CHASIDIM (n+-rorr ; i Maccab. vii. 13), one of the three chief Jewish sects, of which the other two were the Hellenists and the Maccabeans, and from which were developed after wards other sects, such as the Pharisees, the Es sores, etc. The appellation in+TOn or the singular Tort, the benevolent, the pious, is already used in the Psalms to denote those of the Jewish com munity who were distinguished by their love to God and good will towards men. These were singled out from the midst of (LonSxri al)) God's chosen people as rim+ +-rpm, the saints of yelzovah (Ps. iv. 4 ; xii. 2 ; xvi. xxx. 5 ; xxxi. 24 ; xxxii. 6 ; xxxvii. 28 ; lxxix. 2 ; al.) It was therefore natural that when, in later days, the influences and practices of these heathen nations who conquered Palestine had cooled the zeal of many in Israel in the cause of God, when multitudes grew lax in the observance of the law, and when the religion of their fathers was in imminent danger, those who feared the Lord should separate themselves more visibly from their Hellenizing brethren, unite together by special ties to keep the ordinances, and hedge themselves in more securely by the voluntary imposition of works of supererogation, thus becoming an organised sect characterised by the special name Chasidim in a peculiar and sectarian sense crtivayaryi7 'Arrathcacop, i Maccab. ii. 42). That this old sect should first come before us so late as the time of Judas Maccabus, and unite themselves so readily with him (i Maccab. i. I s ; ii. 42; vii. 13 ; 2 Maccab. xiv. 6 ; with r Maccab. iii. 6, 8 ; vi. 21 ; vii. 5 ; ix. 23), is owing to the fact that they found in him an earnest defender of the ancient faith, for the maintenance of which they were always ready to lay down their lives.
The essential principles of the Chasidim were as follows :—Most rigidly to observe all the ritual laws of purification—to meet together frequently for devotion, carefully preparing themselves for it by ablutions, and wearing their phylacteries longer than others—to seek diligently for opportunities of offering sacrifices (Nedarim, so, a), to impose upon themselves voluntarily great acts of self-denial and mortifications ; like the Nazarites they abstained from wine and all intoxicating liquors sometimes for weeks, and sometimes during their whole lives ; and like the priests they observed the Levitical purifications during the time of their being Naza rites and sometimes longer. Thus it is related of
Jose ben Joeser, who was the spiritual head of the community at the time of Judas Maccabmus, and one of the sixty Chasidim, who were slain by Bac chides through the treachery of A lcimus (i Maccab. vii. 12-16) that he observed in his dress and food the Levitical purity, which belonged to the priests (Chagiga, 18, b). They, to a great extent, had all things in common, as is evident from the remark in the Mishna, he who says mine is thine, and thine is thine, is a Chasid' (Aboth. v. so); and the in junction of Jose ben Jochanan, the colleague of Jose ben Joeser, `let thy house be always open, and regard the poor as inmates of thy house' (ibid. i. 5) ; some of them withdrew altogether from general society, and devoted themselves entirely to contemplation and to the study of the written and oral law, whilst others continued to prosecute the affairs of the world, therefrom maintaining their brethren engaged in devotion, and were called 't.,"Jti, practical men or the party of action ; (Krochmal, More Neboche Ha-seman 144) they did not speak much even with their own wives (Aboth. i. 5), and would not look at all at strange women. Their self-denying and holy life, as well as their reputed power to perform miraculous cures and to drive out evil spirits, secured for them the high respect of the Jewish community at large.
Their principles, however, became too narrow, and were carried to such extravagant excesses, that R. Josua ben Chananja regarded those who were so foolishly rigid (row -nr) as corrupting the world,' i.e., as dangerous members of society (Mishna Sota, iii. 4). Some idea may be formed of their absurd rigidity, from the remarks of the Gemaras upon this passage, defining what is meant by a foolish Chasid:—` He,' says the Jerusalem Talmud (in loco), neglects to rescue a drown ing child from the water because he must first take off his phylacteries,' or he,' remarks the Baby lonian Talmud (2s, b), who does not come to the help of a female in a perilous situation, in order to avoid looking upon a female, or he who gives away all his property to benevolent purposes, and thereby reduces himself to beggary, he is a foolish Chasid.