Chasidut על אבות 2:16
Mevo HaShearim
Chapter 7 430In Chapter 7, R. Shapiro defines the term hasid, not as a sociological term but as a spiritual one: a hasid is a ‘soul-full’ individual who engages in a particular level of avodah as discussed further in this chapter. R. Shapiro further stresses the significant role which even the common hasidim play in the hasidic system.
The term ‘hasid,’ by which the followers of the Besht are called, is not a new one. Already in the Prophets we find the term deployed to describe a person of a stature closest to holiness, such as “The hasid is lost” (Micah 7), “Guard my soul for I am a hasid” (Ps. 86), “His praise is amongst the congregation of hasidim” (ibid. 149), etc. Yet what remains unarticulated there is, which actions one might do in order to rise above the rest of Israel and be called a hasid? For every Israelite is commanded to fulfill the Torah and its commandments, ‘and you are not free to be exempted from it.’431Mishnah Avot 2:16. If so, the hasid must do more than fulfill the Torah and commandments—but how so? Merely by doing more of them, quantitatively and qualitatively?
The term ‘hasid,’ by which the followers of the Besht are called, is not a new one. Already in the Prophets we find the term deployed to describe a person of a stature closest to holiness, such as “The hasid is lost” (Micah 7), “Guard my soul for I am a hasid” (Ps. 86), “His praise is amongst the congregation of hasidim” (ibid. 149), etc. Yet what remains unarticulated there is, which actions one might do in order to rise above the rest of Israel and be called a hasid? For every Israelite is commanded to fulfill the Torah and its commandments, ‘and you are not free to be exempted from it.’431Mishnah Avot 2:16. If so, the hasid must do more than fulfill the Torah and commandments—but how so? Merely by doing more of them, quantitatively and qualitatively?
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