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Selections from the writing of a great Jewish teacher
This is from the preface by Nahum Glazer. "Neitzsche's dictum that " in the end one experiences only oneself" is counterposed by Buber's view that it is the other through whom I become fully I: if with my whole being I enter into a relationship with him. Ivan Karamozov's outcry, "I accept God but I do not accept his world "is opposed by Buber's conception of the world as the path to God, and of God's word as directing man toward action in the world."
The sections of this work are I God II I and Thou III Faith IV Man V Human Speech and Dialogue VI Creation - Revelation- Redemption VII Community and History VIII Israel: Jewish existenceEpilogue: Renewal.
The work is a rich sampling of one of the great Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century.
I cite a selection called God and World as sample of what the book is"
"Only he who learns to love men one by one reaches, in his relation to heaven ,God as the God of all the world. He who does not love the world can only refer, in his relationship to God, to an equally solitary God or to the God of his own soul.For he learns to love the God of the universe, the God who loves His world, only in the measure in which he himself learns to love the world.
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An analysis of Martin Buber's philosophy of religion includes discussions of ethics, Hasidism, revelation, redemption and religious education. ... Read more

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The sacred tales and aphorisms collected here by Martin Buber have their origins in the traditional Hasidic metaphor of life as a ladder, reaching towards the divine by ascending rungs of perfection. Through Biblical riddles and interpretations, Jewish proverbs and spiritual meditations, they seek to awaken in the reader a full awareness of the urgency of the human condition, and of the great need for self-recognition and spiritual renewal. ... Read more

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The holiness of God in Hasidic sayings
This is from the back jacket of the book.'The souls, relates a Hasidic legend, " descended from the realm of heaven to earth, on a long ladder.Then it was taken away .Now, up there, they are calling home the souls.Some do not budge from the spot, for how can one get to heaven without a ladder? Others leap and fall and leap again,and give up.But there are those who know very well that they cannot achieve it, but try over and over, and over again until God catches hold of them and pulls them up."
These tales and aphorisms selected by Buber from Hasidism are wise sayings that move and inspire, and hopefully move the reader to a greater sense of the holiness of God. ... Read more

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A new historical interpretation of Bible and tradition, recreating in a narrative of great brilliance the monumental ffigure of the Prophet, Lawgiver, and Statesman ... Read more

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The story of the genesis of 'I' and 'Thou'
This book is divided into two parts. The first consists in the lectures Buber gave preliminary to the writing of 'I' and ' Thou'. The second is Rivka Horowitz's attempt to understand the genesis of 'I' and 'Thou'. In this she considers Buber in relation to a number of thinkers, Hermann Cohen, Ferdinand Ebert, Franz Rosenzweig who may have influenced the development of the concept. She pretty much excludes Cohen's influence and points out the strong personal and philosophical differences between Buber and Cohen. The surprise element is her introduction and description of the thought of Ebert, a Catholic thinker who developed an idea very close to the 'I- Thou' idea just about the same time that Buber did. Perhaps the most moving description however is the story of the relationship between two great Jewish thinkers, Buber and Rosenzweig. They met Dec. 4 , 1921 after the publication of Rosenzweig's masterpiece 'The Star of Redemption'. Rosenszweig admired the work Buber was doing in the periodical 'Der Jude'. He invited him to teach in the 'Lehrhaus'. They subsequently embarked together on their great translation of 'Tannakh'. Horowitz however stresses the 'dialogic' relation between them. Buber as opposed to Ebert believed there were 'I-Thou' relations not only between Man and God, but also between humans. Horowitz tells the story of Buber's enormous patience and devotion in working with Rosenzweig on the translation while Rosenzweig was suffering from the ALS that he would eventually die from. She in effect speaks of this relationship as a conspicuous example of personal relationship, of treating the person as 'thou'.
The idea that the God of Judaism is a God we know in relationship, a God we address, a God we are always trying to approach is the heart of Buber's religious thought. This clearly written work enables us to better understand how after years of study of Hasidism Buber came to his most famous presentation of this idea. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1991, this book focuses on a major problem in the philosophy of Martin Buber. This is the topic of immediacy which is presented in terms of the contact between human beings on the one hand, and man and God on the other. The basic theme throughout is whether the I-Thou relation refers to immediate contact between human beings, as Buber saw it, or whether that relation is something established or aspired to. This is an important study which should be consulted in any future discussion of Martin Buber's thought. At the same time, it raises critical issues for recent European philosophy. Students of philosophy, and religious and social thought will find its critical exposition extremely helpful. ... Read more

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Amazon.com Review
On Judaism is a collection of lectures by Martin Buberthat had a profound influence on European Judaism in the early 20thcentury. The most interesting parts of this book are the lecturesBuber delivered between 1909 and 1918, whose achievement was toconvince intellectuals once again to take seriously the mysticalelements of Judaism, such as kaballah. Assimilationism, secularism,and materialist skepticism had convinced many European Jews thatreligious Judaism demanded mindless allegiance to outmoded laws--asituation, as Rodger Kamenetz notes in his introduction to thisvolume, that bears a striking resemblance to the mindset of many youngJews today. Buber's involvement with Theodore Herzl's Zionist movement(which led to the creation of the state of Israel) gave himcredibility with Jewish intellectuals, however. He used thiscredibility to persuade his listeners that there is an essentialdifference between rigid, legalistic "religion" and the vital,world-engaging "religiosity" that, he contended, is the prevailingcharacter of Torah. As Kamenetz writes, "Buber's enduring insight isthat Judaism is a process, not a conclusion: a religion of presence,and not simply an historical religion." Obviously, much has changedsince Buber delivered these early lectures--the two World Wars, theHolocaust, and the rise of Reformed Judaism have forever altered thecontext in which young Jews define their religious identity. ButBuber's driving question--"I must ask myself again and again: Is thisparticular law addressed to me and rightly so?"--is still the mostimportant one for Jews who seek to understand themselves as people ofthe book. Martin Buber asked that question with unremitting intensityand intellectual rigor, and On Judaism will help its readers todo so as well. --Michael Joseph Gross ... Read more

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A fundamental inquiry
Buber raises fundamental questions about the meaning of Jewishness. His profundity is unquestioned, as his poetic insightfulness. However his casting aside of the Halakhah means that he cuts himself off from what is arguably, both the most traditional and most vibrant form of Judaism in our world.
I want to myself look through these essays again, and see if they give new directions in regard to understanding the fundamental questions of Jewish identity and meaning in the modern world. ... Read more

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This final volume of Martin Buber's work contains a selection of his poetry and prose written between 1902 and 1964 made by Buber himself a few months before his death in 1965. As the original German title, NACHLESE, implies, Buber saw these writings as the "gleanings" of a rich philosophical harvest and as a "testament" to his own beliefs. ... Read more

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Reflection on Human Existence: byFour Religious Thinkers

"Reality is the power of resistance against dissolution into nothingness. Consequently, Being can be described, not defined, as the power of resistance against non-Being, or simply as the power of Being,..." Paul Tillich



Existentialism, defined:
Existentialism is a philosophical movement that views human existence as having a set of underlying themes and characteristics, such as anxiety, dread, freedom, awareness of death, and consciousness of existing, that are primary. They cannot be reduced to or explained by a natural-scientific approach. (Wikepedia)
Theologian John Macquarrie has appealed that; "existentialism is not a body of doctrines but a way of doing philosophy. It is the way which begins by interrogating existence, where by "existence" is understood the kind of being which belongs to man in his concrete living,..."

Impact of Existentialism:
Existentialism is, in a way, a movement protesting against mass society, which tends to inhibit individual thought and action. Some propose that self-awareness sets us apart from all other beings. Teilhard de Chardin thinks (The Phenomenon of Man), that it is primarily the ability to reflect on our self-awareness. Existentialists may think that our awareness of death as "ceasing to exist" forces us to question our authenticity, as emphasized by Martin Heidegger. While this moves us away from theoretical concepts and attitudes to life, they provide fake reassurances. A move towards immediate, real-life, concrete ways of relating to our existence and ceasing to exist have to be dealt with. Existentialist thinkers' impact on western religion and arts has been so profound, that perhaps left the definition of existentialism as a rather difficult task.

Works selection:
The presented works of four influential existential theologians, selected by an authority on the subject, represent the unity and diversity of their post-modern thought. Herberg contends they reached beyond the hallmarks of modernity, scientific naturalism, and confident positivism, using his own expressions. His interpretive essays shed light on the core of his comparative study on their theological thinking, representing their wide Judeo-Christian background.
Maritain desire to see God, is compared with Berdayaev's insight into Man's free will and apocalyptic time and eschatological revelation. He contrasted Buber's strain between Existential realization and his early Hasidic and mystic insights. Tillich's in an age of anxiety never lost his reference to the realities of social and political oppression, but the focus seemed to be on the anguish of the human situation. Tillich's theological method reflects on his search for ultimate reality, and Divine manifestation as 'Being is Love.'
While I started early, as a teenager, to be impressed and mystified by quotations of J.P. Sartre on the subject, in daily newspapers, reading Werberg selection required attention and concentration, but was rewarding in spite of my non academic preparation. This is a mere modest witness to Professor Herberg's excellent scholarship.

Will Herberg:
Editor Will Herberg was an independent American Jewish theologian, social thinker, and biblical exegete, a conservative Jewish scholar who interacted with the wide spectrum of American faiths, cultural and social milieu. Born in New York, early twentieth century, to Russian immigrants, was educated by his mother, after the death of his father when was only ten. He excelled in his education, earning a BA and MA degrees from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in 1932. He wrote many books including, 'Protestant-Catholic-Jew,' 'Faith enacted as history,' ' Judaism and Modern Man,' 'From Marxism to Judaism,' 'Writings of Martin Buber,' etc.


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Part of a series of studies of contemporary philosophers, this volume focuses on Martin Buber. ... Read more