Hutzpit the Interpreter

Hutzpit the Interpreter (Hebrew: חוּצְפִּית הַמְּתוּרְגְּמָן, Ḥūṣpīṯ hamMəṯūrgəmān) was a rabbi from the third generation of tannaim.

Biography

His title comes from his position as the interpreter of Rabban Gamaliel II: Gamaliel would speak softly, and Hutzpit would announce Gamaliel's words to the listeners.[1] At one point he lived in Tzippori and had contact with rabbis Eleazar ben Azariah, Jeshbab the Scribe, Halafta, and Johanan ben Nuri.[2]

He is described as one of the Ten Martyrs in the Midrash Eleh Ezkerah, where he is said to have been murdered and dismembered "one day short of his 130th birthday".[3] According to one story, Elisha ben Abuyah lost his faith after seeing Hutzpit's detached tongue lying in the dust after the murder.[4]

References
  1. Brachot 27b
  2. Tosefta Kelim Batra 2:1
  3. Midrash Eleh Ezkerah (translated by David Sedley; Artscroll Yom Kippur Machzor p. 934
  4. Kiddushin 39b

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Smaller Midrashim". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. It has the following bibliography:

  • Zunz, G. V. p. 142;
  • A. Jellinek, B. H. 2:23 et seq.; 5:41; 6:17 et seq.;
  • Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 299.
  • On the problem of the synchronism of the ten martyrs see Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. iv. 175 et seq., and Monatsschrift, i. 314 et seq.
  • A German translation by P. Möbius appeared in 1845.
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