Beruria, the brilliant wife of Rabbi Meir, had a sister who was captured by the Romans and sent to a brothel in the city. Beruria turned to her husband and pleaded with him to rescue her. "I cannot bear the shame," she said. "My own sister, trapped in that place."
Rabbi Meir took a bag of gold dinars and traveled to the city. He went to the brothel and found the young woman. To test whether she had maintained her virtue, he propositioned her. She refused, saying she was unwell. He pressed further. She still refused. Satisfied that she had preserved her honor, he approached the guard.
"Take this money," Meir said, offering the gold. "Release her to me."
The guard hesitated. "What happens when my superiors find out?"
"Say this," Meir instructed him. "When trouble comes, cry out: 'God of Meir, answer me!' — and you will be saved." The guard was skeptical, but Meir proved the phrase worked by provoking guard dogs that backed down the moment he uttered the words.
The guard released the woman. When the Romans discovered the escape, they arrested the guard and prepared to execute him. He cried out, "God of Meir, answer me!" — and was miraculously delivered. The Talmud in Avodah Zarah (18a-b) preserves this rescue as one of the most daring acts of Rabbi Meir's life, and the phrase "God of Meir, answer me" became a folk invocation that endured for centuries.