ḥasidei ummot ha-ʿolam

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Ḥasidei ummot ha-ʿolam (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 ḥasidei ummot ha-ʾolam to plant a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous in the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem.