Chassid: Difference between revisions

The term "Chasidim" first appeared in print in opposition proclamations during the latter days of the Maggid of Mezeritch in 1772. The opponents used this term critically, sometimes altering it to suggest suspicion. The Rebbe Rayatz noted that logically, the opponents should have been called "opposers" since one cannot oppose something before it exists, but Divine providence led them to give Chassidim their proper name.

The Alter Rebbe wrote during his first imprisonment (1799): "The masses call them Chasidim throughout White Russia, Poland, and most of Lithuania, named after the early Chasidim who prayed with great concentration, though today's Chasidim are not as great as the early ones."