Abstract

Judah the Pietist's [d. 1217] program of socio-religious innovation in "Sefer Hasidim" [The Book of the Pietists] led to tensions in the medieval Rhineland Jewish communities between the norms of Jewish piety and the demands of a new vision of Jewish pietism. Because Judah sought to impose his vision of God's complete will on other Jews (the politics of pietism), Pietists came into conflict with non-Pietist Jews in childrearing, choice of marriage partner, style of public worship and philanthropy. This tension (the ethics of pietism) was resolved when Judah's disciple, Rabbi Eleazar of Worms [d. ca. 1230], adapted his teacher's program into an acceptable form.