Femininity, Motherhood, and Feminism: Reflections on Paul Mendes-Flohr’s Biography Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent

In his intellectual biography of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, A Life of Faith and Dissent written in 2019, Paul Mendes-Flohr offers us an intimate view of Buber’s life and thought without neglecting the story of the women in his life and their contributions to shaping his thought. In this short reflection essay, I wish to present a crosscutting perspective on the important biography written by Paul Mendes-Flohr, by highlighting Buber’s relation to women, feminism, and femininity, a perspective that emerges in almost every chapter of the biography. This angle, I hope, will illuminate not only the personal–psychological dimension of Buber’s inner life but also the deep currents of his intellectual life and thought.