the finite which enters into the infinite and the infinite which has need of the finite." (13)Buber provides a brief introduction and an essay on the spiritual life of the Hasidim (both written in somewhat difficult, mystical language), but the bulk of this book is Buber's retelling of 20 stories from the life of the Ba'al Shem Tov.The stories are beautiful, told in simple and direct language, and convey the lessons that the Ba'al Shem taught (or was taught -- the Ba'al Shem occasionally errs himself and has to be guided back to the correct path).The lessons are about living with dedication, uniting with God in joy, overcoming the evil impulse, and finding the holy in everything around us.Greet the day which enchains thee . . . art thou not already freed?

These stories are for everyone who is interested in the mystical experience.You will need to have some basic background in Kabbala to understand some aspects of some of the stories (the chapter on Kabbala in Barry Holtz' "Back to the Sources" is probably enough), and you may want to review the Glossary before starting on the stories if you are not familiar with basic Jewish religious terms.Highly recommended.

Beautiful
Buber begins the book by giving an introduction to the Hasidim, the ultra-orthodox, mystically inclined branch of Judaism founded by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, a.k.a. the Baal-Shem Tov (which literally means"master of the good name" = master of God's name).Buber thenproceeds to relate 20 stories/legends about the Baal-Shem's life andteaching, followed by a glossary of the key terms in the book.

Thewonderful thing about this book is its beautiful, poetic simplicity.Thelanguage is poetic, and the stories are profound because they show that inthe middle of the 1700's, God became a vibrant, living reality to a groupof common folk in eastern Europe."God desires the heart,"taught the Baal-Shem.

On a personal note, this book opened my eyes to aside of both life and God that I have never seen before.Live life withjoy and humility, live it deeply and with passion.God rejoices and danceswith us in our joy.

"God desires the heart."How simple, yethow utterly profound. ... Read more

Product Description
There is no adequate understanding of contemporary Jewish and Christian theology without reference to Martin Buber. Buber wrote numerous books during his lifetime (1878-1965) and is best known for I and Thou and Good and Evil. Buber has influenced important Protestant theologians like Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Paul Tillich, and Reinhold Niebuhr. His appeal is vast--not only is he renowned for his translations of the Hebrew Bible but also for his interpretation of Hasidism, his role in Zionism, and his writings in psychotherapy and political philosophy.

In addition to a general introduction, each chapter is individually introduced, illuminating the historical and philosophical context of the readings. Footnotes explain difficult concepts, providing the reader with necessary references, plus a selective bibliography and subject index.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Martin Buber's contribution to physchology and phychotherapy
This new title is most interesting for those of us who are aware of Martin Buber's many sided interests and his philososophical contributions to physchology and phychotherapy. The book contains essays he wrote over theyears, his connection and exchange of thoughts and opinions with Jung andmany others. The final chapter is the dialogue about the history of theunconscious . Altogether a most interesting and inspiring read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Shift of Emphasis; Communal to Personal Faith
Epilogue; Faith Vs Faith:
Emil Brunner who once said that Buber's discovery and analysis of the I-Thou relationship set up a Copernician revolution in the thinking of the whole of mankind, described Buber's 'faith versus faith' essay as; "An all-out attack on Christianity", and an attempt by Buber to clarify why he came short of becoming a Christian! (Dogmatic Theology, E. Brunner)
It may be that Buber glittering philosophic rhetoric, at once attracted and repelled, despite his literary talent, as his best analytical critic, Monsignor Oesterreicher described him, borrowing william James useful taxonomy, "Buber seemed 'tender minded' to one whose nature and philosophical nurture honor by preference 'tough minded' thinkers!

A shift Of emphasis:
It may be to my support for Amazon.com readership and the theologically trained Practical.Org review visitors, to recall a similar reaction to mine, by Thieme, a German theologian.
The late Karl Thieme joined Catholicism, leaving his Lutheran Church due to the latter adjustment to Nazi policy, excluding clergy of Jewish origins from its service. Thieme, rejecting the 'two types of faith' whimsical view, asserted that Christian's faith differed from Jewish faith by a 'Shift of emphasis.' He criticized Buber's reading of Paul's theology, encountering in his letter to the Romans 'A wrathful God' rather than 'A Loving Father.'
"I am saddened that Buber's aversion to Paul was so strong that he was unable to appreciate the Apostle's loving avowal of God's special bond to His people in Romans 9 to 11...I am at a loss to understand why Buber did not give Paul the regard that is his due.' comments Oesterreicher on Thieme parallel views.

Buber's faith Vs Torah:
In his exploration of the 'two forms' of faith, first as a member of community, whose covenant with the unconditioned, trusts in a person, vs. an individual converted to faith, in acceptance of a truth, associating with other converts to form a community.
While Hillel, the great rabbi, held his Golden rule of Jewish faith as; "The whole Torah, and, the rest is commentary," Buber writes, "I do not believe that revelation is ever a formulation of law. It is only through Man in his self-contradiction that revelation becomes legislation." Buber' Letter to Rosenzweig

The Risen Christ:
It is clear why the resurrection was such a stumbling block to Buber, that he took offense debating; "the Jew of Paul's time,...believed in the resurrection of the dead as a great community at the end of time; but the resurrection of an individual was unknown to the Jew from scripture..." Buber's conclusion against the core of Christian faith is : "Theresurrection of an individual (Jesus) is incredible to Jews,"
Shmuel Bergmann, a great Jewish thinker, and a friend of Buber whom he asked to review the manuscript (Two Types of Faith), wrote in 1949; "If the resurrection (of Jesus) really happened, it was such a decisive event-the fact that a human being conquered death-such a new beginning in human history that Paul was right to attribute to faith in that fact a decisive significance."

Martin Buber:
One of the foremost religious thinkers of the twentieth century, M. Buber made a tremendous impact, not only on Jewish but also on Christian thinkers. Reinhold Niebuhr has described him as "the greatest Jewish philosopher of our time"
In nominating Buber for a Nobel Prize in literature in 1949, H. Hesse stated that, "He has enriched world-literature with a genuine treasure as has no other living author."

Jewish Emunah and Christian Pistis
Buber outlines here the difference between two kinds of faith the emunah of the Jews, and the pistis of the Christians. In doing so he also writes sympathetically about Jesus who he sees in some way as part of the spiritual history of Israel. For Buber the Jews faith is communal and centers on their persistence in history in continuing their communal religious life. He sees Christianity as having a different kind of faith one which focuses on individuals, and the individual salvation. In his concluding chapter he suggests that in the future each might take a bit more of the character of the other( not in doctrine) but in the Jewish faith becoming more pistis and the Christians moving more toward a communal faith. In the introduction to the work Buber thanks great Christian scholars with whom he was in dialogue, Rudolf Bultmann, Schweitzer, and Rudolf Otto. Clearly he was living and working toward Jewish- Christian dialogue as extension of his belief in the importance of meeting and making relationships with others in which the full humanity of both parties could be lived and expressed.
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