THE FEW DECADES which the Jews spent in Babylonia, from the exile of Jehoyachin king of Judea till their return under Cyrus king of Persia, deeply influenced their spiritual development in so far as the outward manifestations of the Jewish religion were concerned. It was from the Babylonians that they learned to identify angels by name. In all the books of the Bible preceding the book of Daniel, angels are referred to without names. According to the story of the Torah and the Prophets, angels were created by God’s wish to perform a definite mission. When that mission was completed, the angel would vanish without a name even as he appeared without a name.
Only after their return from the Babylonian captivity did the Jews begin to name the angels according to their function. Raphael became the angel of healing. Gabriel was the angel of strength and victory and Michael became the defender of the Jewish people.
In order to obtain a clearer understanding of the political situation we must remember that from the time of the return of the exiles till the breakdown of the Persian empire there prevailed comparative political stability. The Jews gathered internal strength and fortified the foundations of their religious and national life. But we have not received the name of any person of that period who could be said to have been the leader of the people.
The leadership was concentrated in the hands of the High Priest and of the group of people known as “Soferim”, scribes, who copied the holy writings. No unusual activity went on. The people stayed within their modest boundaries and diligently devoted themselves to the rebuilding of their homes and lands, seemingly indifferent to whom they paid their taxes or who ruled the land.
Only much later, in the days of Artaxerxes III (362-338 B. C.) did trouble begin when the Egyptians tried to liberate themselves from the yoke of the Persians. The Persian armies marched into Palestine on their way to Egypt. The Egyptians too did not wait until their land was invaded and proceeded to meet them. Both armies met in Palestine and there the battle was fought.
The Jews were thus forced to provide for both armies. Each of the contending sides tried to gain their support but they remained neutral in this conflict. The war ended with the withdrawal of Persia from Egypt, and Palestine became the apple of discord between the two powers each of whom desired to possess it for strategic reasons.
Meanwhile there set in a spiritual decline within the Persian nation. When the Persians conquered Babylonia and other Asiatic lands they found the inhabitants worshipping various gods of fertility and indulging in immorality as a form of piety. The Persian king Artaxerxes III introduced this type of worship into all the lands of his domain. The new form of worship strained the loyalty of the Jews towards the Persians because it ran contrary to all their concepts of religion. As the king devoted himself to the new cult he refrained from active participation in matters of state and entrusted the conduct of the government to his officials. One of these officials was put in charge of Jerusalem; another official, named Bagases, assassinated the king and his whole household and assumed the throne.
It was to this ruler that Joshua, the son of the High Priest Joyada, appealed to have himself appointed High Priest after the death of his father instead of his older brother Jochanan, who was the legitimate heir. When Joyada died, he attempted to claim his office and was killed within the Temple by his older brother. Upon hearing this the governor hastened to Jerusalem to avenge his friend but, having arrived, he did nothing to the murderer and utilized the opportunity to plunder the Temple. In addition he imposed upon the Jews a fine of fifty golden Drachmas to be paid daily and he entered the Holy of Holies which he stripped of all valuables.
Seven years later saw the beginning of the wars of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, in which he conquered all the domains of the Persians. Some of these battles were also fought on Palestine soil. The prophet Daniel described those wars as he foresaw them in his dream: "… The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an eagle; I beheld till her wings were plucked off and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her. And behold another beast like a bear stood up on one side and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth…. After this I beheld another like a tiger which had on its back four wings of a fowl and also four heads…. After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with its feet.” (Daniel, 7.)
The High Priest at that time was Simon the Just who was a direct descendant of the High Priest Joshua, the first after the return from the Babylonian captivity. The personality of Simon the Just is veiled in legend and it is difficult to establish the exact years of his life. The generally accepted date of his death is about 310 B. C. Some historians claim he lived at a later date. But it is certain that he was the last of the Great Synagogue and that this institution was abolished in his time.
Of all the teachings of Simon the Just there remained but one statement which he must have repeated on numerous occasions. “Upon three things the world rests: upon the law, upon worship, and upon the showing of kindness.”1)אָבות פרק א׳ משנה ב׳.
Simon the Just was High Priest for forty years according to the Talmud. These were years when Palestine went through terrible difficulties. As in the days of the first Temple, the country became the battlefield for many nations. These events became so commonplace that they were not even properly recorded. But the Jews of the surrounding countries (Babylonia, Persia, Egypt) lived under more favorable circumstances and they refrained from coming to Jerusalem. With the weakening of the atachment to Jerusalem, they strove to establish spiritual centers within the countries of their residence. One competing Temple, the temple of the Samaritans, already existed on Mount Gerizim. It had for its High Priest Menashe, the son-in-law of Sanbalat the Horonite, whom Nehemiah expelled from Jerusalem.
Many wonders are said to have occurred in the Temple in Jerusalem during the High Priesthood of Simon the Just. Some of these are described in the Talmud.2)יומא ל״ט א׳.
During the service of the Day of Atonement, two he goats were placed near the High Priest, one on his right and one on his left. Lots were cast to determine which one would be sacrificed as a sin offering and which one would be sent to Azazel in the desert, and each time the lot of being the sin offering fell to the goat on the right side of the priest.
The second wonder was the changing of the red string. A red string was tied around the neck of the goat being sent to Azazel. After the goat was thrown from the top of the precipice and it was cut to pieces in the fall, the red string which remained in the hands of the messenger turned white. This was a sign that the sins of the people were forgiven.
The third was the wonder of the burning western light. Since the Menorah in the Temple was situated between the North and South, its lamps were always lit from West to East. But in spite of the fact that the westernmost lamp was lit first it continued burning even when the oil in the other lamps was already consumed.
The fourth wonder was that of the altar fire. The fire on the altar increased of itself. Only two pieces of wood were added at sundown and the fire never went out.
Another wonder was that of the sheaf. A blessing rested on the sheaves which were given to the priests and on the holy loaves. Every priest received no more than the size of an olive and of that he ate his fill and left over.
Simon the Just did not approve of the Nazarites who vowed to abstain from wine and not to cut their hair for some time. As a protest against those Jews who indulged in extravagant living there appeared Nazarites who renounced all of these pleasures. Of these Simon the Just disapproved because he considered it a sin to renounce pleasures which God created for the benefit of people. He made only one exception to this rule and of this he tells himself:
There once came to me a man who had beautiful curly hair and he wanted to cut his hair because he ended the period of being a Nazarite. I asked him, “My son, what made you decide to cut off your beautiful hair?” And the man answered me, “I am a shepherd for my father. Once, when I went to the spring to draw water for the cattle, I looked at my image in the water and I was tempted to be proud of my beautiful appearance and thus to lose my life through sin. So I said to myself, ‘Wicked man, you are proud of something which is not yours, and you will, at any rate, turn to forms. I therefore swore to cut off this hair in honor of the Almighty.’”
Simon the Just kissed the Nazarite on the head and said to him: “May there be many like you in Israel.”
Two Red Heifers were sacrificed in the days of Simon the Just. The Red Heifer offering was the sacrifice of a cow which did not even have two black hairs. The animal also had to be without fault and must never have been put to work. Such an animal was therefore very rare and it was considered a miracle that two such were found during the forty years of his priesthood. In spite of the fact that sometimes as high a price as sixty measures of gold were paid for such an animal, there were only nine such sacrificed during the existence of both Temples. Legend has it that the tenth one will not be found until the coming of the Messiah.
Tradition has it that Alexander the Great wanted to destroy Jerusalem. He was then conducting a war against Syria and Phoenicia and he wanted the Jews of Palestine to help him. The Jews informed him that they cannot do so because they swore loyalty to king Darius the Mede. Hearing this Alexander announced to his soldiers that he would take revenge. When the Jews heard that Alexander was marching on Jerusalem with a great army they were stricken with fear. The High Priest Simon the Just together with all the priests and elders went to greet him.
Simon the Just was dressed in the priestly vestments that he used to wear when going into the Holy of Holies during the service on the Day of Atonement. As soon as Alexander saw him he descended from his chariot and bowed to him.
The commanders of his troops asked him what happened to make the conqueror of so many lands, who placed his foot on the necks of so many kings, bow before a Jew whom he previously threatened to destroy. Alexander answered that every night preceding a victory he saw an old man in his dream who resembled the Jewish High Priest. He therefore refused to do him any harm and believed that being kind to him would bring him luck in the coming wars.*)According to Josephus, the name of this High Priest was Jaddua, but we will accept the opinion of the Talmud that it was Simon the Just, the grandson of Jaddua.
Simon the Just then led Alexander into the Temple. Alexander liked the Temple and asked that a stone image of himself be placed near the altar. Simon the Just answered that this was impossible because the Jewish faith does not allow images in the Temple. But he promised to immortalize the memory of Alexander’s kindness in another manner. He had all the boys, who were born that year, named Alexander. The king liked this idea even better than having his statue near the altar.
The Samaritans then came before Alexander to complain against the Jews. They attempted to prove that their temple on Mount Gerizim was the true Jewish temple. Alexander asked them to debate the question with the Jews of Jerusalem in his presence. The spokesman of the Jews was one Gabiha ben Pasisa who, with his sensible arguments, destroyed the claims of the Samaritans. When Alexander acknowledged the Jews to be the victors of the debate, the Samaritans fled.
Numerous customs were introduced at that time which are still in force. Among them were the Kiddush and Havdalah, the blessings over wine on Friday eve and Saturday night and the regulation that even the poorest person must drink no less than four glasses of wine at the Seder on Passover eve. With the consent of the Great Court in Jerusalem the blessings over food were established. The reading of the Haftorah was introduced for Saturdays and feast days. Since the Samaritans did not acknowledge the sanctity of the Prophets an appropriate chapter from the Prophets was selected to be read each week.
The Temple in Jerusalem was already in existence about two hundred years and naturally the structure was becoming weakened. Simon the Just had the building repaired and had verandas built around it. Jerusalem suffered a shortage of water and much water was also required for the Temple service. The priests had to perform ablutions several times a day and even an ordinary person had to bathe before entering the precincts of the Temple. Simon the Just dug a well under the ground near the Temple from which an aqueduct was later built to bring sufficient water to the city through copper pipes.
Immediately after the Day of Atonement of the year in which he died, Simon the Just announced that he would die. When he was asked how he knew this, he said that on every Day of Atonement, when he entered the Holy of Holies to perform the service, he saw an old man dressed in white who used to leave the Holy of Holies together with him. That year the old man was dressed in black and did not leave the Holy of Holies with him. It happened just as he predicted. Seven days after Succoth he became ill and died.
Simon the Just was survived by two sons, Shimei and Onias, of whom Onias was the wiser and more capable. Simon the Just wanted Onias to succeed him to the High Priesthood. But Shimei intrigued among the people against the will of his father and caused them to believe that a man such as Simon the Just would not want his younger son to take precedence over the older. Disappointed, Onias left for Alexandria in Egypt where there existed a large Jewish community of over a million people. There he established a competing temple (the house of Onias) with an altar for the offering of sacrifices to the God of Israel even as the Samaritans had their Temple on Mount Gerizim.