Some believe that Alexander the Great is referred to in the prophesy, “Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided towards the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these.” (Daniel 11:3-4).
In a later text it is noted, “After Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated King Darius of the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king.” (1 Maccabees 1:1)
He was honored by a visit from the Kohain gadol (High Priest) as reported, What did he do? He donned the priestly vestments and wrapped himself in the priestly vestments. And the nobles of the Jewish People were with him, with torches of fire in their hands…When Alexander saw Shimon HaTzaddik, he descended from his chariot and bowed before him. His officers said to him: Should an important king such as you bow to this Jew? He said to them: I do so because the image of this man’s face is before me on my battlefields, when I fight I see his image going before me as a sign of victory, and therefore I know that he has the highest level of holiness.” (Yoma 69a)
“Alexander of Macedon asked the Elders of the Negev about ten matters.” (Tamid 31b) The wise men mention that when Alexander reigned all the sages appeared before him to speak and debate after their fashion, each one according to his own language and clarity of thought. When they had all gathered together in their house of prayer, the king said: “Choose one among you and let us hear what he has to say.” Then a young man among them rose to speak and Alexander said: “Good youth, go back to your place for you are but a boy, and let someone older than you speak!”
The young man answered: “May the Holy One, blessed be He grant you success, your majesty! You should know, indeed, that man distinguishes himself in his heart and speech, and when the Holy One, blessed be He grants His servant a clear tongue and a heart that does not forget, then it is fitting for him to speak, as it is for a man to be brave. And if he were chosen by his years in order to reign over all these masses by length of days, then surely there would be somebody among them who is better fitted to reign than you are!”
To which they all responded: “You are right, good youth.”
Based on Ben haMelech v’haNazir VII (13th Cent)
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)
