For the source text click/tap here: Nedarim 10
To download, click/tap here: PDF
A number of pious men, chasidim, were alive during the time of the second Temple.
They were called chasidim because they went beyond observance of halacha.
Tzadikim, righteous people, are those who follow halacha to the letter of the law.
Who were these hasidim ha-rishonim?
Steinsaltz writes:
The concept of a hasid in the Talmud is a person on a particularly high religious level, who – in every aspect of his life – goes over-and-above what is required by the letter of the law (as opposed to someone who is scrupulous in his activities and does exactly what is required, who is referred to as a tzaddik).
It appears that during the Second Temple era, the hasidim were a loosely organized group. These hasidim were among the first supporters of the Hasmonean rebellion against Greek/Hellenist rule, but were also among the first to abandon the Hasmonean dynastic rule.
It is likely that the hasidim ha-rishonim mentioned here and in other places in the Talmud have their roots in this group.
According to Talmudic sources, the hasidim ha-rishonim devoted most of their lives to prayer and to developing a relationship with God, and they were careful in both mitzvot ben adam le-havero (between man and his fellow man) and ben adam la-Makom (between man and God).
We explore these pious hasidim and their morphing into medieval Chassidei Ashkenaz.