"I demonstrate reality," Martin Buber (1878-1965) insisted. "I have no doctrine, I conduct the conversation." The widely influential thinker, whose work has had a considerable impact on Christian as well as Jewish thought, considered himself neither philosopher nor theologian, but rather a guide. Who was this gifted man whose studies ranged from philosophy to education, to psychology, to politics, to biblical studies and further? He refused to accept the feasibility of union with God - the declared aim of the mystic - and instead saw religious faith as a dialogue between man and God (I and Thou), calling for a recognition of divine presence in everyday life. From the Bible and from Hasidism Buber, and existential interpreter, drew and reformulated truths that Jews and non-Jews alike recognize as necessary to the development and wholeness of the individual. Politically, he belonged to a minority which, ahead of its time, sought a compromise with the Palestinian Arabs to guarantee peaceful coexistence between the two peoples. --- from book"s dustjacket