Alexander the Great and Simeon the Just
The hare: this refers to Greece; because it chews [lit., raises up] its cud (Leviticus 11:6): for it raises up righteous individuals. Alexander the Macedonian, when he saw Simeon the Just, rose up on his legs before him. They said to him, “Can you not see that it is a Jew? Do you stand before Jews?” [Alexander] said to them, “When I go out to battle, I see the likeness of this one, and I am victorious.”
Translated by Matthew Goldstone.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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