Martin Buber (1878–1965), one of the paramount spiritual leaders of the twentieth century, is best known as the author of I and Thou—the basic formulation of his philosophy of dialogue—and for his appreciation of Hasidim, which made a deep impact on Christian as well as Jewish thinkers. Born in Vienna, and raised in Lemberg, Buber studied philosophy at the University of Berlin. Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938, he emigrated to Israel, where he taught social philosophy at the Hebrew University until his retirement in 1951. He lived in Jerusalem until his death in 1965.

This new paperback edition brings together volumes one and two of Buber's classic work Tales of the Hasidim, with a new foreword by Chaim Potok. Martin Buber devoted forty years of his life to collecting and retelling the legends of Hasidim. "Nowhere in the last centuries," wrote Buber in Hasidim and Modern Man, "has the soul-force of Judaism so manifested itself as in Hasidim... Without an iota being altered in the law, in the ritual, in the traditional life-norms, the long-accustomed arose in a fresh light and meaning."

These marvelous tales—terse, vigorous, often cryptic—are the true texts of Hasidim. The hasidic masters, of whom these tales are told, are full-bodied personalities, yet their lives seem almost symbolic. Through them is expressed the intensity and holy joy whereby God becomes visible in everything.