Member of a religious movement, known as Hasidism, founded in the eighteenth century by Israel Ben-Eliezer Baal Shem Tov in Eastern Europe The movement, still active in the 1980s, stresses the importance of serving God in ecstasy and has strong mystical elements
(pl hasidim; Hebrew for "pious one") The term may refer to Jews in various periods: (1) a group that resisted the policies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century B C E at the start of the Maccabean revolt; (2) pietists in the thirteenth century C E ; (3) followers of the movement of Hasidism founded in the eighteenth century C E by Baal Shem Tov See Chapter 17
Literally, "pious ones" May refer to a medeival German sect, but usually used in reference to a particular Orthodox movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov in Poland in the late 17th century There is an emphasis on the joy of prayer, ecstatic prayer, and also the notion of bringing Kabbalah to everyone in some form There are various sects which follow different rebbes as thier leaders, such as the Lubavitcher, Satmar, and Bratslavers adj , Hasidic, sing Hasid