THE TEN MARTYRS [#16737]

Why did Rebbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol (of whom Hashem said “Yishmael my son”) have to undergo such torture when he was killed by the Romans?

Because, as it is well-known, all of the ten martyrs were a result of the ten droplets of seed that escaped Yosef’s body when he was trying to get away from Potiphar’s wife. Shaar HaGilgulim says that Rebbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol was tortured the most from all the ten martyrs because he was a reincarnation of Yosef himself. According to another view, however, the ten martyrs were an atonement for the sale of Yosef. (2) Rabbeinu Bechaye (Vayeishev 38:1) says that Yosef caused his own sale and therefore he is included in the ten brothers who sold Yosef, thus there had to ten martyrs to atone for the ten brothers who took part in Yosef’s sale. (3) And, on a deeper level, it was because Yosef was the root of all the brothers and therefore he was punished more than all the other brothers, thus Rebbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol, who was a reincarnation of Yosef, was tortured the most from all the ten martyrs.