"The Life of the Hasidim" by Martin Buber

The Life of The Hasidim is part of 'The Legend of the Baal-Shem' where Jewish philosopher Martin Buber spoke directly to the most profound human concerns in 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). Ḥasidism gave rise to a pattern of communal life and leadership as well as a particular social outlook which emerged in Judaism and Jewry in the second half of the 18th century. Ecstasy, mass enthusiasm, close-knit group cohesion, and charismatic leadership of one kind or another are the distinguishing socioreligious marks of Ḥasidism. The four key parts of "The Life of the Hadism" are: 1. HITLAHAVUT :The spirit of enthusiasm in which prayer is to be offered is known in hasidic teaching as hitlahavut, from lahav, a flame i.e. the soul of the worshipper is to be on fire for God. 2. AVODA: or Avodah (Hebrew: עֲבוֹדָה), literally means "work, worship, and service" in Hebrew. It can also mean agricultural work and, more traditionally, serving God. 3. KAVANA: Meaning, the act of going in a particular direction 4. SHIFLUT: Shiflut, Lowliness. It is here that the mystic journey begins. Lowliness is the first rung of the ladder that brings us up to God. 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 a major part of Hasidism which can be read not only as a collection of myth but as a key to understanding the central part of Buber’s thought: the I-Thou, or dialogical, relationship. (Produced/Read by Vincent Bagnall. 78 min).