# Hasid
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{{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 [Jewish honorific](/source/Honorifics_in_Judaism), frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the [Talmud](/source/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 [Jewish observance](/source/Halacha) in daily life. In the [Mishnah](/source/Mishnah), the term is used thirteen times, the majority of which being in the Tractate ''[Pirkei Avot](/source/Pirkei_Avot)''.[{{cite book |title=The Mishnah |editor-last=Danby|editor-first=H. |editor-link=Herbert Danby |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |place=Oxford |year=1933|isbn=0-19-815402-X |title-link=Mishnah }}, s.v. ''[Hagigah](/source/Hagigah)'' 2:7; ''[Avot](/source/Pirkei_Avot)'' 2:8; (ibid.) 5:10; (ibid.) 5:11; (ibid.) 5:13; (ibid.) 5:14; (ibid.) 6:1; ''[Berakhot](/source/Berakhot_(tractate))'' 5:1; ''[Sukkah](/source/Sukkah_(Talmud))'' 5:4; ''[Sotah](/source/Sotah_(Talmud))'' 9:15; ''[Kiddushin](/source/Kiddushin_(Talmud))'' 4:14; ''[Keritot](/source/Keritot)'' 6:3, ''et al.'']
==Hebrew etymology==
The Hebrew word ''Ḥasīd'' appears for the first time in the [Torah](/source/Torah) (Deuteronomy 33:8) with respect to the [tribe of Levi](/source/tribe_of_Levi), and all throughout the Hebrew [Book of Psalms](/source/Book_of_Psalms), with its various declensions.[[Torah](/source/Torah): {{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|33:8|HE}}, translated as "thy holy one"; [Book of Psalms:](/source/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.''] In classic [rabbinic literature](/source/rabbinic_literature) it differs from "[Tzadik](/source/Tzadik)" ("righteous") by instead denoting one who goes beyond his ordinary duty. The literal meaning of ''Ḥasīd'' derives from [Chesed](/source/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 [mystical tradition](/source/Jewish_mysticism), as it could tend towards piety over legalism.
Rabbi [Saadia Gaon](/source/Saadia_Gaon), the medieval Hebrew linguist and biblical exegete, translated the Hebrew word ''Ḥasīd'' in Psalm 18:25 into the [Judeo-Arabic](/source/Judeo-Arabic) word {{Script/Hebrew|אלמחסן}}, meaning, "he that does good."[{{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]
==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](/source/Vilna_Gaon), for instance, at that time the chief [opponent](/source/Misnagdim) of the new Jewish mystical movement that became known as "[Hasidism](/source/Hasidic_Judaism)", was renowned for his righteous life. In tribute to his scholarship, he became popularly honored with the formal title of "[Genius](/source/Gaon_(Hebrew))", while amongst the Hasidic movement's leadership, despite his fierce opposition to their legalistic tendencies, he was respectfully referred to as "The [Gaon](/source/Gaon_(Hebrew)), the Ḥasīd from Vilna".
A general dictum in the [Talmud](/source/Talmud) (''[Baba Kama](/source/Baba_Kama)'' 30a) states: "He that wishes to be pious ([Aramaic](/source/Aramaic): ''ḥasīda''), let him uphold the things described under the indemnity laws in the Mishnaic Order of ''[Neziqin](/source/Neziqin)''." [Rava](/source/Rava_(amora)), differing, said: "Let him observe the things transcribed in ''[Pirkei Avot](/source/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. [Juda b. Baba](/source/Judah_ben_Bava) it meant or R. [Judah, the son of R. Ilai](/source/Judah_bar_Ilai)."[[Babylonian Talmud](/source/Babylonian_Talmud) (''[Temurah](/source/Temurah_(Talmud))'' 15b - 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}}]
==Other uses==
In the aggregate, "Ḥasīd" may also refer to members of any of the following Jewish movements:
* the [Hasideans](/source/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](/source/Ashkenazi_Hasidim), an ascetic German mystical-ethical movement of the 12th and 13th centuries
* [Hasidic Judaism](/source/Hasidic_Judaism) ([Yiddish](/source/Yiddish): "Chassidische bavegung"), a movement which began in [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine) in the 18th century
==See also==
* [Amidah](/source/Amidah)
* [Illui](/source/Illui)
* [Tzadik](/source/Tzadik)
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Religious honorifics
Category:Hebrew words and phrases
Category:Rabbinic literature
Category:Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible
Category:Jewish culture
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