The sayings and aphorisms published here are selected from Martin Buber’s Ten Rungs, which is to be published late this month by Schocken Books. They appear here by permission of the publisher. The following is Martin Buber’s introduction to the book:
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They asked the “holy Yehudi”: “Why is it written: ‘Justice, justice, shalt thou follow’ [Deut. 16:20]? Why is the word ‘justice’ repeated?”
He answered: “We ought to follow justice with justice, and not with unrighteousness.” That means: The use of unrighteousness as a means to a righteous end makes the end itself unrighteous; injustice as a means to justice renders justice unjust.
What knowledge could be of greater importance to the men of our age, and to the various communities of our time? The saying sounds as if it were derived from the experiences of contemporaries. And yet it stems from the Napoleonic era, and was not spoken at the hub of events, but in a Polish ghetto, and by a zaddik, a “righteous man,” who was a leader of Hasidim, those “devout” souls who knew that no one can be really devout in relation to God if he is not devout toward his creation, and that the love of God is unreal unless it is crowned with love for one’s fellow-men.
This book contains a small selection of Hasidic sayings of this nature. They all revolve around a single question: How can we fulfill the meaning of our existence on earth? 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. These sayings were scattered through hundreds of books, in versions largely distorted in the speeches and writings of the disciples who transmitted them. I have selected, reduced to the quintessence of meaning, and arranged them according to major themes, not because they are beautiful and interesting, but because of my belief that, in this selection, arrangement and form, they may serve to show even the reader who is very remote from their origins the way to the true life.
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Two Kinds of Faith
Why do we say: “Our God and the God of our fathers”?
There are two kinds of people who believe in God. One believes because he has taken over the faith of his fathers, and his faith is strong. The other has arrived at faith through thinking and studying. The difference between them is this: The advantage of the first is that, no matter what arguments may be brought against it, his faith cannot be shaken; his faith is firm because it was taken over from his fathers. But there is one flaw in it: he has faith only in response to the command of man, and he has acquired it without studying and thinking for himself. The advantage of the second is that, because he found God through much thinking, he has arrived at a faith of his own. But here too there is a flaw: it is easy to shake his faith by refuting it through evidence. But he who unites both kinds of faith is invincible. And so we say, “Our God” with reference to our studies, and “God of our fathers” with an eye to tradition.
The same interpretation has been given to our saying, “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob,” and not “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” for this indicates that Isaac and Jacob did not merely take over the tradition of Abraham; they themselves searched for God.
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Everywhere
God says to man as he said to Moses: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet”—put off the habitual which encloses your foot and you will recognize that the place on which you happen to be standing at this moment is holy ground. For there is no rung of being on which we cannot find the holiness of God everywhere and at all times.
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A Man on Earth
Question: Why is it written: “In the day that God created a man on earth,” and not “in the day that God created man on earth”?
Answer: You shall serve your Creator as if there were only one man in the world, only you yourself.
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It is I
Question: It is written: “I am JHWH, thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.” Why does it not say: “I am JHWH, thy God, who created heaven and earth”?
Answer: “Heaven and earth!” Then man might have said, “Heaven—that’s too much for me!” So God said to man: “I am the one who fished you out of the mud. Now you come here and listen to me!”
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Exchange of Strength
When a Jew is about to say: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the world,” and prepares to utter the first word, the word “blessed,” he shall do so with all his strength, so that he will have no strength left to say “art thou.” And this is the meaning of the verse in the Scriptures: “But they that wait for the Lord shall exchange their strength.” What we are really saying is: “Our Father in heaven, I am giving you all the strength that is within me in that very first word; now will you, in exchange, give me an abundance of new strength, so that I can go on with my prayer.”
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Disturbance From Within
To commune with your Maker in solitude and silence, to recite psalms and pray to him—this it is good to do with your whole heart, until you are overwhelmed with weeping and weep to God as a child weeps to its father. But to weep according to plan in the midst of prayer—that is unworthy! He who does so can no longer say what he says with a whole heart, and the truly great weeping will not overwhelm him. Even thoughts about prayer are like “alien thoughts” which hinder the soul from fixing itself wholly upon God.
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Valid Prayer
A prayer which is not spoken in the name of all Israel is no prayer at all.
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All the Melodies
Every people has its own melody, and no people sings the melody of another. But Israel sings all the melodies, in order to bring them to God. So, in the “Section of Praise,” all the creatures that live on the earth, and all the birds, utter each his own song. But Israel makes a song out of all of their songs, in order to bring them to God.
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Two Worlds
The other nations, too, believe that there are two worlds. They, too, say, “in the world to come.” The difference is this: they think that the two are separate and severed, but Israel professes that the two worlds are essentially one and shall, indeed, become one.
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The Ladder
The souls descended from the realm of heaven to earth, on a long ladder. Then it was taken away. Now, up there, they are calling home the souls. Some do not budge from the spot, for how can one get to heaven without a ladder? Others leap and fall and leap again, and give up. But there are those who know very well that they cannot achieve it, but try and try over and over again until God catches hold of them and pulls them up.
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Abraham And His Guests
Concerning Abraham, whom angels visited, the Scriptures say: “And he stood over them and they did eat.” Why is this said in the Scriptures? It is not customary for the host who does not eat with his guests to stand over them while they eat. Now this is what is meant by these words in the Scriptures: The angels have their virtues and flaws, and men have their virtues and flaws. The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate, and their flaw is that they cannot improve. Man’s flaw is that he can deteriorate, and his virtue that he can improve. But a man who practices hospitality in the true sense of the word acquires the virtues of his guests. Thus Abraham acquired the virtue of angels who never deteriorate. And so he was over and above them.
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Joyless Virtue
If A man has fulfilled all the commandments, he is admitted to the Garden of Eden, even though he has not burned with fervor and has not experienced delight. But since he has felt no delight on earth, he feels none there either. Finally, he even grumbles: “And they make all that to-do about paradise!”
And hardly have the words left his lips, when he is thrown out!
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The Nature of Service
This is the service man must perform all of his days: to shape matter into form, to refine the flesh, and to let the light penetrate the darkness, until the darkness itself shines and there is no longer any division between the two. As it is written: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
One should not make a great to-do about serving God. Does the hand boast when it carries out what the heart wills?
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The Patriarchs
Question: Rashi expounds the words of God: “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob” as meaning “I appeared to the fathers.” In what way can this be considered an explanation?
Answer: He who had a father who was righteous and devout is not apt to make a great effort to perfect himself, for he leans on the merits of his father. This is even more true of one whose father and grandfather were both holy men; the mere fact that he is their grandson seems to him like solid ground beneath his feet. But this was not so in the days of the patriarchs: Isaac did not concern himself with the merit his father had acquired, nor Jacob with that of his father and his ancestors, for they did not want to be grandsons, but fathers.
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Renewal
In order to perfect oneself, one must renew oneself day by day.
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To Die and To Live
It is written in the psalm: “I shall not die, but live.” In order really to live, man must first give himself to death. But when he has done so, he discovers that he is not to die, that he is to live.
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Infinity
Infinity shall be contained in every deed of man, in his speaking and seeing, listening and walking, standing still and lying down.
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Every Day
Everyone of Israel is told to think of himself as standing at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. For man there are past and future events, but not so for God: day in, day out, he gives the Torah.
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Dreams
Dreams are a secretion of our thoughts and through them our thought is purified. All the wisdom in the world is a secretion of the Torah, and through it the Torah is purified. That is why we read: “When the Lord brings back those that returned to Zion, we will be like unto them that dream.” For then it will be revealed that wisdom exists only that the Torah may be purified, and exile only that the thought of Israel may be purified, and all will be as a dream.
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The Man Who Denies God
Whoever says that the words of the Torah are one thing and the words of the world another must be regarded as a man who denies God.
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Body and Soul
Everyone should have pity upon his body and allow it to share in all that illumines the soul. We must purify the body very greatly so that it may share in everything the soul receives, so that there may be a change in the present state where the soul attains to lofty matters and the body knows nothing about them. But if the body is given a share, it can also be of use to the soul. For, at times, the soul falls from its rung, and then the purified body can help it up again through the power of the light it has absorbed. That is why Job says: “From out my flesh shall I see God.”
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Of Modern Inventions
“You can learn from everything,” the rabbi of Sadagora once said to his hasidim. “Everything can teach us something, and not only everything God has created. What man has made has also something to teach us.”
“What can we learn from a train?” one hasid asked dubiously.
“That because of one second one can miss everything.”
“And from the telegraph?”
“That every word is counted and charged.”
“And the telephone?”
“That what we say here is heard there.”
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How To Say Torah
I shall teach you the best way to say Torah. You must cease to be aware of yourselves. You must be nothing but an ear that hears what the universe of the word is constantly saying within you. The moment you start hearing what you yourself are saying, you must stop.
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Within and Without
Man is afraid of things that cannot harm him, and he knows it; and he craves things that cannot help him, and he knows it. But actually, it is something within man he is afraid of, and it is something within man that he craves.
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Judgement
He who desires to become aware of the hidden light must lift the feeling of fear up to its source. And he can accomplish this if he judges himself and all he does. For then he sheds all fears and lifts fear that has fallen down. But if he does not judge himself, he will be judged from on high, and this judgment will come upon him in the guise of countless things, and all the things in the world will become messengers of God who carry out the judgment on this man.
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The Growing Tree
Man is like a tree. If you stand in front of a tree and watch it incessantly, to see how it grows, and to see how much it has grown, you will see nothing at all. But tend it at all times, prune the runners and keep it free of beetles and worms, and—all in good time-it will come into its growth. It is the same with man: all that is necessary is for him to overcome his obstacles, and he will thrive and grow. But it is not right to examine him hour after hour to see how much has already been added to his stature.
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Letters and Souls
The myriads of letters in the Torah stand for the myriads of souls in Israel. If one single letter is left out of the Torah, it becomes unfit for use; if one single soul is left out of the union of Israel, the Divine Presence will not rest upon it. Like the letters, so the souls must unite and form a union. But why is it forbidden for one letter in the Torah to touch its neighbor? Because every soul of Israel must have hours when it is alone with its Maker.
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Give and Take
The motto of life is: “Give and Take.” Everyone must be both a giver and a receiver. Who is not both is as a barren tree.
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In Every Man
In every man there is something precious, which is in no one else. And so we should honor each for what is hidden within him, for what only he has, and none of his comrades.
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The True Love Of God
To love God truly, one must first love man. And if anyone tells you that he loves God and does not love his fellow-man, you will know that he is lying.
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As Yourself
What you must do is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no one who knows your many faults better than you! But you love yourself notwithstanding. And so you must love your neighbor, no matter how many faults you see in him.
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When It Is Good
There is no quality and there is no power in man that was created to no purpose. And even base and corrupt qualities can be uplifted to serve God. When, for example, self-assurance is uplifted, it changes into proud assurance of the ways of God. But to what end can the denial of God have been created? It too can be uplifted through deeds of charity. For if someone comes to you and asks your help, you shall not turn him off with pious words, saying: “Have faith and take your troubles to God!” You shall act as though there were no God, as though there were only one person in all the world who could help this man—only yourself.
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The Exile of the Divine Presence
The Divine Presence governs from top to bottom and to the verge of all rungs. That is the secret hidden in the words: “And Thou preservest them all.” Even when a man sins, his sin is encompassed by the Presence because without it he would not have the power to move a limb. And that is the exile of the Divine Presence.
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The Lowest Rung
In the story of the Creation we read: “. . . and behold, it was very good.” But, in the passage where Moses reproves Israel, the verse says: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.” Where did the evil come from?
Evil too is good. It is the lowest rung of of perfect goodness. If you do good deeds, even evil will become good; but if you sin, evil will really become evil.
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The Alphabet
Question: Why, on the Day of Atonement, is the confession of sins given in alphabetical order?
Answer: If it were otherwise we should not know when to stop beating our breast. For there is no end to sin, and no end to the awareness of sin, but there is an end to the alphabet.
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Do Not Weigh
When you talk to people, do not weigh whether or not their thoughts are clinging steadfastly to God. A soul that weighs suffers harm.
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The Bees
They say that the proud are reborn as bees. For in his heart the proud man says: “I am a writer, I am a singer, I am a great one at studying.” And since what is said of such men is true—that they will not turn to God, not even on the threshold of hell—they are reborn after they die. They are born again as bees that hum and buzz: “I am, I am, I am.
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Humility No Commandment
Question: All the commandments are written in the Torah. But humility, which is worth all the other virtues put together, is not stated in the Torah as a commandment. All we read about humility is the words in praise of Moses, saying that he was more humble than all the other people. What is the significance of this silence concerning humility?
Answer: If anyone were humble in order to keep a commandment, he would never attain to true humility. To think humility a commandment is the prompting of Satan. He blows up a man’s heart, telling him he is learned and righteous and devout, a master of all good works, and worthy to think himself better than the general run of people, but that thinking so would be proud and impious since the commandment is that he must be humble and put himself on a par with others. And a man who interprets humility as a commandment and keeps it as such only feeds his pride the more.
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Delay
Everyone of Israel should know and consider the fact that he, in the particular way he is made, is unique in the world, and that no one like him has ever been. For if someone like him had already been, there would be no reason for him to be in this world. Actually, everyone is something new in this world, and here he must perfect his particular being, for because it is still imperfect the coming of the Messiah is delayed!
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The Kingdom of God
Those who do not walk in loneliness will be bewildered when the Messiah comes and they are called. But we will be as one who has been asleep and whose spirit is quiet and calm.
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