Joy: A Buberian Perspective

This article shows what joy is, according to Buber's thinking, and suggests why joy is missing in many a person's existence today. In his Hasidic writings Buber repeatedly describes joy as a blessed moment of human existence, which can occur in the personal and the communal realms. Hasidism's uniqueness was that its believers actually experienced this blessed moment when they attempted to hallow every deed in their life. In Hasidism this joyful hallowing of everyday life was perceived as combined to and accompanied by a life of dialogue. Thus, despite the fact that in Buber's philosophical writings joy is rarely mentioned, his Hasidic writings describe the existential link between joy and a life of dialogue, of revelation, and of responsibility.