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From Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue and CEO of University Jewish Chaplaincy:

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Alexander of Macedonia – king and general – was born around 2350 years ago today.Ìý By the time he died at just 32, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world – hence the name by which he’s better know -Ìý Alexander the Great.

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Today, Alexander seems like a remote figure, but his influence is still felt.Ìý He probably had more influence over the development of Jewish life than any non-Jew in history.Ìý In 332 BCE he marched through the Holy Land with no opposition and visited Jerusalem, where according to Jewish legend, he met rabbis and officials.Ìý He granted privileges and rights to the Jews that were rare at the time.Ìý As a tribute to Alexander, something quite remarkable happened.Ìý For a year, every boy born to a Jewish family was named Alexander!Ìý Can you imagine being those kids’ class teacher?Ìý ‘Hey, Alex, what are you doing?’ and the entire class looks round.

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The prominence of Alexander in Jewish culture is shown by an amazing mosaic that was discovered just last year in Israel.Ìý It shows Alexander surrounded by animals and soldiers meeting a Jewish priest.Ìý Alexander and Jewish leaders could speak as equals and it’s all the more unusual in that it was found of all places in the ruins of a 5th-century synagogue.

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Which leads us to a great Jewish legend about Alexander the Great.Ìý A king once invited Alexander to listen to him judging an unusual dispute.Ìý One party said, ‘I bought a piece of land and I found a valuable treasure; I only bought the land, so I want to return the treasure to the seller’.Ìý The buyer said, ‘I sold the field with everything in it, and so the treasure isn’t mine and he should keep it’.ÌýÌý The king solved their dispute when he discovered that one had a son and the other a daughter.Ìý He recommended they marry each other so the treasure could belong to them both.Ìý Apparently, Alexander laughed out loud when he heard the king’s ruling.Ìý The king asked him, ‘is my decision wrong?’Ìý Alexander replied, ‘Where I come from, we would have killed them both and taken the treasure’!

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A fun story from a complex man who had a rather casual attitude to the lives of others, but also gave equal rights to those he conquered.Ìý Happy birthday, Alexander.