Happiness in Judaism name "Hasidim" was coined, one of the names used to refer to the followers of the new movement was "di freilicha" (), “the happy ones.” The founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760) is quoted as saying "In the eyes of the Hasidim, joy is considered a biblical commandment, a mitzvah." The Hasidic Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810) would often say "It is a great mitzvah (commandment) to live in the state of happiness" ("mitzvah gedolah lihiyot b'simcha tamid", ). And Rabbi Aharon of Karlin (I), one of the early Hasidic masters, reportedly said, "There is no
Homosexuality and Judaism Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote the foreword to Rabbi Chaim Rapoport's book "Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View". In the foreword, Rabbi Sacks has written: "Compassion, sympathy, empathy, understanding - these are essential elements of Judaism. They are what homosexual Jews who care about Judaism need from us today." Modern Orthodox leader Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein is reported to have said that the intensity of Orthodox community's condemnation of homosexuality goes beyond what its status as a religious transgression warrants, and that he feels toward homosexual people "criticism, disapproval, but tempered with an element of sympathy". In both the United States