Martin Buber Books

Scripture and Translation is the first English translation of an essential work on translation theory and the modern literary study of the Bible. First published in Germany in 1936 as Die Schrift und ihre Verdeutschung, the book grew out of Buber and Rosenzweig's work on an innovative and still controversial German translation of the Hebrew Bible. Rather than provide an idiomatic rendering, the Buber-Rosenzweig translation recasts the German language on the model of biblical Hebrew by attempting to reproduce the spoken quality, structure, and ordering of poetic devices found in the original texts.These essays articulate the rationale for the translation, both in theoretical terms and through close readings of specific texts. This edition also includes the first publication in any language of Martin Buber's essay "The How and Why of Our Biblical Translation."

Hasidism, a controversial, mystical-religious movement of Eastern European origin, has posed a serious challenge to mainstream Judaism from its earliest beginnings in the middle of the eighteenth century. Decimated by the Holocaust, it has risen like a phoenix from the ashes and has reconstituted itself as a major force in the world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Philosopher Martin Buber found inspiration in its original tenets and devoted much of his career to making its insights known to a wide readership. First published in 1958, Hasidism and Modern Man examines the life and religious experiences of Hasidic Jews, as well as Buber's personal response to them. From the autobiographical "My Way to Hasidism," to "Hasidism and Modern Man," and "Love of God and Love of Neighbor," the essays span nearly half a century and reflect the evolution of Buber’s religious philosophy in relation to the Hasidic movement. Hasidism and Modern Man remains prescient in its portrayal of a spiritual movement that brings God down to earth and makes possible a modern philosophy in which the human being becomes sacred.

Written over 40 years, this text seeks to: clarify the relation of certain aspects of Jewish thinking and Jewish living to contemporary intellectual movements; and to analyze those trends within Jewish life, which, surrendering to many ideologies, tend to weaken the teachings of Israel.

Martin Buber presents the essential teachings of Hasidism, the mystical Jewish movement which swept Eastern Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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 marvelous 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.

"To the best of my knowledge," writes Martin Buber of this book, "what has been attempted here is the first comprehensive attempt of its kind." Buber, steeped in the literature of the Old Testament as he is, here seeks to disengage history from saga and to convey the meaning of Sinai to the 20th century. In this book a fascinating attempt is made to depict the historical Moses. The work is rich in brilliant comment. He has profound things to say on the flight of Moses to Midian, where he met with a life resembling that of his ancestors; on the Burning Bush where he saw fire but no form; on Moses before Pharoah, as the first historical instance of prophet versus king; on the contrast between Moses summoned and anointed by God and Balaam made us of by Him. The style is invariably clear, precise, and dignified. This is a book to be read, re-read, and treasured.

Martin Buber's exploration of Scripture offers insights into the meanings of biblical concepts throughout history and their relevance today. By delving into his works, readers gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between ancient texts and contemporary interpretations, highlighting the enduring significance of biblical ideas across time.

Martin Buber believed that the deepest reality of human life lies in the relationship between one being and another. Between Man and Man is the classic work where he puts this belief into practice, applying it to the concrete problems of contemporary society.

The author brings to a focus his interpretation of biblical religion as an existential confrontation between God and man in which God calls man, individual and collectivee, to decision; man responds, and God judges.

"The list of correspondents is dazzling: Albert Camus, Herman Hesse and Franz Kafka ... Franz Rosenweig and Bertrand Russell". -- Newsday