After reading several Carl Rogers books and papers I was led to Martin Buber's works. Martin Buber was one of the most profound thinkers of our times. Not an easy read but a one well worth the time and effort. Illuminating and insight on the subject of good and evil.

There is a sense that this is one of the most important book in my life. I have re-read it for the last 3 summers and i have found different things that i needed. Buber has a distinct method of communication that pulls from you who you are... i hear his subtlety in my ear even now. Buber is brilliant.

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 this unity by holy living, in relationship to the world in which he has been set, at the place on which he stands."

This book is comprised of several short essays that are each about ten pages or so in length. It is difficult to explain exactly what the book talks about. But it basically is a series of discussions about what our lives mean in relation to G-d. Why we are here on this planet, how you can think of your life and the lives of others, and lessons from other great Jewish thinkers about these same topics. I read this book, which is tiny and small, maybe 80 or so pages, and it changed my life. It opened for me a new way to explore my Jewish identity that was discrete from the mechanics of the religious observances. I am now very interested in Jewish philosophy and epistemology and want to read further. I would highly, highly recommend this book to anyone, Jewish or not.

I read this book as part of a high school class, and the conversations within our class as a result of it were just amazing. a very deep and spiritual book. buber believes that there are three relationships people can have: relationships between man and things, between man and god, and between man and man. to put it simply, to have a relationship with things, you must go to them. to have a relationship with god, god has to come to you. but in relationships between man and man, we can come to each other...

read "Dialogue"

Martin Buber gives us collected writings of well known and unknown mystics. First published in German in 1909 this wonderful work gives a good introduction for anyone who wants more knowledge and confirmation of the existence of the Divine in our finite lives. LK 11:9 "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Other works that have passed the test of times are "The Interior Castle: St.Theresa of Avila", "Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross", "The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena" and "The Spiritual Life: Evelyn Underhill.

Martin Buber recounts tales and parables of previous generations of central European hasidic Jewry to illuminate a life philosophy with appeal for today and tomorrow's interested generations.He communicates his vast love and respect for what he sees as a treasure trove of wisdom and insight into the human condition as found in hasidic lore.This book is very readable and speaks more directly to the reader without the dense philosophical phraseology which makes other of his books difficult to get into .I have heard criticism that one is actually hearing Martin Buber's humanistic philosophy of life with reference to his interpretation of hasidic folk culture.Be that as it may there is a universal self help appeal to this book.Martin Buber communicates the idea of humankind as consisting of free thinking individuals who can shape destiny,"every man's foremost task is the actualization of his unique ,unprecedented and never recurring potentialities,and not the repetition of something another,and be it even the greatest,has already achieved"This is a book that might change the reader's life.

I am the Richard W. Scheimann who completed this translation in 1964. You can read my translator's forward to this book (....)

In 1964, when I was preparing this book for publication, I wrote:

"If I were asked why I undertook the arduous task of translating Koenigtum Gottes I would reply: "Because I once met Martin Buber." When I was a graduate student in History of Religions at the University of Chicago my teacher and friend, Prof. Joachim Wach, had as his guests for an evening Martin Buber and a small circle of students. Our distinguished visitor did not give us a prepared speech, but instead responded to our interests and questions. I do not remember anything that was said on that occasion. I remember only that Dr. Buber spoke slowly and softly, gazing intently into the eyes of each one who addressed him. I would not have said (as some have) that he looked like an Old Testament prophet, but he certainly looked like a German university professor of a certain vintage, with his black suit of very heavy wool cloth and his massive gold watch chain draped across the front of his vest. At any rate I came away that evening convinced that I had met a genuine charismatic."

I was pleased to learn that the original book had been reissued and is again available in this edition. In 1998 I returned to this work after 34 years, and found that it held more meaning for me than ever. The five star rating is for Buber's work itself, to which I hope my humble translation has provided access to a wider American audience.

This gem is worthy of 100 stars. Bubar's early writings, the work with Gustav Landaur and Franz Rosenweig in synthesizing "Ich und Du", as well as his editorial comments to writers of Der Jude. A true Passover Feast of wisdom and compassion, even including his letter to Gandhi. The forward by Paul Mendes-Flohr serves as an excellant background.As vital today as he was at the birth of the State of Israel.

Reading this book will require some time because of the transcription and content. Carl Rogers made significant changes after his contact with Martin Buber. If you have only listened to the tapes or read previous transcriptions and you need to read this book. I think reading this book provided some insight regarding both men. I have been interested in Buber's philosophy and Hassidic Judaism, and this book has been helpful. I highly recommend this book for the serious reader or student, but take the time to let the words sink in.

This is probably the most readable of Martin Buber's longer Biblical studies. It combines a sense of narrative movement with ingenious interpretations (often backed by formidable, if now obsolete, scholarship, almost always tucked away in endnotes), rhapsodies on freedom and the desert, reflections on the experiences described as miracles, and some hard political thought. For those familiar with traditional Jewish biblical interpretation, its influence on Buber's thought, and his willingness to work out implications by suggesting supplements to the biblical narrative, will be apparent. This combination makes "Moses" interesting to read, but difficult to classify.

Together with a much more difficult book by Buber, "The Kingship of God," it presents early Israelite religion as including a revolutionary social movement, egalitarian and anti-state, yet demanding accountability and public order. Similar ideas, usually less attractively expressed, and often less carefully nuanced, began to appear in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and in some cases remain influential. Buber's priority is not always acknowledged. Of course it is easy to believe that the ferment of their time was as influential of these interpreters as the first part of the twentieth century was on Buber, and that they came to their conclusions independently,

Some readers, looking for traditional religious edification, will probably find Buber's presentation too rationalistic and secular. I am sure that there are those who will be upset by Buber's interpretation of Moses asking God for His true name, and the unhelpful answer, as showing the influence of Egyptian name magic. Others, encouraged at first by the footnotes and the assumption that the biblical text cannot be taken literally, will find him, well, too religious. If you approach "Moses" as the work of a religious philosopher with a strong interest in social issues, and a willingness to take the ancient text very seriously, but not literally, you will find much of interest.

I Thou is truly one of the books that changed the way people think. I Thou is a book that has changed the world, and that is not an exaggeration. Buber's influence on counseling and psycho therapy is undenieable. Carl Rogers revised his thinking after his encounter with Buber and I Thou. I Thou teaches fundamental truths about interaction, interpersonal relationships, and true dialog. Martin Buber will long stand as the seminal work for dialog and interpersonal interactions. But, don't take my word for it, read the book.

This small book is obscure at times and difficult to grasp, yet it completely changed my life. I honestly think Buber wrote it poetically to encourage the reader to slow down and potentially I have a true encounter with the ideas. Most of Buber's later books seem to be developing the ideas expounded in I and Thou, so it might be helpful to read another Buber text, like Between Man and Man, alongside I and Thou. He becomes his own commentary. If you have the patience, I think you'll find this book opens a whole new perspective on relationships, our perspective on the world, and the potential for truly divine encounters.

In 1988 my life was completely transformed by this tiny book, and those effects continue today. Buber's powerful stance on human (and divine) relations is even more relevant and poignant today as we spend more and more time in enclosed rooms trying to communicate with strangers through machines. Buber understood human isolation so well and so eloquently mourned its harmful effects, proposing a far better way to live and relate to others.

I hope that readers will take the time to digest what Buber has to say. As for which transation to read, I began with the Kaufmann, but soon found the older one by Ronald Gregor Smith to be more direct, less wordy, and much more beautifullly written. However, regardless of which translation you read, this book is truly a gem.