Rabbi Judah the Pious ("Rav Yehuda Ha-Hassid") of Regensburg was the foremost leader of the Ashkenazi Hasidim. His book "Sefer Hasidim" ("Book of the Pious") is the most significant relic of this movement. He was born in 1150 in Speyer and died in 1217. He was a strong Talmudist and attended Tosafist schools. His experiences as a Tosafist may have contributed to his desperate plea to focus on the practical aspects of the Talmud, the Halacha. He was taught the Kabbala at a young age by his father, Samuel of Speyer (Samuel the Pious).