Rabbi Judah the Pious רבי יהודה החסיד
head of the Chasidei Ashkenaz; Sefer Chasidim is associated with his name
The son of Samuel the Pious, he continued what his father began. Under him Regensburg became the movement's centre, and a circle of students formed around him, chief among them Eleazar of Worms.
His teaching is recognisable by one trait: it is all about the inward. What matters is not only what a person does but what he thinks while doing it and what it costs him. A commandment performed without effort is valued below one for which a man had to overcome himself.
Hence demands that from outside look excessive: not to enjoy the respect earned by learning; not to take payment where one could refrain; not to rejoice at an opponent's fall.
Associated with his name is also a testament — the Tzava'ah of Rabbi Judah the Pious, a collection of warnings and customs, some of which entered common practice while others are still discussed: it is argued whether all of them are binding and on whom.
Authorship of Sefer Chasidim is traditionally ascribed to him; scholars speak of a layered text to which both his father and his students contributed.
On the timeline
Sources
Rishonim
- Sefer Chasidim — the traditional attribution; the text is layered
- The Testament of Rabbi Judah the Pious — customs and warnings, some of them disputed
Basis: documents and evidence.