A Jewish religious and spiritual movement emphasizing mysticism, emotional devotion to God, and the accessibility of spiritual experience to all believers, not just scholars.
From Hebrew 'hasidim' (pious ones) plus '-ism.' The movement was formally established in 18th-century Eastern Europe by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov).
Hasidism was basically a spiritual revolution against excessive intellectualism—it taught that a poor farmer with genuine faith could be spiritually equal to a brilliant scholar, which was radical for medieval Jewish culture.
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