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Remembering Alexander the Great, and the History of the Jewish People
Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) holds a very special place in Jewish historiography and mythology. He passed through the Land of Israel on his way to Egypt, although Jerusalem was not on his route. And from there, he went on to conquer Persia and got as far as India. He died in Babylon on his way back.
He was a child prodigy who had been educated by Aristotle (Maimonides’ philosophical inspiration). Wherever he went, he sent back scientific samples to his mentor. He believed that people should be free to believe whatever religious ideas they fancied, so long as they lived their lives according to a systematic ethical program.
Putting an effigy in a temple of those he conquered was political not ideological; it certainly was not a religious compulsion. Alexander was seen as a great man precisely because he encouraged modernization without trying to impose his religious views.
After Alexander died, his empire was divided up. Israel fell between the Seleucid Empire, based in Damascus, and the Ptolemies in Egypt. Over the next 200 years, regimes changed — they came and went. Jews fought Jews, and then fought Syrians and Egyptians in turn. And yet thanks to Alexander, they were left alone religiously (except, of course, under Antiochus IV and later a Ptolemy). And, despite the rivalry and antipathy of Alexander’s Greek and Roman heirs, we survived and occasionally thrived.
The Jewish response to Greek and Roman civilization, was to borrow and adapt, particularly in education. What Judaism opposed in Greek thought was its sexual and physical overindulgence, despite the stoic strain in Greek philosophy. Judaism insisted on a non-rational, spiritual dimension, and a system of law and morality that had to apply equally to everyone, regardless of rank or power. But ideas were not enough. Judaism emphasized behavior.
There are many legends about Alexander and his wisdom recorded in the Talmud and Midrash. One is that Shimon HaTsaddik, Simeon the Just, the High Priest, appeared before him in a dream dressed in his white Yom Kippur finery. It seems Alexander had dreamt about being visited by a white figure the night before. In reality, the dates don’t match Shimon with Alexander’s timeline. And a similar story is told about Yochanan Ben Zakkai and the Roman Vespasian. The name Alexander was then adopted as a Jewish name, whether it was Alexander or the short version of Sender. No other non-Jewish ruler sympathetic to the Jews, from some of the Caesars to Napoleon, was paid such a compliment.
The other famous Talmudic story that I mentioned earlier this year in another piece, is that the local nations appeared before Alexander and asked him to dispossess the Jews, but he allowed the Jews to defend themselves, and their enemies were routed.
On another occasion, the people of Egypt came to judgment with the Jewish people before Alexander of Macedon. The Egyptians said, “It says in the Torah: ‘And the Lord gave the people favor in the eyes of Egypt, and they lent them gold and silver’ (Exodus 12:36). Give us back the silver and gold that you took from us.”
Gavia ben Pesisa replied that if their source was the Torah, it also says “And the Children of Israel, dwelt in Egypt, for four hundred and thirty years” (Exodus 12:40), during which they were enslaved to Egypt, engaged in hard manual labor. Give us the wages for all the work of the 600,000 whom you enslaved in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years (Exodus 12:37). Immediately, they abandoned their fields and their vineyards and fled” (TB Sanhedrin 91b abbreviated and edited).
Of course, I do not take all this as historical fact. But these legends do tell us something about our predicament today, as we face almost universal antagonism — it has almost always been thus.
Our historical connection to the land of Israel was challenged long before there were Muslims, Marxists, or Palestinians. And people have always tried to turn our own books, whether the Bible or the Talmud, against us. Why even in Egypt a few years ago, there was a serious attempt to recover reparations from Israel for stealing their property 3,000 years ago. It will never change. As it was then, we must fight back, but humor and storytelling are useful tools that we’ve always used to feel better and survive.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Remembering Alexander the Great, and the History of the Jewish People first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.