Rebbe Chanina ben Tradyon

Torah and leadership

Rebbe Chanina ben Tradyon zt"l was a Tanna of the third generation. He lived in Sichnin, in the Lower Galilee, in the first and second centuries, and his colleague was Rabbi Chalafta. He was the rosh yeshivah and head of the beis din in Sichnin, and he was one of the Aseres Harugei Malchus, the ten great sages put to death by the Romans.

Rebbe Chanina also served as an overseer of tzedakah funds, and he was well known for his reliability. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said of him that a person should not put his money into the tzedakah purse unless a Torah scholar like Chanina ben Tradyon supervises it. The Gemara tells that he once mistook Purim money for ordinary tzedakah money and distributed it without specifying its purpose. To put it right, he took his own money and gave it out as Purim money. The Gemara adds that he did practice tzedakah, though not as much as he could have.

In Sichnin Rebbe Chanina used a shofar and trumpets on Rosh Hashanah. The Sages objected, saying that this was strictly a practice of the Bais HaMikdash.

Family

Rebbe Chanina had two sons and two daughters. One son fell in with robbers and was put to death, and the other was a Torah scholar. His well-known daughter was Beruriah, who married Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes.

His other daughter was taken to a brothel after her father was killed. The Gemara explains that she had once been walking in front of Roman notables, who remarked on how beautiful the girl's steps were. From then on she became particular about how she walked. She was later rescued from the brothel by Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, who was married to her sister Beruriah.

The Ten Martyrs

The Gemara and the Midrash tell how the decree came about. Lupinus, the Roman emperor of the time, was studying Torah, and he asked the ten great sages of that generation what the law was for a Jew who sells another Jew into captivity, as Yosef's brothers had sold him. Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues answered that the punishment was death. The emperor replied that Yosef's brothers had never been punished, and then he sprang his trap. Justice had to be done, he said, and there had been no leaders in their place until these ten.

When Rabbi Nechunya ben HaKanah heard of the decree, he asked Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha to ascend to Heaven and find out whether it was a Heavenly decree. Rabbi Yishmael purified himself, uttered the secret Name of Hashem, and went up. He asked the angel Gavriel, who answered, "Accept it upon yourselves, righteous and beloved men, for I have heard from behind the partition that this is to be your destiny." Rabbi Yishmael was told that the ten sages were to be given to the evil angel Samael as punishment for the sale of Yosef. He reported this to his colleagues, and they accepted the Heavenly decree.

Later years and passing

The Gemara relates that Rebbe Chanina was punished for pronouncing the Name of Hashem in public, and that his wife was punished for not stopping him. The Romans sentenced him to death for teaching Torah and holding public gatherings in defiance of the government's ban.

He was burned at the stake in Sivan, wrapped in the Torah scroll that he had been holding when he was arrested. Tufts of wool soaked in water were placed over his heart so that his death would take longer. His daughter Beruriah cried out, "Father, that I should see you like this." He answered that it would have been hard for him to be burned alone, but since a Torah scroll was burning with him, the One who avenges the Torah's suffering would avenge his as well.

His talmidim asked him, "Rebbe, what do you see?" He answered, "The parchments are burning, but the letters are soaring on high." He was told to open his mouth so that the fire could enter and end his life sooner, but he refused. It was better, he said, that the One who gave his life should be the One to take it.

The executioner offered to remove the wool from his heart if Rebbe Chanina would promise him a share in the World to Come. Rebbe Chanina agreed. When he passed away, the executioner leapt into the flames, and a Heavenly voice proclaimed that both of them were destined for the World to Come. Rebbi wept when he heard this and said that some people acquire the World to Come in a single moment, while others must work for it for many years.

The Arizal on his soul

According to the Arizal, Rebbe Chanina was the reincarnation of one of the brothers of Yosef HaTzaddik who sold him, and his painful death was an atonement for that sin. The Arizal adds that another part of his soul was captured by the forces of impurity after the sin of Adam HaRishon and was inside Shechem ben Chamor, who violated Dina, the daughter of Yaakov. The story of the brothel is also connected to the story of Shechem and Dina.