Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE) was the king of Macedonia from 336 BCE until his death. During his reign, which lasted only thirteen years, he expanded his empire to include countries as distant as India and Egypt, including the Land of Israel. He founded the city of Alexandria in 331 BCE, in a strategic port region in the Nile Delta. His conquests not only completely changed the political structure of the area, but also ushered in an era of extraordinary cultural exchange, in which Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Greek became the language of the empire.

Upon Alexander’s death, his generals divided the empire, and Egypt fell to Ptolemy. Under Ptolemy, Alexandria became the cultural center of the ancient world. He built the famous «Temple to the Muses,» the «Museion,» from which the word «museum» comes. As part of the temple was the Great Royal Library of Alexandria, which would become the largest library in the world at that time. Great scholars such as Archimedes, Euclid, and Galen settled in the city, and at one point there were 14,000 students among its residents.

The Bible records that Jews began settling in Egypt after Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem (586 BCE) and the assassination of Gedaliah (2 Kings 25-26). Years later, Jewish immigrants settled in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period, attracted by its religious tolerance and vibrant cultural life. In his books, Flavius ​​Josephus recounts that Ptolemy, after conquering Judea, took 120,000 Jewish prisoners to Egypt. Many other Jews followed them, since in Alexandria, Jews enjoyed full civil rights like any Greek citizen, but remained an independent and autonomous political community. Historians estimate that 40% of Alexandria’s population was Jewish.

It was during this time that Hellenistic Judaism began its development. One of the main cultural contributions of the Jews of Alexandria was the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Bible, commissioned by Ptolemy II, who commissioned 72 scholars who were fluent in both Hebrew and Greek. Legend has it that Ptolemy placed the 72 scholars in separate rooms and told each one: «Write for me the Torah of Moses, your teacher.» Legend has it that all the translations were identical. With the Septuagint, the Jews of Alexandria, who only spoke Greek, had access to Jewish sources. But these Hellenistic Jews, who had been educated in Greek culture, interpreted the Bible differently.

Some of them, most notably Philo, explained the Holy Scriptures through the lens of classical Greek philosophy: the precepts of the Torah had to be understood using logic and reason and had to be universal and immutable truths. It was no longer enough to say that the Jewish commandments were valid only because they had been commanded by God. And Philo, through symbolism and allegory, somehow demonstrated that the laws of the Torah complied with the Greek way of thinking. Ultimately, he sought to teach the Greeks the values ​​of Judaism, and he ended up teaching the Jews Greek values.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Jewish Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Judaica, lecture by Christine Hayes

and other sources.