ר' חוצפית המתורגמן - שייעור 8 - עשרת הרוגי מלכות

Exploration of Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter's role, wisdom, and martyrdom, highlighting his significance in Jewish tradition and halachic rulings.

Key Takeaways

The interpreter played a crucial role in transmitting and simplifying Torah teachings to the masses.
Halachic rulings must be precise and are only declared after thorough scholarly discussion.
Rabbi Chutzpit exemplified holiness, wisdom, and humility, serving as a spiritual giant in Jewish history.
Faith and adherence to commandments remain vital even under persecution and imminent death.
Clear communication and choice of words are essential in religious leadership and teaching.

What the video covers

Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter served as the official translator and simplifier of Rabban Gamliel of Yavne's teachings to the public.
His nickname 'the Interpreter' reflects a unique and important role in Jewish scholarship, not commonly found among sages.
He was known for his immense holiness, wisdom, and equivalence to Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel in spiritual stature.
Rabbi Chutzpit mastered 70 languages and taught 180 methods in the Torat Kohanim, demonstrating deep knowledge of purity laws.
The interpreter's role included clarifying and declaring formal halachic rulings after Beit Midrash discussions concluded.
He ensured that only finalized halachic decisions were communicated to the public, maintaining accuracy and humility in rulings.
Rabbi Chutzpit was executed at age 130 by the Romans, exemplifying steadfast faith despite extreme cruelty and persecution.
His final moments included a request to complete two mitzvot (morning and evening Shema) before death, emphasizing devotion.
The video discusses the historical context of Roman oppression and the spiritual resilience of Jewish sages like Rabbi Chutzpit.
The narrative touches on broader themes of faith, humility, and the significance of precise communication in Torah leadership.

Chapters

Who was Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter?

Rabbi Chutzpit was the official interpreter for Rabban Gamliel of Yavne, responsible for translating and simplifying Torah teachings to the public.

What was the significance of the interpreter’s role in Jewish tradition?

The interpreter ensured that halachic rulings were clearly and accurately communicated to the public only after scholarly discussions concluded, maintaining the integrity of Jewish law.

How did Rabbi Chutzpit demonstrate his faith during his execution?

Despite Roman cruelty, Rabbi Chutzpit requested to complete two mitzvot—the morning and evening Shema—before his death, showing unwavering devotion to God.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

The next person I want to talk about is Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter. I know we will talk about three today. Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter. First of all, we need to understand what this nickname is and what "the interpreter" means. All right? We don't find many who have this as their name. Tana'im named Yosef.

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Ah, with Yosef of Korgem. Yes. But you haven't found sages whose nickname this is. It's not just random.

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Look, the Gemara says we need to talk about the fact that there were interpreters, yes, but there is something special here. It wasn't for nothing that this was his nickname, Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter. So first of all, what was his role? He was

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the interpreter for whom? For Rabban Gamliel of Yavne. Meaning, Rabban Gamliel, who was the Nasi of Israel—he was his interpreter and would translate for him. Why is an interpreter even needed? Well, there is much to say about the reasons, but in

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any case, one of the things the interpreter would do: Rabban Gamliel would give the lecture, and he would state it, so to speak, to the masses in a way that simplified it.

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Yes, so that is also a point of simplification. We’ll talk about that in a second, just a bit to understand who this was, his greatness, and what we are talking about. It is written that when he died, he was 130 years old,

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and he had a special uniqueness: whenever he would walk, a bird flying over him would be burnt and turned into a bonfire. Meaning, due to his immense holiness, if anything passed over his head—some fowl, some bird—it would

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be burnt, and he was considered equivalent to Jonathan ben Uzziel. We say regarding the translation of Jonathan ben Uzziel that it is written about it that when it was written, the Land of Israel shook for 400 by 400

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parsangs. The whole land shook from that holy revelation. So that same Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter was equivalent to Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel, so you understand what that means.

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And he would teach 180 aspects in the Torat Kohanim. All right? Meaning 180 methods in the Book of Leviticus. And he would say of the impure that it is pure, he would show him aspects, and of the pure that it is impure, he would

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show him aspects. That is to say, he was, so to speak, very wise, knew all the methods, all the logic, all the understandings, and knew 70 languages of the Sanhedrin. Like, that's the level; he was a great sage. Regarding

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him, Rabbi Akiva said—Rabbi Akiva, who spoke about the things of sorrow and the greatness of some of the sages who died—"Fairer than the children of men, grace is poured upon your lips."

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He said: What is this "grace is poured upon your lips"? He says, it hints at the fact that he was entirely... one of the things the interpreter did, which we will still talk about, was a very important role; it is also

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to bring the people closer with words, to know how to choose which words to say, what to speak. And such a person, so to speak, even though you might think: what is it, after all? What is he? He heard a recording from his Rabbi

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and explained it to the nation. There is very great significance to how you say things, to what the people hear and what is spoken, and therefore, yes, this matter was very important. So let's talk for a moment about the point

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of the interpreter's role. So, one aspect was the status of declaring the formality of matters. What does that mean? After all, in the Beit Midrash, many discussions were held; as we said, there are arguments for purity and for

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impurity, many methods are studied together, and each person expresses their own method. But a Rabbi must also know how to teach Halacha, to issue a ruling. So he said, listen, Rabbi Chutzpit the Meturgeman (interpreter), part of what he would do when they

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gathered in the Beit Midrash was for the Rabbi to say, "Okay, now after the discussion in the Beit Midrash where we studied such a Mishna, such a tractate, now we must innovate and declare the Halacha." And then he would stand and

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state the Halacha to everyone, the Halacha that was decided by whom? By the Nasi of the Sanhedrin, Rabban Gamliel. So he would go and say it to the entire assembly. That is one thing.

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Yeah. Another thing, this is, again, part of the matter; you see that there was a difference. Many times a certain Sage would say certain things during a discussion—and this is also mentioned many times in the Gemara or Mishna as

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opinions—but that would not be said by the interpreter. Why? Because they say: there is the discussion now, it could be that the head of the Yeshiva is arguing with one of the other Rabbis, and so far, everything is fine. But

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when does the interpreter say it? To the public, after the Halacha has been decided. When the Halacha is decided, then it must be said to them. How do we see this? There is a story, we won't go into full details now, but there was

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one story with one of the Tanna'im who said something with the interpreter, and then he said, he called the interpreter and said to him: "Come, come repeat my words now because I made a mistake." Why? If it was said in the

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Beit Midrash, if you erred it's not so terrible, why? Because we are in the discussion stage; in a discussion, we study things, sometimes there are opinions, there are also less correct, less true opinions.

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And there is knowledge, but specifically when it is a ruling, there you cannot err; you are creating Halacha, the Halacha must be the most accurate thing after clarifying all the methods. So, there was a reality where I ruled, so they call the interpreter,

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"I erred," great humility, not afraid to say "I was wrong." Come and state my mistake and say that the Halacha ruling is not as I said, it is different. Okay? It came from a place of humility.

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Yeah. Well, look, so Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter, we will now talk about his death. It was very cruel, and through this we will also see that there was a deep discussion about the whole attitude toward the commandments and so

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on. He was 130 years old on the day of his execution, and he was handsome and good-looking, and resembled an angel of the Lord of Hosts. And the people there said to him: "You know how these Romans are, how cruel they are." They would

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say, they were looking at him: "Tell me, isn't it a pity?" "Say a good word to the Caesar, maybe?" "Why should you die?"

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"Won't you try something?" Amen. Okay, they came to the Emperor: Look at such an old man, a man like this could be your own father, why would you kill him?

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The Emperor said to him, the Emperor says to Rabbi Chutzpit: Tell me, how old are you? A face full of character, looks like an angel. He said to him: I am 130 years old, lacking one day. Okay, not yet 130, just one more day. He

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said to him: I ask you to wait for me until I complete my days, so I can be exactly 130. He said to him: What difference does it make to you, if you are exactly 130 or 129 and 364 days?

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What is the difference? In the end, you are dying, right? So we might say he answers: So that the days of the righteous are full, maybe that is why.

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Answer: No, the full days did not concern him. He said to him: Listen, I want to fulfill exactly two more commandments.

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The morning Shema and the evening Shema, and to crown the Great and Awesome Name over me. The Emperor said to him: You are impudent and stubborn, how can you trust in your God after everything I do to you? We destroyed the Temple

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and all the Jews, your corpses are everywhere, the floor is full, okay, a massive slaughter. There are stories about this matter in Jerusalem, that part of the extinguishing of the fires that happened was because of the amount of blood spilled, the blood of the Jews

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spilled from the slaughter put out the massive fires. Look at that. Rivers of blood. How cruel they were. He says to him: And you still trust in your Lord God? What is this? He said to him: Your God has no power to save you. He has no

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power at all. Okay? Once He was strong. Pharaoh, Sisera. It’s a joke. Today He has no strength. He has weakened.

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How do you

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How do you say it? His power is gone. What did He do? Look at that. Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter heard this. He tore his garments. Why? We have a rule in Halacha, that whoever hears a curse against God, reviling and blaspheming,

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must perform a tearing of garments. He said to the Emperor: Woe to you, Emperor, what will you do on the Final Day when the Almighty punishes Rome and your gods? Okay, he said that to him.

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The Emperor lost his temper, his nerves , how long should he argue with this old man? He ordered him to be killed, stoned, and hanged. Okay, but then after that, those people and ministers of Rome who were there, they felt pity

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for him; they stoned him, killed him, and hanged him, they didn't let him be.

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The ministers and sages came and took him to the grave because they pitied him, what is called: his students came, mourned, and gave him a great burial.

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Now the story here doesn't end. There is a Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud and other places; some say it was Rabbi Yehuda Hanachtom, but here in Chullin it is specifically mentioned regarding Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter. That the reason we all know—Elisha ben

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Abuyah, who was the teacher of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, Elisha ben Abuyah went down a bad path, became a heretic, and abandoned the Holy Torah. Why did he do that? There are all sorts of questions and reasons that the Gemara brings up.

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One of the reasons the Gemara brings in Chullin, page 142a, says this: Some say that Elisha Acher did not return— forgive me, he denied the essence. Why?

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Because he saw the tongue of Chutzpit the Interpreter being dragged by " another thing.""Another thing" in the Gemara, what does it mean? A pig. He saw that the tongue of Rabbi Chutzpit the Interpreter, after they killed him, was being dragged by the mouth of a pig

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that was trying to bite it; he wondered , a mouth that uttered pearls will lick dust? A mouth like that, which spent its whole life only studying Torah, will it lick dust? And immediately he went out and denied the essence as a

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result of this thing, following this painful sight that occurred. Of course, we do not understand the ways of the Almighty. We have already spoken about all sorts of matters and all sorts of secrets and incarnations: whose descendants from the Ten Tribes they

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were, and of all kinds of people because of whom this matter of the rectification of those Sages occurred here. For this reason, but it really shows you the very, very difficult story. I say that each death of those

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Sages was more cruel than the last, but I remind you that as we said—the Holy One, blessed be He, took vengeance on all our enemies and also on the kingdom of Rome. And the vengeance...I saw an interesting innovation that About the

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three Temples: The First Temple, by whom was it destroyed? By the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon; the Babylonians, whose children are they? From which seed do they descend? From the seed of Ishmael.

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Okay? And the Second Temple was destroyed by whom? By Edom, Rome. And they are the children of Esau.

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Esau, pay attention. But a Jew is a Jew; it doesn't matter where he comes from. The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple; in Ishmael, we had Abraham, his children had the* kelipah*(shell) and the matter of righteousness—Isaac and Ishmael; Ishmael came when Isaac's seed, so to

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speak, was not doing [what was required ], and he destroyed it. Then came the Second Temple.

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Jacob and Esau. Esau the Edomite came out and destroyed the Temple, but the Third Temple, what does it correspond to? To Jacob our father. And we know that the 12 tribes of God, how do you say it? They are all holy, all

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righteous. And it connects here too; after this atonement for the sin of the Ten Tribes, a Third Temple can exist, a Third Temple that will never be destroyed; because everyone has undergone a rectification, and everyone stands in their righteousness, and we

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do not have the*kelipah*, so to speak, that will destroy it, and this shows part of the reason why the Third Temple will certainly not be destroyed.

Topics:Rabbi ChutzpitInterpreterRabban GamlielHalachaJewish sagesTorat KohanimJewish martyrdomRabbi Jonathan ben UzzielTanna'imJewish history

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