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The Legend of the Baal-Shem
The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber spoke directly to the most profound human concerns in all his works, including his discussions of Hasidism, a mystical-religious movement founded in Eastern Europe by Israel ben Eliezer, called the Baal-Shem (the Master of God's Name). Living in the first part of the eighteenth century in Podolia and Wolhynia, the Baal-Shem braved scorn and rejection from the rabbinical establishment and attracted followers from among the common people, the poor, and the mystically inclined. Here Buber offers a sensitive and intuitive account of Hasidism, followed by twenty stories about the life of the Baal-Shem. This book is the earliest and one of the most delightful of Buber's seven volumes on Hasidism and can be read not only as a collection of myth but as a key to understanding the central theme of Buber's thought: the I-Thou, or dialogical, relationship.
"All positive religion rests on an enormous simplification of the manifold and wildly engulfing forces that invade us: it is the subduing of the fullness of existence. All myth, in contrast, is the expression of the fullness of existence, its image, its sign; it drinks incessantly from the gushing fountains of life."--Martin Buber, from the introduction
"All positive religion rests on an enormous simplification of the manifold and wildly engulfing forces that invade us: it is the subduing of the fullness of existence. All myth, in contrast, is the expression of the fullness of existence, its image, its sign; it drinks incessantly from the gushing fountains of life."--Martin Buber, from the introduction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
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About the author
Martin Buber
413 books473 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 1, 2023
"The Legend of the Baal-Shem" by Martin Buber provides an excellent overview of Hasidic beliefs and practices. The book contains 20 stories or legends about the life of the movement's found Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698 –1760) also know as Baal Shem Tov. In the simplest terms, Hasidism can be called a mystical or ecstatic form of Judaism that opposed conventional Talmudic Judaism which was supposedly overly focused on doctrine. The Hasidic in contrast to traditional Jews wished to approach and cling to God in an ecstatic or mystical manner.
Writing in 1907, Buber stated: "Hasidism is in a state of decay." (p. 12) However, Israel needed the basic drive of Hasidism and would be unable to renew itself without it:
"The Hasidic teaching is the proclamation of rebirth. No renewal of Judaism is possible that does not bear in itself the elements of Hasidism. ... It is the latest form of the Jewish myth that we know. The legend is the myth of the calling. ... The legend is the myth of I and Thou, of the caller and the called." (pp. 12-12)
Buber's book begins with an Introduction in which he outlines the four components of Hasidism:
-1- Hitlahavut which can be thought of as "the burning ardour of ecstasy";
-2-Kavana which is the intention "of a soul directed towards a goal";
-3- Avoda which is "the service of God in time and space"; and
-4- Shiflut which is the humility of the believer to act "Only in his own way and not in any other ".
The twenty stories cover a wide range of themes.
"The Prayer Book" and "The Revelation" deal with how the believer finds the way or true path.
Several stories deal with the failure to find this true path. "The Call" is tells the story of a Rabbi who through a sinful desire for of glory wants to be one who summons the Messiah.
"The Language of the Birds" is about an individual who wants to follow God but fails because of his great personal ambitions. "Alas for you Rabbi Ayre you have a greedy soul. ... you wanted to enrich yourself immoderately and in haste." (pp. 193 - 1994)
"The Conversion" and "The Forgotten Story" deal with redemption. The theme of metempsychosis (or reincarnation is treated in "The Soul which Descended" and "David and Saul".
Baal-Shem's power to do miracles is presented in several stories of which "The Judgement" is the most forceful. The need for the Jews to return to the Holy Land is discussed in "Jerusalem".
The last story "The Shepherd", tells how Baal-Shem died of grief when he failed to defeat the heretical Frankish movement which among other sins called for the Jews to convert to Christianity.
As a practicing Catholic, I greatly enjoyed "The Legend of the Baal-Shem". Buber's Judaism is in many ways extremely close to Christianity. The enthusiasm of John Paul II for Buber is very easy to understand after one reads this book.
Writing in 1907, Buber stated: "Hasidism is in a state of decay." (p. 12) However, Israel needed the basic drive of Hasidism and would be unable to renew itself without it:
"The Hasidic teaching is the proclamation of rebirth. No renewal of Judaism is possible that does not bear in itself the elements of Hasidism. ... It is the latest form of the Jewish myth that we know. The legend is the myth of the calling. ... The legend is the myth of I and Thou, of the caller and the called." (pp. 12-12)
Buber's book begins with an Introduction in which he outlines the four components of Hasidism:
-1- Hitlahavut which can be thought of as "the burning ardour of ecstasy";
-2-Kavana which is the intention "of a soul directed towards a goal";
-3- Avoda which is "the service of God in time and space"; and
-4- Shiflut which is the humility of the believer to act "Only in his own way and not in any other ".
The twenty stories cover a wide range of themes.
"The Prayer Book" and "The Revelation" deal with how the believer finds the way or true path.
Several stories deal with the failure to find this true path. "The Call" is tells the story of a Rabbi who through a sinful desire for of glory wants to be one who summons the Messiah.
"The Language of the Birds" is about an individual who wants to follow God but fails because of his great personal ambitions. "Alas for you Rabbi Ayre you have a greedy soul. ... you wanted to enrich yourself immoderately and in haste." (pp. 193 - 1994)
"The Conversion" and "The Forgotten Story" deal with redemption. The theme of metempsychosis (or reincarnation is treated in "The Soul which Descended" and "David and Saul".
Baal-Shem's power to do miracles is presented in several stories of which "The Judgement" is the most forceful. The need for the Jews to return to the Holy Land is discussed in "Jerusalem".
The last story "The Shepherd", tells how Baal-Shem died of grief when he failed to defeat the heretical Frankish movement which among other sins called for the Jews to convert to Christianity.
As a practicing Catholic, I greatly enjoyed "The Legend of the Baal-Shem". Buber's Judaism is in many ways extremely close to Christianity. The enthusiasm of John Paul II for Buber is very easy to understand after one reads this book.
May 7, 2025
Tales promoting a mythical, mystical version of Hasidism.
October 29, 2025
SO badly written i could not understand what was going on
June 10, 2023
Simply can’t recommend the audio version narrated by Theodore Bikel enough. It’s like walking through a garden of fresh blooming neroli.
November 9, 2021
Zajímavá kniha spadající do německo židovské kultury a náboženských textů. Dílo prakticky obsahuje příběhy o krutosti, aroganci, soucitu i naprosté hrůze. Mystická sekta židů je zde považována za přiliš pověrčivou a přizemní ve svých náboženských praktikách. Není zde pochyb, že Chasidismus je zde zaměřen méně na učenost oproti jiným formám Judaismu. Každopádně z mého pohledu se zajímavost střídá a některé pasáže jsou zajímavější, jiné zase nudnější. U tohoto téma je složité udržet všechno v perfektně šlapajícím duchu. Není to nejlepší kniha, ale cením si toho úsilí ke shromáždění příběhů, které by jinak vzal čas.
March 7, 2016
The single greatest story of all time is in here, about the boys who loved each other and talked under the birches in the summer time. The one about the language of the birds is interesting, and the picture of the Baal-Shem is actually sort of bland, an inscrutable holy man who presides over matters of law with wierd parables. There are lots of stories within a story, narratives which seem to exist to be the conduit for another story.
December 6, 2008
Stories within stories, lessons hidden in lessons, identities revealed - this collection of legends of the Hasidic rabbi are powerful little tales, while some of the parables' meaning is lost on me, the overall effect is a wonderful incorporation of poetry, fable, and instruction. A nice template.
September 25, 2011
Got this, actually an earlier edition from 1931, about 20 years ago from the shelf of a retired pastor and finally made the time to read it... interesting and the themes Buber pulls out of this old mystic sect of Judaism resonate still with faithful people seeking a deeper expereince offaith.
August 2, 2018
Martin Buber, perhaps more than any other intellectual in the efflorescence of German-Jewish culture, was responsible for relativizing Jewish religious texts, inasmuch as he treated them as works of literature first and foremost and secondly as cultural artifacts. Anyone who has ever used the phrase "culturally Jewish" probably owes Buber as much as they do Moses Mendelssohn. If you're an observant, Orthodox Jew, this is apostasy. If not, well, there are some good stories, poems, aphorisms,and assorted odds and ends compiled in "Jewish Mysticism and the Legends of Baalshem."
Inside are tales of compassion, cruelty, hubris, outright horror ("The Werewolf" is a disturbing little tale), as well as some enigmatic and truly mysterious stories. These Shtetl Chassids (a mystical sect of Jews) were regarded as too superstitious and earthy in their religious practices for a lot of rabbinical Jews, what with their emphasis on merriment and syncretism (at least among various groups of competing Jewish philosophy), but there's no doubt that, while Chassidism is less focused on scholarship than many other forms of Judaism, it still has a sort of kabbalistic and fascinating complexity to it that makes it a mysterious and intriguing wellspring in its own right.
I didn't find the stories uniformly strong, and some of the moral admonitions no doubt served a purpose (especially when recited to the very young) but they're less edifying than the stories that function as narratives rather than mere cautions about hubris or not steadfastly observing the sabbath. But what was good in the book was very good, sometimes beautiful and chilling, achieving the sonorous humming quality of really good poetry. My favorite story (called "The Language of Birds") concerns a man who beseeches a more powerful rabbi to grant him the magical power to understand the chirping of the birds in the trees. Some of the shorter parables have the quality of koans, provoking a sort of one-hand-clapping sensation that made me want to go back and instantly reread them again, or dwell on their contradictions long after I'd set the book aside.
Not Buber's best work, but an admirable effort to collect tales that otherwise might have been lost to the vagaries of time as well as more deliberate attempts to erase these artifacts, which are all worthy of preserving for posterity, Jewish and secular alike. Danke Herr Buber, fur ihre wunderbare Leistung!
Inside are tales of compassion, cruelty, hubris, outright horror ("The Werewolf" is a disturbing little tale), as well as some enigmatic and truly mysterious stories. These Shtetl Chassids (a mystical sect of Jews) were regarded as too superstitious and earthy in their religious practices for a lot of rabbinical Jews, what with their emphasis on merriment and syncretism (at least among various groups of competing Jewish philosophy), but there's no doubt that, while Chassidism is less focused on scholarship than many other forms of Judaism, it still has a sort of kabbalistic and fascinating complexity to it that makes it a mysterious and intriguing wellspring in its own right.
I didn't find the stories uniformly strong, and some of the moral admonitions no doubt served a purpose (especially when recited to the very young) but they're less edifying than the stories that function as narratives rather than mere cautions about hubris or not steadfastly observing the sabbath. But what was good in the book was very good, sometimes beautiful and chilling, achieving the sonorous humming quality of really good poetry. My favorite story (called "The Language of Birds") concerns a man who beseeches a more powerful rabbi to grant him the magical power to understand the chirping of the birds in the trees. Some of the shorter parables have the quality of koans, provoking a sort of one-hand-clapping sensation that made me want to go back and instantly reread them again, or dwell on their contradictions long after I'd set the book aside.
Not Buber's best work, but an admirable effort to collect tales that otherwise might have been lost to the vagaries of time as well as more deliberate attempts to erase these artifacts, which are all worthy of preserving for posterity, Jewish and secular alike. Danke Herr Buber, fur ihre wunderbare Leistung!
October 24, 2021
This book consists of two main parts: an introduction outlining Buber's conception of the basic values of chassidism, and 20 parables not so much about the actual life of the Baal Shem Tov as about his power and meaning.
I found a lot interesting here, but I found it hard to be drawn in. The intro was a bit abstract, and most of the parables quite opaque. Perhaps another reading will get me deeper, but I found some of the symbolism a little too dense to untangle in a reasonable amount of time. This book - or perhaps this tradition - is very introverted and locked tight, and I wonder how much there actually is inside the puzzle box.
I loved the stories that were more metaphysical, touching upon angels, the journey after death, and reincarnation. It adds an interesting kind of mysticism to Jewish spiritual life that was wiped out of my own upbringing. A lot of miracles and feats of spiritual acumen - all with a moral lesson, of course.
Worth a peruse, but my life wasn't changed. I'm curious to read more on the topic.
I found a lot interesting here, but I found it hard to be drawn in. The intro was a bit abstract, and most of the parables quite opaque. Perhaps another reading will get me deeper, but I found some of the symbolism a little too dense to untangle in a reasonable amount of time. This book - or perhaps this tradition - is very introverted and locked tight, and I wonder how much there actually is inside the puzzle box.
I loved the stories that were more metaphysical, touching upon angels, the journey after death, and reincarnation. It adds an interesting kind of mysticism to Jewish spiritual life that was wiped out of my own upbringing. A lot of miracles and feats of spiritual acumen - all with a moral lesson, of course.
Worth a peruse, but my life wasn't changed. I'm curious to read more on the topic.
May 31, 2020
So curious. This is about the rabbi who founded the Hasidic movement, but he seems such a different figure than I would assume given the actions and direction of modern orthodoxy, at least from my vantage.
It opens with the Baal Shem Tov fighting a werewolf. Then learning a book of magic spells. He travels through space and time and talks to bugs.
There is no focus on rules, but on the appreciation of the individual dictates of spirit.
After the first 50 pages or so of a kind of kabbalistic primer, the stories are a delight, inspiring (well, to me), and fascinating.
It opens with the Baal Shem Tov fighting a werewolf. Then learning a book of magic spells. He travels through space and time and talks to bugs.
There is no focus on rules, but on the appreciation of the individual dictates of spirit.
After the first 50 pages or so of a kind of kabbalistic primer, the stories are a delight, inspiring (well, to me), and fascinating.
August 15, 2024
Such a fascinating collection. This book is sort of an episodic fable/lore collection of tales about the Baal-Shem. Now, whether you take these stories literally or more metaphorically (for me, I approached it similar to the way I approach daf and tried to interpret the messages in a modern sense), there's plenty of value and beauty to be had.
June 14, 2018
Teach through inspiration, not by Dogma.
January 22, 2023
A beautiful collection of stories about the mystical founder of Hasidism.
The tales are lyrical and mystical and dense. There is more reincarnation than I would have expected, and something like the law of karma is at work across rebirths. There are also battles between light and dark. Conversations with Elijah. Magical journeys through space and time.
The stories can be hard to follow, particularly the first one, and I wonder to what extent Buber's treatment of them was perhaps overly poetic. In other words I don't know how much of what I'm reading is from Buber and how much was in the original texts. Either way the effect is beautiful and spell binding.
Updated 1/2023: Now that I am slowly making my way through the German original, I see that the English translation is painfully inadequate, and so much of Buber's beautiful lyricism is lost and rendered instead in a much blander English version. :(
The tales are lyrical and mystical and dense. There is more reincarnation than I would have expected, and something like the law of karma is at work across rebirths. There are also battles between light and dark. Conversations with Elijah. Magical journeys through space and time.
The stories can be hard to follow, particularly the first one, and I wonder to what extent Buber's treatment of them was perhaps overly poetic. In other words I don't know how much of what I'm reading is from Buber and how much was in the original texts. Either way the effect is beautiful and spell binding.
Updated 1/2023: Now that I am slowly making my way through the German original, I see that the English translation is painfully inadequate, and so much of Buber's beautiful lyricism is lost and rendered instead in a much blander English version. :(
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September 23, 2010The Legend of the Baal-Shem by Martin Buber (1995)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews