Chag Sameach

1. Not mentioned in the 2 books of the Chasmonaim,Not in Josephus/Jossipon. But only appears in the Talmud for the first time. Why?

2. Alexander is among many ancient warriors whose campaigns were well documented. Is there any mention of his historic meeting with Shimon Hatzadik Cohen Gadol. Obviously per our historia he was taken aback by the figure of this Tzaddik dressed in white. Would he not have alluded to such an important awe inspiring moment in his very short life???

Thank You

If I may, just my humble opinion.

1. Alexander lived quite a time prior to Antiochus; so I am not sure it would be mentioned in the 2 books of the Chasmonaim. Josephus does not mention such a meeting because he was pretty opportunistic in his writings in general.

2. The meeting with Shim'on haTzaddik may have not been documented because while it was extremely important to us, it was a passing episode for Alexander:

Alexander may have thought this way: OK, so this province does not want to have my statue, but promised to memorialize my name in a different manner - fine; done; forgotten; let's move on.

In general, Alexander's policy - and that was pretty wise of him - was to allow the provinces of his empire to follow whatever religion they had prior to the conquest, as long as they paid the taxes; it was an economical, rather than ideological, dependence.

However, the influence of the Greek culture on the cultures of the provinces was immence, and that was what ultimately allowed Antiochus to get his decrees executed almost unprotested.

B"H
Ilan Avraham,
If I might correct you, you stated that the "Pach Shemen" (Flask of Oil) was not mentioned by the ancients any earlier than in the Talmud. Actually, the miracle of the "Pach Shemen" is mentioned in the original Aramaic copy of "Megillath Antiochus," found in old Yemenite prayer books. Rabbi Saadia Gaon, in his book "Sefer Ha-Egron" on Hebrew grammar, writes that "Megillath Antiochus" was initially known by the name "Megillath Beith Hashmonai," and that it was written by the disciples of the schools of Shammai and Hillel, which makes it older than the Mishnah, itself, which was written in 189 C.E.
I viewed a microfilm copy of a Yemenite Siddur (prayer book) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem containing a copy of "Megillath Antiochus." There, it said that the flask of oil found by the Hasmonaeans, and which was untouched by the Grecians, had been preserved since the time of Samuel the prophet. (The microfilm of the old Yemenite Siddur is located in the Microfilm Dept., under catalogue # 26787)
Sincerely,
David Ben-Abraham

quote:

Originally posted by ilanavraham:
Chag Sameach

2. Alexander is among many ancient warriors whose campaigns were well documented. Is there any mention of his historic meeting with Shimon Hatzadik Cohen Gadol. Obviously per our historia he was taken aback by the figure of this Tzaddik dressed in white. Would he not have alluded to such an important awe inspiring moment in his very short life??? Thank You

Actually, we find that the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma) mentions the historic visit of Alexander the Great with Shimon Ha-Tzadik.
Sincerely,
David