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The Legend of the Baal-Shem

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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.

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 is the Jewish teacher who more than any other helped bring the attention of the West to Hasidism. The Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760)is the founding teacher of Hasidism. In this work Buber tells twenty stories of the Baal Shem and reveals to us a world of deep faith, of deep connection of the Jew with nature and all creation, of the special hitlahavut or enthusiasm which the Hasid brings in his relation to the Divine. Buber is a Hasid of Hasidism, and he tells the stories of its great founder with the same kind of enthusiasm the movement itself generated throughout the Jewish world.

I was originally drawn to Judaism by Martin Buber's wonderful "Tales of the Hasidim" (which has a good section on the Baal Shem Tov). But Buber disavowed his earlier "Legend of the Baal Shem" because it was too flowery and departed too far from the original material; it is also only a mere snippet from the sources. My book "The Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov," which is the only comprehensive book on the founder of Hasidism, is a better choice. I'm sure Buber would agree. (Although it's a big book and may be daunting to a beginner.) -- Yitzhak Buxbaum