were not regarded as merely ethical or legal, but primarily and principally religious, and in fact radically bound up with the persistent and unshakable love of God. It was this which was meant to distinguish Israel from the other nations.”12 It becomes clear that chesed involved relationships between God and man in both personal and group ways and relations between fellow men. Because of this, “a chasid was a man who responded aright to the favor or grace of God (chesed).”13 Combining these ideas