In this remarkable book, Martin Buber presents the essential teachings of Hasidism, the mystical Jewish movement which swept Eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Told through stories of imagination and spirit, together with his own unique insights, Buber offers us a way of understanding ourselves and our place in a spiritual world. Challenging us to recognize our own potential and to reach our true goal, this is a life-enhancing book.
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Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
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... more info
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... more info
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... more info
