I used to own this book over 20 years ago, and because I have been doing some work on chassidic stories based on those I have heard and read in primary sources, I purchased this work. I was surprised at how accurate the stories were, and how they have been close to the original. The only problem is that because of the age of the book, he translates many words that today are just transliterated with a glossary. For example, he uses 'son of the commandments' for 'bar mitzvah'. There are a number of cases where this problem of translation does effect the understanding of the story. However in general it is a good work.

One of the major phases of Jewish literature is that produced by Hasidim, a sect founded in the eighteenth century by Israel ben Eliezer, also known as the Ba'al Shem Tov of Besht. After his death in 1760, one of his disciples compiled a collection of legends and folktales that had become associated with him.

During the twentieth century, Martin Buber undertook the task of retelling the legends of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Although Buber's retelling of these Hasidic folktales has been beneficial in allowing the reader to focus on finding the seed of relevancy behind the historical context, they remain only one scholar's interpretation of the folktales and therefore, not a truly objective work.

In assessing these folktales we must ask ourselves if one should strive to preserve original intent at the cost of modern accessibility or whether one should allow an historical text to evolve and change with the times.

Although Buber certainly performed a service by bringing translations and interpretations of Hasidic tales to modern readers, the problem with these tales is that, when reading them, one is inclined to forget that Buber is projecting his own opinions on the historical reality of the folktales, an historical reality that others might interpret in a very different light. Without examining primary source documents, we might be inclined to accept all that Buber says as true.

Buber, in his translations, seems to intentionally manipulate these primary source documents, documents to which most of us have no access, in order to align them to his own beliefs regarding Hasidim. Thus, the spiritual message Buber reads into these folktales is far too closely tied to his own philosophy of religious anarchism and existentialism.

This raises great problems for those who are not aware of Buber's own biases as a scholar as well as misleading the more casual reader. Buber stressed the legends of Hasidim as our main source of understanding while greatly ignoring the large body of theoretical writings. He reasoned that the theoretical writings were "far too dependent on the older Kabbalistic literature to be regarded as genuinely Hasidic."

The legends and folktales presented in Tales of the Hasidim are certainly extremely interesting and do possess general human interest, however, if we truly want to know what they meant in their original context we would still have to revert to the primary sources which Buber pushes aside as merely secondary.

Despite Buber's obvious biases, he did endeavor to transform the Hasidic tradition from something stultifying to something rewarding, even if in doing so he ended up diluting parts of this tradition in order to make it more palatable to modern readers.

This presentation has, however, stood the test of time, and perhaps "standing the test of time" is really the greatest thing that can be asked for in terms of the transmission of a tradition. If we only keep in mind the fact that Buber's tales are interpretations only and are not necessarily representative of historical Hasidim, his folktales become interesting and charming not only to the literary community but also to anyone interested in studying a modern version of the Hasidic message.

Buber was one of the great religious thinkers of the 20th century. As for the historical accuracy of the work, I will leave it up to those better versed in such matters than myself to judge. However, it is an absolutely delightful and thought-provoking look at Buber's view of Hasids and their history. Students of mysticism, Judaiasm, or simply those looking for a variety of tales steeped in profound meaning, though often delivered with a light touch, will enjoy this work. It is one I often return to for contemplation and inspiration

This new title is most interesting for those of us who are aware of Martin Buber's many sided interests and his philososophical contributions to physchology and phychotherapy. The book contains essays he wrote over the years, his connection and exchange of thoughts and opinions with Jung and many others. The final chapter is the dialogue about the history of the unconscious . Altogether a most interesting and inspiring read.

This book was good for me spiritually: it bored the hell out of me!

Martin Buber (1878 - 1965) was a German Jewish philosopher-theologian and one of the most original and influential thinkers of the 20th Century. In this work, he does not set forth his own theology so much as trace one of its roots. "The [Hasidic] legend is the myth of I and Thou [the title of Buber's most famous work], of the caller and the called, the finite which enters into the infinite and the infinite which has need of the finite." (13) Buber provides a brief introduction and an essay on the spiritual life of the Hasidim (both written in somewhat difficult, mystical language), but the bulk of this book is Buber's retelling of 20 stories from the life of the Ba'al Shem Tov. The stories are beautiful, told in simple and direct language, and convey the lessons that the Ba'al Shem taught (or was taught -- the Ba'al Shem occasionally errs himself and has to be guided back to the correct path). The lessons are about living with dedication, uniting with God in joy, overcoming the evil impulse, and finding the holy in everything around us. Greet the day which enchains thee . . . art thou not already freed?

These stories are for everyone who is interested in the mystical experience. You will need to have some basic background in Kabbala to understand some aspects of some of the stories (the chapter on Kabbala in Barry Holtz' "Back to the Sources" is probably enough), and you may want to review the Glossary before starting on the stories if you are not familiar with basic Jewish religious terms. Highly recommended.

Buber begins the book by giving an introduction to the Hasidim, the ultra-orthodox, mystically inclined branch of Judaism founded by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, a.k.a. the Baal-Shem Tov (which literally means "master of the good name" = master of God's name). Buber then proceeds to relate 20 stories/legends about the Baal-Shem's life and teaching, followed by a glossary of the key terms in the book.

The wonderful thing about this book is its beautiful, poetic simplicity. The language is poetic, and the stories are profound because they show that in the middle of the 1700's, God became a vibrant, living reality to a group of common folk in eastern Europe. "God desires the heart," taught the Baal-Shem.

On a personal note, this book opened my eyes to a side of both life and God that I have never seen before. Live life with joy and humility, live it deeply and with passion. God rejoices and dances with us in our joy.

"God desires the heart." How simple, yet how utterly profound.

I very much expected to have the opportunity to review and develop my personal communication method with the reference of this books material. Instead I found myself sifting through lists of theory and reference, after reference, to other authors ideas compacted into nutshell form. If I wanted the ideas of these other authors I would have bought their material instead. I quickly found a use for this book as a wedge style book stop in my den. Thanks for nothing.