Hasidism, from ḥasid, pious, began with Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, in Ukraine. It made the mystical ideas of Kabbalah accessible to ordinary Jews, emphasizing joy, ecstatic prayer, God’s presence in all things and devotion to the tzaddik. It remains a vital force in Jewish life.
Hasidism
The Jewish revival movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in eighteenth-century Eastern Europe.
Also: Chasidism, Hassidism