Authors: Asher Biemann
ISBN-13: 9780312240516, ISBN-10: 0312240511
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Date Published: September 2002
Edition: REV
Asher Biemann teaches modern Jewish thought and intellectual history at Harvard University. He is the author of a study on Martin Buber's philosophy and is co-editor of the first critical edition of Martin Buber's collected works in German.
There is no adequate understanding of contemporary Jewish and Christian theology without reference to Martin Buber. Buber wrote numerous books during his lifetime (1878-1965) and is best known for I and Thou and Good and Evil. Buber has influenced important Protestant theologians like Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Paul Tillich, and Reinhold Niebuhr. His appeal is vast--not only is he renowned for his translations of the Hebrew Bible but also for his interpretation of Hasidism, his role in Zionism, and his writings in psychotherapy and political philosophy.In addition to a general introduction, each chapter is individually introduced, illuminating the historical and philosophical context of the readings. Footnotes explain difficult concepts, providing the reader with necessary references, plus a selective bibliography and subject index.
Martin Buber, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, had a career that spanned more than six decades. How, then, to gather the most representative pieces of his work into a collection that is still accessible? In The Martin Buber Reader: Essential Writings, Asher Biemann collects 32 essays and excerpts from all periods of Buber's career, from his 1903 article "On the Jewish Renaissance" to a 1956 treatise on "Hasidism and Modern Man." Biemann organizes Buber's writings topically, including sections on the Bible, Jewish religiosity, Hasidism, dialogue, philosophy, community and Zionism. This is just a small portion of Buber's corpus, since he also dabbled in fiction, poetry, playwriting and aesthetic criticism. However, it is a fine tribute to Buber as we are most likely to remember him today: as a major Jewish philosopher. Biemann's introduction is a rather dense intellectual history, but helpfully places the various works in context.
Introduction | 1 | |
The Election of Israel: A Biblical Inquiry (1938) | 23 | |
Biblical Leadership (1933) | 33 | |
What are we to do about the Ten Commandments? Reply to an Inquiry (1929) | 43 | |
Biblical Humanism (1933) | 46 | |
The Man of Today and the Jewish Bible (1936) | 51 | |
Spirit and Body of the Hasidic Movement (1935) | 63 | |
The Life of the Hasidim (1908) | 72 | |
Hasidism and Modern Man (1956) | 85 | |
The Faith of Judaism (1929) | 97 | |
Two Foci of the Jewish Soul (1932) | 107 | |
Jewish Religiosity (1923) | 115 | |
Heruth: On Youth and Religion (1919) | 125 | |
On the [Jewish] Renaissance (1903) | 139 | |
The Renewal of Judaism (1911) | 145 | |
Hebrew Humanism (1941) | 158 | |
From Religion as Presence (1922) | 169 | |
From I and Thou | 181 | |
From Dialogue (1932) | 189 | |
Distance and Relation (1950) | 206 | |
Genuine Dialogue (1954) | 214 | |
Philosophical and Religious World View (1928) | 219 | |
Religion and Philosophy (1951) | 223 | |
Teaching and Deed (1934) | 234 | |
Comments on the Idea of Community (1931) | 243 | |
Community (1919) | 247 | |
How Can Community Happen? (1930) | 252 | |
Three Theses of a Religious Socialism (1928) | 258 | |
Concepts and Reality (1916) | 263 | |
Nationalism (1921) | 268 | |
Zionism and Nationalism (1929) | 277 | |
The National Home and National Policy in Palestine (1929) | 281 | |
Zionism and "Zionism" (1948) | 289 | |
Bibliographical Guide | 293 | |
Index | 295 |