The book provides an insightful study of the Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and combines a review of the unconventional Zionism he proposed with a sensitivity to myth as the basis of an inclusive civil religion. The multifaceted nature of this work examines Buber’s embrace of myth, and his application of myth to both biblical studies and political theory. It pays special attention to the way Buber’s thinking about Zion applied to religious ethical issues such as ecology, education, ritual, and, as a continuing theme throughout the book, to the conflict between those Buber called Jews and Arabs in the land of Palestine.

The book provides an insightful study of the Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and combines a review of the unconventional Zionism he proposed with a sensitivity to myth as the basis of an inclusive civil religion. The multifaceted nature of this work examines Buber's embrace of myth, and his application of myth to both biblical studies and political theory. It pays special attention to the way Buber's thinking about Zion applied to religious ethical issues such as ecology, education, ritual, and, as a continuing theme throughout the book, to the conflict between those Buber called Jews and Arabs in the land of Palestine.

Edited by Nahum N. Glatzer With a new Foreword by Rodger Kamenetz “The question I put before you, as well as before myself, is the question of the meaning of Judaism for the Jews. Why do we call ourselves Jews? I want to speak to you not of an abstraction but of your own life . . . its authenticity and essence.” With these words, Martin Buber takes us on a journey into the heart of Judaism—its spirit, vision, and relevance to modern life.

Two volumes of the Jewish philosopher's classic work that collects and retells the marvelous legends of Hasidism. This new paperback edition brings together volumes one and two of Buber's classic work Tales of the Hasidim, with a new foreword by Chaim Potok. Martin Buber devoted forty years of his life to collecting and retelling the legends of Hasidim. "Nowhere in the last centuries," wrote Buber in Hasidim and Modern Man, "has the soul-force of Judaism so manifested itself as in Hasidim... Without an iota being altered in the law, in the ritual, in the traditional life-norms, the long-accustomed arose in a fresh light and meaning." These tales—terse, vigorous, often cryptic—are the true texts of Hasidim. The hasidic masters, of whom these tales are told, are full-bodied personalities, yet their lives seem almost symbolic. Through them is expressed the intensity and holy joy whereby God becomes visible in everything.

'The publication of Martin Buber's I and Thou was a great event in the religious life of the West.' Reinhold Niebuhr Martin Buber (1897-19) was a prolific and influential teacher and writer, who taught philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem from 1939 to 1951. Having studied philosophy and art at the universities of Vienna, Zurich and Berlin, he became an active Zionist and was closely involved in the revival of Hasidism. Recognised as a landmark of twentieth century intellectual history, I and Thou is Buber's masterpiece. In this book, his enormous learning and wisdom are distilled into a simple, but compelling vision. It proposes nothing less than a new form of the Deity for today, a new form of human being and of a good life. In so doing, it addresses all religious and social dimensions of the human personality. Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith>

Previously published: New York: Schocken, 1969.