Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings

100 Pages·2002·2.18 MB·English

by  Martin Buber

Ten Rungs
The sacred sayings and short tales collected here by Martin
Buber have their origins in the traditional Hasidic
metaphor of life as a ladder, reaching towards God in rungs
of ascending perfection. Through riddles and Biblical
interpretations, Jewish proverbs and spiritual meditations
both profound and tender, Buber seeks to awaken in the
reader an awareness of the urgency of the human condition
and of the great need for spiritual righteousness and self-
renewal.
Ten Rungs imparts an exquisite glimpse of the mystical
piety and joy that defines Hasidic lore. ‘No one can really
be devout in relation to God, if he is not devout toward His
creation…. And so, dear reader, these pages are not
concerned with the mysteries of heaven, but with your life
and mine, in this hour and the next.’
Martin Buber (1878–1965) was one of the greatest
religious thinkers of the twentieth century, and was
nominated for Nobel prizes for both Literature and Peace.
His works include I and Thou, The Way of Man and
Between Man and Man.
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Martin Buber titles available from
Routledge
Between Man and Man
The Legend of the Baal-Shem*
Meetings: Autobiographical Fragments
Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings*
The Way of Man*
Also available:
Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue by Maurice S.Friedman
* Not available in the United States or Canada
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MARTIN BUBER
Ten Rungs
Collected Hasidic Sayings
Translated from the German by
Olga Marx
LONDON AND NEW YORK
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First published in English 1947 by Schocken Books
This edition first published 2002
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1947, 1995, 2002 the Estate of Martin Buber
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
ISBN 0-203-38067-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-38685-X (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-28268-3 (Hbk)
ISBN 0-415-28269-1 (Pbk)
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FOR THERE IS NO RUNG OF BEING
ON WHICH WE CANNOT FIND
THE HOLINESS OF GOD
EVERYWHERE AND AT ALL TIMES