Born and Died: At the 2^nd hundred years of the Jewish count. Exact date is not certain.

Rabbi Meir or Reb Meir Ba'al Ha-Nes (lit. Rabbi Meir Master of the Miracle) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the second generation. According to a legend, his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is one of the few women cited in the Gemara.

He was called, “Ba’al Haness” (“the Master of the Miracle”) because he was married to Beruriah, the daughter of Rabbi Chananiah ben Teradyon, one of the ten martyrs. The government ordered Rabbi Chanina's and his wife’s execution for teaching Torah publicly. They decreed that his daughter (Beruriah's sister) should live a life of shame. She was placed in a brothel. Beruriah asked her husband to save her sister. Rabbi Meir took a bag of gold coins and went to the brothel disguised as a Roman horseman. When he discovered that Beruriah's sister kept her chastity he offered the money as a bribe to the guard. The guard replied, “When my supervisor comes, he will notice one missing and kill me.” R' Meir answered, “Take half the money for yourself, and use the other half to bribe the officials.” The guard continued, “And when there is no more money, and the supervisors come - then what will I do?” R' Meir answered, “Say, ‘The God of Meir - answer me!’ and you will be saved.” The guard asked, “And how can I be guaranteed that this will save me?” R' Meir replied, “Look - there are man-eating dogs over there. I will go to them and you will see for yourself.” R' Meir walked over the dogs and they ran over to him to tear him apart. He cried, “God of Meir - answer me!” and the dogs retreated. The guard was convinced and gave him the girl. When the group of supervisors came, the guard bribed them with the money. Eventually, the money was used up, and it was publicized what had happened. They arrested the guard and sentenced him to death by hanging. They tied the rope around his neck and he said, “God of Meir - answer me!” The rope tore, much to everyone’s amazement. He told them the incident, and they went after R' Meir. The guard was saved.

From then on, a tradition has remained that when a Jew finds himself, in any sort of crisis, he gives charity for the benefit of Torah students in Israel, which ever yeshivah it may be, and dedicates the charity in memory of R' Meir Baal Haness. He then says, “God of Meir - answer me! God of Meir - answer me!” and in that merit will hopefully have salvation from his crisis.