Definition of "formalist"

The Besht preached that the simple man, imbued with native faith and able to pray fervently and wholeheartedly with a sense of joy in his heart, was nearer and dearer to God than the learned but joyless formalist spending his whole life in the study of Talmud.

2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 225