The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (959 page)

(Heb., ‘cause us to lie down’). Beginning of second
benediction
after the
Shema
‘ at Jewish evening
prayer
. The prayer asks for God's protection during the night.

 
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asidei Ashkenaz
.

12th- and 13th-cent. movement within German Jewry. The
asidei
Ashkenaz, which was made up of many like-minded groups, originated in Regensberg and spread to Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, and then to the rest of Germany. It produced ethical works, such as
Sefer
asidim
(Book of the Pious), and esoteric mystical works, such as
Sefer
ayyim
(Book of Life). Prominent leaders include Samuel b. Kalonymus he-
asid (late 12th cent.). The movement was influenced by
merkabah mysticism
and by the works of Abraham ibn Ezra and
Sa`adiah Gaon
. It rejected all anthropomorphic descriptions of God and maintained that divine powers were immanent in all creation.

 
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(Heb., ‘the pious ones of the nations of the world’).
Gentiles
perceived as righteous by the
rabbis
(
Tos.Sanh
. 13.2).
Maimonides
defined the hasidei ummot ha-'olam as ‘all who observe the Seven Commandments’ (i.e. the
Noachide Laws
). It is generally agreed that righteous gentiles have a place in the world to come. Since the Second World War, the term has been used to refer to those gentiles who helped Jews escape from Nazi persecution. Yad Vashem, the authority entrusted with the remembrance of national martyrs and heroes, includes a department to investigate and recognize those rescue activities, and it invites
asidei ummot ha-’olam to plant a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous in the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem.

 
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