DECEMBER 4/KISLEV 21

3448 (313 BCE):

According to tradition, Shimon HaTzaddik, the last of the "Men of the Great Assembly" who rebuilt the Holy Temple and revitalized Judaism under Ezra, garbed in the vestments of the High Priest and accompanied with a delegation of Jewish dignitaries, went forth to greet Alexander the Great who was marching on Jerusalem at the head of his army. When the King saw the High Priest, he dismounted his horse and bowed respectfully; to his men he explained that he often had visions of a similar-looking man leading him into battle. (Talmud Yoma 69a). He spared Jerusalem, peacefully absorbing Israel into his growing empire. In gratitude, the Sages decreed that the Jewish firstborn of that time be named Alexander -- which remains a Jewish name to this very day.