Editing Hasidic Judaism (section)

==Etymology==
The [[Hasid (term)|terms ''hasid'']] and ''hasidut'', meaning "pietist" and "piety", have a long history in Judaism. The [[Talmud]] and other old sources refer to the "Pietists of Old" (''Hasidim haRishonim'') who would contemplate an entire hour in preparation for prayer. The phrase denoted extremely devoted individuals who not only observed the Law to its letter, but performed good deeds even beyond it. [[Adam]] himself is honored with the title, in [[Eruvin (Talmud)|tractate Eruvin]] 18b by [[Rabbi Meir]]: "Adam was a great ''hasid'', having fasted for 130 years." The first to adopt the epithet collectively were apparently the ''hasidim'' in [[Second Temple period]] [[Judea]], known as [[Hasideans]] after the Greek rendering of their name, who perhaps served as the model for those mentioned in the Talmud. The title continued to be applied as an honorific for the exceptionally devout. In 12th-century [[Rhineland]], or ''[[Ashkenaz]]'' in Jewish parlance, another prominent school of ascetics named themselves ''hasidim''; to distinguish them from the rest, later research employed the term [[Ashkenazi Hasidim]]. In the 16th century, when [[Kabbalah]] spread, the title also became associated with it. [[Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah]] wrote in his glossa on [[Isaac Luria]]'s version of the [[Shulchan Aruch]] that, "One who wishes to tap the hidden wisdom, must conduct himself in the manner of the Pious."

The movement founded by [[Israel Ben Eliezer]] in the 18th century adopted the term ''hasidim'' in the original connotation. But when the sect grew and developed specific attributes, from the 1770s, the names gradually acquired a new meaning. Its common adherents, belonging to groups each headed by a spiritual leader, were henceforth known as Hasidim. The transformation was slow: The movement was at first referred to as "New Hasidism" by outsiders (as recalled in the autobiography of [[Salomon Maimon]]), to separate it from the old one, and its enemies derisively mocked its members as ''Mithasdim'', "[those who] pretend [to be] ''hasidim''". Yet, eventually, the young sect gained such a mass following that the old connotation was sidelined. In popular discourse, at least, "Hasid" came to denote someone who follows a religious teacher from the movement. It also entered [[Modern Hebrew]] as such, meaning "adherent" or "disciple". One was not merely a ''Hasid'' anymore, observed historian David Assaf, but a Hasid of someone or some dynasty in particular. This linguistic transformation paralleled that of the word ''[[tzaddik]]'', "righteous", which the Hasidic leaders adopted for themselves – though they are known colloquially as Rebbes or by the honorific ''Admor''. Originally denoting an observant, moral person, in Hasidic literature, ''tzaddik'' became synonymous with the often hereditary master heading a sect of followers.<ref name="Assaf1"/><ref name="Ros"/>