Editing Hasid

{{Short description|Jewish honorific denoting exceptionally pious persons}}
{{About|the term|the branch of Orthodox Judaism|Hasidic Judaism|the medieval sect|Ashkenazi Hasidim}}
{{Italic title}}
'''Ḥasīd''' ({{langx|he|חסיד}}, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural {{Script/Hebrew|חסידים}} "Hasidim") is a [[Honorifics in Judaism|Jewish honorific]], frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the [[Talmud]]ic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observance of Jewish law, and often one who goes beyond the legal requirements of ritual and ethical [[Halacha|Jewish observance]] in daily life. In the [[Mishnah]], the term is used thirteen times, the majority of which being in the Tractate ''[[Pirkei Avot]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Mishnah |editor-last=Danby|editor-first=H. |editor-link=Herbert Danby |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=Oxford |year=1933|isbn=0-19-815402-X |title-link=Mishnah }}, s.v. ''[[Hagigah]]'' 2:7; ''[[Pirkei Avot|Avot]]'' 2:8; (ibid.) 5:10; (ibid.) 5:11; (ibid.) 5:13; (ibid.) 5:14; (ibid.) 6:1; ''[[Berakhot (tractate)|Berakhot]]'' 5:1; ''[[Sukkah (Talmud)|Sukkah]]'' 5:4; ''[[Sotah (Talmud)|Sotah]]'' 9:15; ''[[Kiddushin (Talmud)|Kiddushin]]'' 4:14; ''[[Keritot]]'' 6:3, ''et al.''</ref>

==Hebrew etymology==
The Hebrew word ''Ḥasīd'' appears for the first time in the [[Torah]] <small>(Deuteronomy 33:8)</small> with respect to the [[tribe of Levi]], and all throughout the Hebrew [[Book of Psalms]], with its various declensions.<ref>[[Torah]]: {{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|33:8|HE}}, translated as "thy holy one"; [[Book of psalms|Book of Psalms:]] {{bibleverse|Psalm|4:4|HE}}; {{bibleverse|Psalm|12:2|HE}}; {{bibleverse|Psalm|16:10|HE}}; {{bibleverse|Psalm|18:26|HE}}, translated here as "the merciful"; {{bibleverse|Psalm|31:24|HE}}; {{bibleverse|Psalm|37:28|HE}}; {{bibleverse|Psalm|145:17|HE}}, translated here as "gracious"; {{bibleverse|Psalm|149:1|HE}}, translated here as "saints"; {{bibleverse|Psalm|32:6|HE}}, translated as "one that is godly"; {{bibleverse|Psalm|86:2|HE}}, translated as "godly", ''etc.''</ref> In classic [[rabbinic literature]] it differs from "[[Tzadik]]" ("righteous") by instead denoting one who goes beyond his ordinary duty. The literal meaning of ''Ḥasīd'' derives from [[Chesed]] ({{Script/Hebrew|חסד}}) (= "kindness"), the outward expression of love (lovingkindness) for God and other people. This spiritual devotion motivates pious conduct beyond everyday limits. The devotional nature of its description lent itself to a few Jewish movements in history being known as "Hasidim". Two of these derived from the Jewish [[Jewish mysticism|mystical tradition]], as it could tend towards piety over legalism.

Rabbi [[Saadia Gaon]], the medieval Hebrew linguist and biblical exegete, translated the Hebrew word ''Ḥasīd'' in Psalm 18:25 into the [[Judeo-Arabic]] word {{Script/Hebrew|אלמחסן}}, meaning, "he that does good."<ref>{{Cite book|last= Saadia Gaon|author-link= Saadia Gaon|title= Book of Psalms, with a Translation and Commentary made by Rabbi Saadia Gaon (תהלים עם תרגום ופירוש הגאון רבינו סעדיה בן יוסף פיומי זצ"ל)|editor= Qafih, Yosef|editor-link=Yosef Qafih |publisher= Makhon Moshe (Makhon Mishnat haRambam)|location= Kiryat-Ono|page= 80 |year=2010|language=he|oclc=741156698}}, s.v. Psalm 18:26</ref>

==Usage in rabbinic texts==
As a personal honorific, both "Ḥasīd" and "Tzadik" could be applied independently to the same individual with both different qualities. The 18th-century [[Vilna Gaon]], for instance, at that time the chief [[Misnagdim|opponent]] of the new Jewish mystical movement that became known as "[[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidism]]", was renowned for his righteous life. In tribute to his scholarship, he became popularly honored with the formal title of "[[Gaon (Hebrew)|Genius]]", while amongst the Hasidic movement's leadership, despite his fierce opposition to their legalistic tendencies, he was respectfully referred to as "The [[Gaon (Hebrew)|Gaon]], the Ḥasīd from Vilna".

A general dictum in the [[Talmud]] (''[[Baba Kama]]'' 30<sup>a</sup>) states: "He that wishes to be pious ([[Aramaic]]: ''ḥasīda''), let him uphold the things described under the indemnity laws in the Mishnaic Order of ''[[Neziqin]]''." [[Rava (amora)|Rava]], differing, said: "Let him observe the things transcribed in ''[[Pirkei Avot]]''." (ibid.)

Of the few known pious men in the early 2nd century, the Talmud acknowledges the following: "Wherever we read (in Talmudic writings), 'It is reported of a pious man', either R. [[Judah ben Bava|Juda b. Baba]] it meant or R. [[Judah bar Ilai|Judah, the son of R. Ilai]]."<ref>[[Babylonian Talmud]] (''[[Temurah (Talmud)|Temurah]]'' 15<sup>b</sup> - end); {{Citation |title=Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature |editor-last=Jastrow|editor-first=M. |editor-link=Marcus Jastrow |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |place=Peabody, Mass.|year=2006|page=487 |oclc=614562238 }}, s.v. {{Script/Hebrew|חסיד}}</ref>

==Other uses==
In the aggregate, "Ḥasīd" may also refer to members of any of the following Jewish movements:

* the [[Hasideans]] of the Maccabean period, around the 2nd century BCE
* the New Testament twice refers to Jesus of Nazareth as the Davidic ḥasīd foretold in {{bibleverse|Psalm|16:10|HE}} (Book of Acts 2:27; 13:35 ὅσιος, quoting Ps 15:10 Greek Septuagint translation; "ḥasīd" is here used in the Hebrew NT translations of Delitzsch, Salkinson-Ginsburg, “The Way,” etc., and is paralleled by the Syriac Peshitta). Followers of this royal ḥasīd were commanded to practice ḥesed among themselves (Gospel of Luke 10:37, using Septuagintal ''poiein eleos meta'' from Hebrew ''asah ḥesed ʿim''). 
* the [[Ashkenazi Hasidim]], an ascetic German mystical-ethical movement of the 12th and 13th centuries
* [[Hasidic Judaism]] ([[Yiddish]]: "Chassidische bavegung"), a movement which began in [[Ukraine]] in the 18th century

==See also==
* [[Amidah]]
* [[Illui]]
* [[Tzadik]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Religious honorifics]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]
[[Category:Rabbinic literature]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Jewish culture]]