Hutzpit the Interpreter ( he, חוּצְפִּית הַמְּתוּרְגְּמָן, ''Ḥūṣpīṯ hamMəṯūrgəmān'') was a rabbi from the third generation of

tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

Biography

His title comes from his position as the interpreter of Rabban

Gamaliel II Rabban Gamaliel II (also spelled Gamliel; he, רבן גמליאל דיבנה; before -) was a rabbi from the second generation of tannaim. He was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as '' nasi'' after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. ...

: Gamaliel would speak softly, and Hutzpit would announce Gamaliel's words to the listeners. At one point he lived in

Tzippori Tzippori () is a moshav in northern Israel, in the Lower Galilee. The moshav is within the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. The moshav is located at the site of the ancient settlement of Sepphoris, after which it was named. Hi ...

and had contact with rabbis

Eleazar ben Azariah Eleazar ben Azariah ( he, אלעזר בן עזריה) was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna, i.e. Mishnaic sage. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, Joshua b. Hananiah, and Akiva. Biogra ...

Jeshbab the Scribe Jeshbab the Scribe (or Yeshbab the Scribe, he, יְשֵבָב הַסוֹפֵר, ''Yəšēḇāḇ haSōfēr'') was a third generation Jewish Tanna sage, at the beginning of the 2nd century. He was a disciple of Joshua ben Hananiah and a colleagu ...

Halafta Halafta or Rabbi Halafta (רבי חלפתא) was a rabbi who lived in Sepphoris in the Galilee during the late 1st and early 2nd centuries CE (second generation of tannaim). He was the father of Jose ben Halafta, and one of the latter's teachers of ...

, and

Johanan ben Nuri Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri (Hebrew: יוחנן בן נורי) was a '' tanna'' of the 1st and 2nd centuries. Biography He initially studied under the watch of Rabban Gamliel of Yavne and senior of Rabbi Akiva, and later took up residence in Beit Sh ...

. He is described as one of the

Ten Martyrs The Ten Martyrs ( he, עֲשֶׂרֶת הָרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת ''ʿAsereṯ hāRūgēi Malḵūṯ'', "The Ten Royal Martyrs") were ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Roman Empire in the period after ...

in the

Midrash Eleh Ezkerah Midrash Eleh Ezkerah ( he, אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה ''ʾĒlle ʾEzkərā'') is an aggadic midrash, one of the smaller midrashim, which receives its name from the fact that a seliḥah for the Day of Atonement, which treats the same subject ...

, where he is said to have been murdered and dismembered "one day short of his 130th birthday". According to one story,

Elisha ben Abuyah Elisha ben Abuyah ( he, אלישע בן אבויה) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow ...

lost his faith after seeing Hutzpit's detached tongue lying in the dust after the murder.Kiddushin 39b

References

It has the following bibliography: *

Zunz Zunz ( he, צוּנְץ, yi, צונץ) is a Yiddish surname: * (1874–1939), Belgian pharmacologist * Sir Gerhard Jack Zunz (1923–2018), British civil engineer * Leopold Zunz (Yom Tov Lipmann Tzuntz) (1794–1886), German Reform rabbi and ...

, G. V. p. 142; *

A. Jellinek Adolf Jellinek ( he, אהרן ילינק ''Aharon Jelinek''; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845–1856), he became a preacher at t ...

, B. H. 2:23 et seq.; 5:41; 6:17 et seq.; *

Benjacob Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob (January 10, 1801, Ramygala – July 2, 1863, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian Jewish Maskil, best known as a bibliographer, author, and publisher. His 17-volume Hebrew Bible included Rashi, Mendelssohn, as well as his own '' ...

, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 299. *On the problem of the synchronism of the ten martyrs see

Heinrich Grätz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkop ...

, Gesch. iv. 175 et seq., and Monatsschrift, i. 314 et seq. *A German translation by P. Möbius appeared in 1845. {{Tannaim Smaller midrashim Mishnah rabbis Jewish martyrs