Příběhy Rabiho Nachmana

The book of the famous Jewish philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965) The Stories of Rabbi Nachman was first published in 1906. It is a selection of sayings and a creative retelling of some of the stories from the original text collection Sipurei ma'asiyot, a collection of sayings, stories and tales of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810), the founder of one of the leading Hasidic schools. \The book's introduction consists of an important essay on Jewish mysticism and its Hasidic "garb" from the school of Rav Nachman, in which Buber gives his early observations and opinions on the subject. Jewish mysticism, according to Buber, bears the hallmarks of the contradictions in which it arose - on the one hand, the oppressive conditions of life and the painful experience of exile from which asceticism results, and on the other hand, the ecstatic element that completely captivates the soul. It also bears features of syncretism, but its original, supporting elements emerge at different times, as they did, for example, at the time of the emergence of the Hasidic movement. Buber emphasizes the genuineness of the religious experience that arose from the people when the elites (in this case the Talmudic scholars) were in danger of becoming stuck in self-centered lifelessness. He sees in the movement a liberation to the immediacy of mystical perception and also an opportunity to express traditional doctrine, drawing especially on the Lurianic Kabbalah, in a new way. He saw one of the most significant features of Hasidism precisely in the internalization of Kabbalistic ethics, which culminated in a joyful life with God in the world. \nThe next part of the book consists of "Sayings of Rabbi Nachman," presenting the crystals of his teachings and inviting meditation, and finally the stories that R. Nachman told on a sudden impulse as parabolas of the interpenetration of the inner and outer layers of the world (this is the first authorial depiction of Jewish tales). The emphasis in them is on events and transformations that have their own symbolic meaning. Buber's collection contains six of the original thirteen stories; the retellings are nourished by Buber's choice of language and his ability to draw the reader into the action.

Czech edition