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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.
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Blinken to Visit Israel to Reaffirm ‘Iron-Clad Support for Israel’s Security’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at the Czernin Palace, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 31, 2024. Photo: Peter David Josek/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Saturday to “continue intensive diplomatic efforts to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal presented today by the United States, with support from Egypt and Qatar,” the US State Department stated on Friday.
“This proposal would achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza and create the conditions for broader regional stability,” Foggy Bottom added, noting that Blinken will stress the importance of avoiding regional escalation.
“I am sending Secretary Blinken to Israel to reaffirm my iron-clad support for Israel’s security, continue our intensive efforts to conclude this agreement and to underscore that with the comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal now in sight, no one in the region should take actions to undermine this process,” US President Joe Biden stated on Friday.
Biden said that he reviewed “the significant progress made in Doha over the past two days of talks” with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“They expressed the strong support of Qatar and Egypt for the US proposal as co-mediators in this process,” Biden said. “Our teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work over the coming days, and senior officials will convene again in Cairo before the end of the week. They will report to me regularly.”
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UN Chief Calls for Assurances of Humanitarian Ceasefires for Polio Vaccination Campaign in Gaza
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting to address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US, April 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for parties to the conflict in Gaza to provide concrete assurances guaranteeing humanitarian pauses in order for a polio vaccine campaign to be conducted.
Guterres, speaking to reporters at the United Nations, appealed for assurances to be provided right away as he warned that preventing and containing the spread of polio in the enclave would take a massive coordinated and urgent effort.
“Let’s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres said.
“But in any case, a polio pause is a must. It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over.”
The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement on Friday that it has detected the first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip in the city of Deir Al-Balah for a 10-month-old baby who had not received any polio vaccination dose.
Guterres said the UN is poised to launch a polio vaccine campaign in Gaza for children under the age of 10, but said the “challenges are grave.”
At least 95% vaccination coverage will be needed during each of the two rounds of the campaign to prevent polio’s spread and reduce its emergence given the devastation in Gaza, Guterres said. He added that a successful campaign will require the facilitation of transport for vaccines and refrigeration equipment at every step, the entry of polio experts into Gaza, reliable internet and phone services, and other elements.
Polio was detected in sewage in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates, Dr. Hamid Jafari, a WHO polio specialist, said during a news conference earlier this month, adding it was possible the virus had been circulating since September.
A senior Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they understood there was at least one confirmed case and two suspected ones among Palestinians in the enclave, adding that there might not be a single humanitarian pause but multiple shorter ones.
The danger is that the threat of disease outbreaks is not confined to Gaza, which the official said was a “contagion time bomb.” The official explained that when the rainy season begins late this autumn, the contaminated raw sewage could be “pushed” down to an aquifer from which Israel, Egypt and Jordan draw water.
Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.
Children under 5 are most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under 2 since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by 10 months of conflict.
Without proper health services, the population of Gaza is particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease, public health officials and aid groups say.
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Hezbollah Launches 55 Rocket Barrage at Northern Israeli Kibbutz
Illustrative. Smoke rises from Kfar Kila, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Lebanon, Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
i24 News – The Lebanon-based Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah on Saturday launched a barrage of some 55 rockets at a northern Israeli kibbutz. No Israeli casualties were reported. Hezbollah said it was retaliating to an Israeli airstrike overnight that killed at least 10 people and wounded five others. The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot.
WATCH: IDF airstrikes targeting Hezbollah weapons depots pic.twitter.com/HAg2mB5Rsh
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) August 17, 2024
Israeli authorities confirmed the barrage involved dozens of rockets, with interceptions visible in the region’s skies. Residents reported “loud explosions” and power outages.
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