Hasidei Ashkenaz

The Hasidim of Ashkenaz (Hebrew: חסידי אשכנז‎‎, trans. Khasidei Ashkenaz; "German Pietists") were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The leaders of the community of the Ashkenazi Hasidim movement were descended from the Kalonymos family of northern Italy, a family that had immigrated to Germany in the 10th century; and the Abun family of France, among others, according to the sacred books they wrote at the close of the 10th century. The movement was known for its strict, almost religious observance, asceticism, and its mystical doctrines. Some posit that its theology fits into the general canon of Jewish mysticism. It certainly parallels other Jewish mysticism; however in other ways it was very original. The extent of this community’s effect and influence during Middle Age German Judaism has not been studied.

Rabbi Judah the Pious (Rav Yehuda Ha-Hassid) of Regensburg was the foremost leader of the Ashkenazi Hasidim. His book Sefer Hasidim (Book of the Pious) is the most significant relic of this movement. He was born in 1150 in Speyer and died in 1217. He was a strong Talmudist and attended Tosafist schools. His experiences as a Tosafist may have contributed to his desperate plea to focus on the practical aspects of the Talmud, the Halacha. He was taught the Kabbala at a young age by his father, Samuel of Speyer (Samuel the Pious).

Samuel the Pious is said to have contributed some of the sections in Sefer Hasidim, and as the father and teacher of Judah the Pious, he directly contributed to much of this movement's thought. He authored the Shir Hakavod ("Song of the Glory"), which poetically describes Ashkenazi Hasidic theology, namely, the presence of the divine glory (kavod כבוד). He also authored the Book of the Fear of God (Sefer Hayirah) and Book of Repentance (Sefer Hateshuva).

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