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The way of man, according to the teaching of Hasidism
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.
41 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
57 people are currently reading
1532 people want to read
About the author
Martin Buber
411 books470 followersMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship.
Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy. In 1902, Buber became the editor of the weekly Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, although he later withdrew from organizational work in Zionism. In 1923 Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou), and in 1925 he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language.
In 1930 Buber became an honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and resigned in protest from his professorship immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. He then founded the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education, which became an increasingly important body as the German government forbade Jews to attend public education. In 1938, Buber left Germany and settled in Jerusalem, in the British Mandate of Palestine, receiving a professorship at Hebrew University and lecturing in anthropology and introductory sociology.
Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy. In 1902, Buber became the editor of the weekly Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, although he later withdrew from organizational work in Zionism. In 1923 Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou), and in 1925 he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language.
In 1930 Buber became an honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and resigned in protest from his professorship immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. He then founded the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education, which became an increasingly important body as the German government forbade Jews to attend public education. In 1938, Buber left Germany and settled in Jerusalem, in the British Mandate of Palestine, receiving a professorship at Hebrew University and lecturing in anthropology and introductory sociology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
November 22, 2023
Martian Buber succinctly explains the core tennets of Hasidism in this short (but inclusive) book. Short essays look at six traditional Hasidic stories that Buber then explains. Deep concepts are presented in a way that the lay person (such as myself) can (begin to) understand the basic meaning behind the stories. A friend told me I should read this before I and Thou by Buber. Glad that I did.
March 14, 2024
Piccola perla di umanità. Imperdibile.
Da conservare nel cuore.
Da conservare nel cuore.
April 23, 2012
If I were stuck on a deserted island, I would want this with me. I re-read it every few years.
August 3, 2011
On the surface a simple little book; the Hassidic stories in it read like children's tales for adults. The Way of Man, as comes to the fore, makes a rather strong break with general accepted concepts of individualism in Western society. The individual in relation to a broader society is emphasised and he becomes, once again, a social creature. It is also in that socialisation that Man finds his happiness, according to Buber. If you can manage to internalise his message it actually does help with coping skills. Although I never bought it as a self-help book, this book is the only book that, apart from being fun to read, made me work at being a better person.
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October 31, 2025Rabbi Hanokh told this story: There was once a man who was very stupid. When he got up in the morning it was so hard for him to find his clothes that at night he almost hesitated to go to bed for thinking of the trouble he would have on waking. One evening he finally made a great effort, took paper and pencil and as he undressed noted down exactly where he put everything he had on. The next morning, very well pleased with himself, he took the slip of paper in his hand and read: “cap” “pants” — there it was, he set it on his head; there they lay, he got into them; and so it went until he was fully dressed. “That’s all very well, but now where am I myself?” he asked in great consternation. “Where in the world am I?” He looked and looked, but it was a vain search; he could not find himself. “And that is how it is with us,” said the rabbi.
July 3, 2016
Way of man
P.6 the task of man, of every man, according to Hasidic teaching, is to affirm for gods sake the world and himself and by this very means to transform both.
P.14 there is a demonic question, a spurious question, which apes God's question, the question of Truth. Its characteristic is that it does not stop at: 'Where art thou?', but continues: 'From where you have got to, there is no way out.' This is the wrong kind of heart-searching, which does not prompt man to turn, and put him on the way, but, by representing turning as hopeless, drives him to a point where it appears to have become entirely impossible and man can go on living only by demonic pride, the pride of perversity.
P.16 every single man is a new thing in the world, and is called upon to fulfill his particularity in this world.
P. 17 I shall not be asked: "Why were you not Moses?" I shall be asked: "Why were you not Zusya?"
P.17 God does not say: 'This way leads to me and that does not', but he says: whatever you do may be a way to me, provided you do it in such a manner that it leads you to me.'
P18 thus the way by which a man can reach God is revealed to him only through the knowledge of his own being, the knowledge of his essential quality and inclination.
19 a man may only detach himself from nature in order to revert to it again and, in hallowed contact with it, find his way to God.
20 any natural act, if hallowed, leads to God, and nature needs man for what no angel can perform on it, namely, its hallowing.
28 but just this perspective, in which a man sees himself only asan individual contrasted with other individuals, and Nita's a genuine person, whose transformation helps towards the transformation of the world, co rains the fundamental error which Hasidic teaching denounces. The essential thing is to begin with oneself, and at this moment a man has nothing in the world to care about than this beginning. Any other attitude would distract him from what he is about to begin, weakening his initiative, and thus frustrate the entire bold undertaking.
29 'Our sages say: "Seek peace i your own place." You cannot find peace anywhere save in your own self. [...] when a man has made peace within himself, he will be able to make peace in the whole world.
29 [regarding conflict with ithers]
From here, there is no way out but by the crucial realization: Everything depends on myself, and the crucial decision: I will straighten myself out.
39. The highest culture of the soul remains basically arid and barren unless, day by day, waters of life pour forth into the soul from those little encounters to which we give their due; the most formidable power is intrinsically powerlessness unless it maintains a secret covenant with these contacts, both humble and helpful, with strange, and yet near, being.
39 Rabbi Hanokh said: 'The other nations too believe that there are two worlds. They too say: "In the other world." The difference is this: They think that the two are separate and severed, but Israel professes that the two worlds are essentially one and shall in fact become one.' In their true essence, the two worlds are one. They only have, as it were, moved apart. But they shall again become one, as they are in their true essence. Man was created for the purpose of unifying the two worlds. He contributes toward this unity by holy living, in relationship to the world in which he has been set, at the place on which he stands.
41 'God dwells wherever man lets him in.'
This is the ultimate purpose: to let God in. But we can let him in only where we really stand, where we live, where we live a true life. If we maintain holy intercourse with the little world entrusted to us, if we help the holy spiritual substance to accomplish itself in that section of Creation in which we are living, then we are establishing, in this our place, a dwelling for the Divine Presence.
P.6 the task of man, of every man, according to Hasidic teaching, is to affirm for gods sake the world and himself and by this very means to transform both.
P.14 there is a demonic question, a spurious question, which apes God's question, the question of Truth. Its characteristic is that it does not stop at: 'Where art thou?', but continues: 'From where you have got to, there is no way out.' This is the wrong kind of heart-searching, which does not prompt man to turn, and put him on the way, but, by representing turning as hopeless, drives him to a point where it appears to have become entirely impossible and man can go on living only by demonic pride, the pride of perversity.
P.16 every single man is a new thing in the world, and is called upon to fulfill his particularity in this world.
P. 17 I shall not be asked: "Why were you not Moses?" I shall be asked: "Why were you not Zusya?"
P.17 God does not say: 'This way leads to me and that does not', but he says: whatever you do may be a way to me, provided you do it in such a manner that it leads you to me.'
P18 thus the way by which a man can reach God is revealed to him only through the knowledge of his own being, the knowledge of his essential quality and inclination.
19 a man may only detach himself from nature in order to revert to it again and, in hallowed contact with it, find his way to God.
20 any natural act, if hallowed, leads to God, and nature needs man for what no angel can perform on it, namely, its hallowing.
28 but just this perspective, in which a man sees himself only asan individual contrasted with other individuals, and Nita's a genuine person, whose transformation helps towards the transformation of the world, co rains the fundamental error which Hasidic teaching denounces. The essential thing is to begin with oneself, and at this moment a man has nothing in the world to care about than this beginning. Any other attitude would distract him from what he is about to begin, weakening his initiative, and thus frustrate the entire bold undertaking.
29 'Our sages say: "Seek peace i your own place." You cannot find peace anywhere save in your own self. [...] when a man has made peace within himself, he will be able to make peace in the whole world.
29 [regarding conflict with ithers]
From here, there is no way out but by the crucial realization: Everything depends on myself, and the crucial decision: I will straighten myself out.
39. The highest culture of the soul remains basically arid and barren unless, day by day, waters of life pour forth into the soul from those little encounters to which we give their due; the most formidable power is intrinsically powerlessness unless it maintains a secret covenant with these contacts, both humble and helpful, with strange, and yet near, being.
39 Rabbi Hanokh said: 'The other nations too believe that there are two worlds. They too say: "In the other world." The difference is this: They think that the two are separate and severed, but Israel professes that the two worlds are essentially one and shall in fact become one.' In their true essence, the two worlds are one. They only have, as it were, moved apart. But they shall again become one, as they are in their true essence. Man was created for the purpose of unifying the two worlds. He contributes toward this unity by holy living, in relationship to the world in which he has been set, at the place on which he stands.
41 'God dwells wherever man lets him in.'
This is the ultimate purpose: to let God in. But we can let him in only where we really stand, where we live, where we live a true life. If we maintain holy intercourse with the little world entrusted to us, if we help the holy spiritual substance to accomplish itself in that section of Creation in which we are living, then we are establishing, in this our place, a dwelling for the Divine Presence.
August 19, 2024
Im not a Hasidic Jew yet but here’s some highlights:
“Do not keep worrying about what you have done wrong, but apply the soul-power you are now wasting on self-reproach, to such active relationship to the world as you are destined for. You should not be occupied with yourself but with the world.”
“It is a greater thing if the streets of a man's native town are as bright to him as the paths of heaven. For it is here, where we stand, that we should try to make shine the light of the hidden divine life.”
“Do not keep worrying about what you have done wrong, but apply the soul-power you are now wasting on self-reproach, to such active relationship to the world as you are destined for. You should not be occupied with yourself but with the world.”
“It is a greater thing if the streets of a man's native town are as bright to him as the paths of heaven. For it is here, where we stand, that we should try to make shine the light of the hidden divine life.”
June 17, 2018
"[...] Eppure non cessiamo mai di avvertire la mancanza, ci sforziamo sempre, in un modo o nell'altro, di trovare da qualche parte quello che ci manca. Da qualche parte, in una zona qualsiasi del mondo o dello spirito, ovunque tranne che là dove siamo, là dove siamo stati posti: ma è proprio là, e da nessun'altra parte, che si trova il tesoro."
March 16, 2018
incredible, i took many little unexpected breaths and they felt very significant, a sign of the continual surprise and possibility in life, i feel all opened up ! and i even feel like i have some tools to help stay this way (hopefully)
May 25, 2021
Simple and soul-shaking.
July 21, 2021
Caro, piccolo, preziosissimo libricino. Da leggere e rileggere, anche una volta a settimana.
December 2, 2023
Over and over and over
October 21, 2017
Breve ma denso, denso e profondo, profondo e semplice.
Martin Buber è stato un filosofo e teologo ebreo, e credente, ma questa parla di libro rappresenta un momento di quiete anche per un laico (come me) per riflettere su se stessi, come seduti sotto una grande quercia o - meglio - un grande cedro.
L'edizione ebook costa solo 2,99 euro, e sono ben spesi. In alternativa c'è questo video in cui Moni Ovadia propone una bella lettura pensata e commentata del libro. Dura un'ora e mezza e vale la pena.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zSm...
Martin Buber è stato un filosofo e teologo ebreo, e credente, ma questa parla di libro rappresenta un momento di quiete anche per un laico (come me) per riflettere su se stessi, come seduti sotto una grande quercia o - meglio - un grande cedro.
L'edizione ebook costa solo 2,99 euro, e sono ben spesi. In alternativa c'è questo video in cui Moni Ovadia propone una bella lettura pensata e commentata del libro. Dura un'ora e mezza e vale la pena.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zSm...
May 27, 2012
Illuminante piccolo saggio etico. Offre una serie di aperture e intuizioni utili a raccordare diversi atteggiamenti religiosi. Una piccola baia di acque calme e rassicuranti.
December 24, 2022
"Rabbi Hanokh told this story:
There was once a man who was very stupid. When he got up in the morning it was so hard for him to find his clothes that at night he almost hesitated to go to bed for thinking of the trouble he would have on waking. One evening he finally made a great effort, took paper and pencil and as he undressed noted down exactly where he put everything he had on. The next morning, very well pleased with himself, he took the slip of paper in his hand and read: ‘cap’—there it was, he set it on his head; ‘pants’ —there they lay, he got into them; and so it went until he was fully dressed. ‘That’s all very well, but now where am I myself?’ he asked in great consternation. ‘Where in the world am I?’ He looked and looked, but it was a vain search; he could not find himself. ‘And that is how it is with us,’ said the rabbi."
A friend who introduced me to this book reads it about once a year. I'm on my second read today.
There was once a man who was very stupid. When he got up in the morning it was so hard for him to find his clothes that at night he almost hesitated to go to bed for thinking of the trouble he would have on waking. One evening he finally made a great effort, took paper and pencil and as he undressed noted down exactly where he put everything he had on. The next morning, very well pleased with himself, he took the slip of paper in his hand and read: ‘cap’—there it was, he set it on his head; ‘pants’ —there they lay, he got into them; and so it went until he was fully dressed. ‘That’s all very well, but now where am I myself?’ he asked in great consternation. ‘Where in the world am I?’ He looked and looked, but it was a vain search; he could not find himself. ‘And that is how it is with us,’ said the rabbi."
A friend who introduced me to this book reads it about once a year. I'm on my second read today.
November 19, 2022
Eehhhh niente a me non è piaciuto molto... quattro paginette di un filosofeggiare che non ho ritenuto molto utile, mi sembra ci siano libri di crescita anche spirituale molto migliori... non so se lo consiglierei a qualcuno... forse non l'ho capito visto le entusiastiche recensioni che vanta, ma non ne ho tratto alcun che.
December 8, 2024
Volgersi verso se stessi, non per rimanerci, ma per ritornare nel mondo. Qui, infatti, si trova quel cammino particolare che il dio ha predisposto solamente per noi e che siamo stati chiamati a percorrere, “con voce silenziosa”, sin dall’eternità.
November 18, 2023
Een spiritueel boekje van Martin Buber. Ik begrijp er maar weinig van. Een paar kernboodschappen blijven hangen, onder alle verhalen en referenties naar rabbi's. Referenties die soms lijken op een soort religieuze helden cultuur waar wij ons maar weinig bewust van zijn. Soms vraag ik mij af of die helden niet meer dan plaatshouders in religieuze sprookjes zijn of werkelijk bestaande personen.
God is waar je hem toelaat. Dat is een van zijn boodschappen. De interpretatie van het hiernamaals is dat het een eenheid vormt met het hiervoormaals en dat wij ons moeten beijveren om te zorgen dat we in het nu een waardige en heilige substantie vormen die recht doet aan de schepping. Zoals ik al zei, zware kost gebracht op een lichte manier. Het lijken sprookjes, het zijn lessen voor het leven. Helaas is het niet echt aan mij besteed. Het lijkt mij een goede en geleerde man, een menselijke mens. Maar ik kan er slechts van een afstand naar kijken. Ik begrijp er maar weinig van en ik voel mij er al zeker niet thuis.
God is waar je hem toelaat. Dat is een van zijn boodschappen. De interpretatie van het hiernamaals is dat het een eenheid vormt met het hiervoormaals en dat wij ons moeten beijveren om te zorgen dat we in het nu een waardige en heilige substantie vormen die recht doet aan de schepping. Zoals ik al zei, zware kost gebracht op een lichte manier. Het lijken sprookjes, het zijn lessen voor het leven. Helaas is het niet echt aan mij besteed. Het lijkt mij een goede en geleerde man, een menselijke mens. Maar ik kan er slechts van een afstand naar kijken. Ik begrijp er maar weinig van en ik voel mij er al zeker niet thuis.
June 22, 2024
Breve, intenso e interessante. Manca una stellina a causa della traduzione italiana, un po' scarsa. Proverò la versione francese...
October 27, 2024
Var helt ärligt rätt vilse i vad bokens hela poäng var, men som alltid leder Buber alla lösa trådar in i ett fint väv i slutet.
Helt okej översättning, vissa fel här och där.
Helt okej översättning, vissa fel här och där.
November 24, 2025
6 classic Hasidic tales basically with accompanying sermon, really good ones, but I imagine this books popularity is largely among Jews who have never been to a Hasidic Synagogue, and are not used to Kabbalist influence in the sermons.
Very strange to see the genius of Heidegger's ontology already prefigured and purged of its reactionary tendencies in 1920s German jewish philosophy.
Edit: It appears The Rebbe shares my exact opinion on this book.
Very strange to see the genius of Heidegger's ontology already prefigured and purged of its reactionary tendencies in 1920s German jewish philosophy.
Edit: It appears The Rebbe shares my exact opinion on this book.
November 29, 2025
lovely micro lessons.
September 23, 2021
Very nice ☺️
February 19, 2019
Dense, mystical, philosophical, beautiful.
"If we had power over the ends of the earth, it would not give us that fulfillment of existence which a quiet devotion to nearby life can give us.
"...Our treasure is hidden beneath the heart of our own home."
"If we had power over the ends of the earth, it would not give us that fulfillment of existence which a quiet devotion to nearby life can give us.
"...Our treasure is hidden beneath the heart of our own home."
March 2, 2015
This is my favorite book of all time. I find myself drawn to its 50 pages multiple times in a given year - it is the single field guide and compass that keeps me journeying in creative work and in every other form of life work. It can be a turn-off for those who are not familiar with Hasidic thought, or for those who have no taste at all for any sort of Judeo-Christian philosophy on one's place in the world, I have my own issues with that - but I think if you look past that, there is an universal appeal for those who value steadfastness, going deeper within, and living life as a means of expressing the wonderful uniqueness of who one IS, and how that uniqueness helps to push the collective wheels of the world onward and onward.
It is short in it's words, and quite long in it's impact.
It is short in it's words, and quite long in it's impact.
December 12, 2023
I am reading my way through the Pendle Hill Pamphlets in chronological order. This is number 106. It was hard not to think about the horrible violence Israel is inflicting on the Palestinians while reading this short but evocative essay illustrating elements of how one should live according to Hasidic Judaism. I would like all of the Israeli leaders to read this and take at least some of it to heart and put it to practice.
Additionally the pamphlet version I read was a re-publishing of Buber's work by a Quaker study center in 1959, with permission, not in these horrific times. The short work offers much to think about for anyone and everyone these days with sage advice for living one's life or guiding a country.
For instance: “For Hasidism, as for Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, one cannot love God unless one loves his fellow man, and for this love to be real it must be love of each particular man in his created uniqueness and it must take place for its own sake and not for the sake of any reward, even the salvation or perfection of one’s soul.” (from the Forward, by Maurice Friedman, p. 3)
Sharing with Quaker’s holding that there is that of God in everything, Buber writes: “The world is an irradiation of God, but as it is endowed with an independence of existence and striving, it is apt, always and everywhere, to form a crust around itself. Thus a divine spark lives in everything and being, but each such spark is enclosed by an isolating shell… But also in man, in every man, is a force divine. And in man far more than all other things [the spark or force] can pervert itself, can be misused by himself. This happens if he, instead of directing it toward its origin, allows it to run directionless and seize at everything that offers itself to it; instead of hallowing passion, he makes it evil.” (p. 6)
Buber writes, and this seems particularly relevant to current events, “the practical difference is that in Hasidism man is not treated as an object of examination but is called up to ‘straighten himself out.’ At first a man should himself realize that conflict-situations between himself and others are nothing but the effects of conflict-situations in his own soul; then he should try to overcome this inner conflict so that afterwards he may go out to his fellow-men and enter into new, transformed relationships with them” (p. 22)
It is difficult not to think the leaders of the United States should have applied the same introspective approach to help discern its response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon.
Because, as Buber explains, “When a man has made peace with himself, he will be able to make peace in the whole world.” (p. 23)
“The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow men is that I do not say what I mean, and that I do not do what I say… Everything depends on myself, and the crucial decision: I will straighten myself out. But in order that a man may be capable of this great feat, he must first find his way from the casual, accessory elements of his existence to his own self; he must find his own self, not the trivial ego of the egotistical individual, but the deeper self of the person living in a relationship to the world. And that is also contrary to everything we are accustomed to.” (p. 23)
Early in the fifth chapter Buber advises, “To begin with oneself, but not to end with oneself; to start from oneself, but not to aim at oneself; to comprehend oneself, but not to be preoccupied with oneself.”
“One of the main points in which Christianity differs from Judaism is that [Christianity] makes each man’s salvation his highest aim. Judaism regard each man’s soul as a serving member of God’s Creation which, by men’s work, is to become the Kingdom of God; thus no soul has its object in itself, in its own salvation. True each is to know itself, perfect itself, but not for its own sake—neither for the sake of its temporal happiness nor for that of its eternal bliss—but for the sake of the work which it is destined to perform upon the world.” (pp. 26-27)
I do not believe that work includes genocide or blind aggression as in the case of the US war on terrorism.
“Only when pride subjects itself to humility can it be redeemed; and only when it is redeemed, can the world be redeemed” (p. 27)
Buber writes toward the conclusion, “The Baal-Shem teaches that no encounter with a being or a thing in the course of our life lacks a hidden significance. The people we live with or meet with, the animals that help us with our farm work, the soil we till, the materials we shape, the tools we use, they all contain a mysterious spiritual substance which depends on us for helping it toward its pure form, its perfection. If we neglect this spiritual substance sent across our path, if we think only in terms of momentary purposes, without developing a genuine relationship to the beings and things in whose live we ought to take part, as they in ours, then we shall ourselves be debarred from true, fulfilled existence. It is my [Buber’s] conviction that this doctrine is essentially true.” (p. 30)
“The highest culture of the soul remains basically arid and barren unless, day by day, waters of life pour forth into the soul of those little encounters to which we give their due; the most formidable power is intrinsically powerless unless it maintains a secret covenant with these contacts, both humble and helpful, with strange and yet near being.” (pp. 30-31)
Shalom. Salaam. Amen.
Additionally the pamphlet version I read was a re-publishing of Buber's work by a Quaker study center in 1959, with permission, not in these horrific times. The short work offers much to think about for anyone and everyone these days with sage advice for living one's life or guiding a country.
For instance: “For Hasidism, as for Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, one cannot love God unless one loves his fellow man, and for this love to be real it must be love of each particular man in his created uniqueness and it must take place for its own sake and not for the sake of any reward, even the salvation or perfection of one’s soul.” (from the Forward, by Maurice Friedman, p. 3)
Sharing with Quaker’s holding that there is that of God in everything, Buber writes: “The world is an irradiation of God, but as it is endowed with an independence of existence and striving, it is apt, always and everywhere, to form a crust around itself. Thus a divine spark lives in everything and being, but each such spark is enclosed by an isolating shell… But also in man, in every man, is a force divine. And in man far more than all other things [the spark or force] can pervert itself, can be misused by himself. This happens if he, instead of directing it toward its origin, allows it to run directionless and seize at everything that offers itself to it; instead of hallowing passion, he makes it evil.” (p. 6)
Buber writes, and this seems particularly relevant to current events, “the practical difference is that in Hasidism man is not treated as an object of examination but is called up to ‘straighten himself out.’ At first a man should himself realize that conflict-situations between himself and others are nothing but the effects of conflict-situations in his own soul; then he should try to overcome this inner conflict so that afterwards he may go out to his fellow-men and enter into new, transformed relationships with them” (p. 22)
It is difficult not to think the leaders of the United States should have applied the same introspective approach to help discern its response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon.
Because, as Buber explains, “When a man has made peace with himself, he will be able to make peace in the whole world.” (p. 23)
“The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow men is that I do not say what I mean, and that I do not do what I say… Everything depends on myself, and the crucial decision: I will straighten myself out. But in order that a man may be capable of this great feat, he must first find his way from the casual, accessory elements of his existence to his own self; he must find his own self, not the trivial ego of the egotistical individual, but the deeper self of the person living in a relationship to the world. And that is also contrary to everything we are accustomed to.” (p. 23)
Early in the fifth chapter Buber advises, “To begin with oneself, but not to end with oneself; to start from oneself, but not to aim at oneself; to comprehend oneself, but not to be preoccupied with oneself.”
“One of the main points in which Christianity differs from Judaism is that [Christianity] makes each man’s salvation his highest aim. Judaism regard each man’s soul as a serving member of God’s Creation which, by men’s work, is to become the Kingdom of God; thus no soul has its object in itself, in its own salvation. True each is to know itself, perfect itself, but not for its own sake—neither for the sake of its temporal happiness nor for that of its eternal bliss—but for the sake of the work which it is destined to perform upon the world.” (pp. 26-27)
I do not believe that work includes genocide or blind aggression as in the case of the US war on terrorism.
“Only when pride subjects itself to humility can it be redeemed; and only when it is redeemed, can the world be redeemed” (p. 27)
Buber writes toward the conclusion, “The Baal-Shem teaches that no encounter with a being or a thing in the course of our life lacks a hidden significance. The people we live with or meet with, the animals that help us with our farm work, the soil we till, the materials we shape, the tools we use, they all contain a mysterious spiritual substance which depends on us for helping it toward its pure form, its perfection. If we neglect this spiritual substance sent across our path, if we think only in terms of momentary purposes, without developing a genuine relationship to the beings and things in whose live we ought to take part, as they in ours, then we shall ourselves be debarred from true, fulfilled existence. It is my [Buber’s] conviction that this doctrine is essentially true.” (p. 30)
“The highest culture of the soul remains basically arid and barren unless, day by day, waters of life pour forth into the soul of those little encounters to which we give their due; the most formidable power is intrinsically powerless unless it maintains a secret covenant with these contacts, both humble and helpful, with strange and yet near being.” (pp. 30-31)
Shalom. Salaam. Amen.
September 8, 2024
“Perciò anche prima si diceva: cominciare da se stessi. Cominciare da se stessi, ma non finire con se stessi; prendersi come punto di partenza, ma non come meta; conoscersi, ma non preoccuparsi di sé.”
November 19, 2012
Having read his 'I and Thou' many years ago, I was pleased to get this as a present, and I found it just as good.
March 27, 2024
För mig viktig. Jäklar asså. Helt sjukt. Underbart.
January 5, 2012
The sangha read this beautiful little book together.
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