Simeon the Just

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Traditional Tomb of Simon the Just, Jerusalem

Simeon the Righteous or Simeon the Just (

High Priest during the Second Temple period. He is also referred to in the Mishnah, where he is described as one of the last members of the Great Assembly.[1]

Biography

Rabbinical eras

According to

Simeon the son of Gamaliel (by Weiss). The scholarly consensus of the late 20th century has fallen on Simon II.[3]

The

Sirach all contain accounts of him. He was termed "the Righteous" because of the piety of his life and his benevolence toward his compatriots.[4] He was deeply interested in the spiritual and material development of the nation. According to Sirach, he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, which had been torn down by Ptolemy Soter, and repaired the damage done to the Temple in Jerusalem, raising the foundation-walls of its court and enlarging the cistern into a pool.[5]

Babylonian Talmud
(1520–1523), open to the extract covering Simeon's meeting with Alexander the Great

According to the Talmud, when Alexander the Great marched through the Land of Israel in the year 332 BCE, Simeon the Just, dressed in his priestly garments went to Antipatris to meet him[6] although Josephus[7] states that Alexander himself came to Jerusalem. As soon as Alexander saw him, he descended from his chariot and bowed respectfully before him. When Alexander's courtiers criticized this act, he replied that it had been intentional, since he had had a vision in which he had seen the high priest, who had predicted his victory. Alexander demanded that a statue of himself be placed in the Temple, but the high priest explained that this was impossible. He promised instead that all the sons born of priests in that year would be named Alexander.[8] Josephus relates the same story, but identifies the high priest in the story as Jaddua rather than Simon.[9] This story appears to be identical with 3 Maccabees 2, where Seleucus (Kasgalgas) is mentioned.[10] This account is almost certainly legendary.

He was an opponent of the

sin-offering which he brought.[11] According to the Mishnah, Antigonus of Sokho was a disciple of Simeon.[12]

Priesthood

Jewish Encyclopedia
(1906–1913)

During Simeon's administration seven miracles are said to have taken place. A blessing rested (1) on the offering of the

first fruits, (2) on the two sacrificial loaves, and (3) on the loaves of showbread, in that, although each priest received a portion no larger than an olive, he ate and was satiated without even consuming the whole of it; (4) the lot cast for God[13] always came into the right hand; (5) the red thread around the neck of the goat or ram became white on Yom Kippur; (6) the light in the Temple never failed; and (7) the fire on the altar required but little wood to keep it burning.[14]

The Mishnah records that during the priesthood of Simeon the Just, two red heifers were burnt at the sacrificial place built on the Mount of Olives.[15]

Simeon is said to have held office for forty years.[16] On a certain Yom Kippur he came from the Holy of Holies in a sad mood, and when asked the reason, he replied that on every Yom Kippur a figure clothed in white had ushered him into the Holy of Holies and then had escorted him out. This time, however, the apparition had been clothed in black and had conducted him in, but had not led him out, a sign that this year was to be his last. He is said to have fallen ill soon after, for seven days, and died after Sukkot.[17]

Commemoration

His personality, and the high esteem in which he was held, are shown by a poem in

Sirach which compares him, at the moment of his exit from the Holy of Holies, to the sun, moon, and stars, and to the most magnificent plants.[18] This poem appeared with certain changes in the Yom Kippur mussaf
service, known by the title Mareh Kohen.

Without the presence of Shimon HaTzaddik among them, the Jewish people were no longer worthy of the miracles that had occurred during his lifetime. For this reason, following his death, the priests, refrained from blessing the Jewish people with the explicit name of God, the Tetragrammaton in the priestly blessing.[19]

Quotes

  • "The world exists through three things: the [Torah] Law, Service [Temple sacrifice, later replaced by prayer], and acts of loving kindness."[20]

See also

Further reading

  • Barrow, Norman. The High Priest (Faber & Faber, 1947) - complex historical novel covering in detail the characters and events of the time and noted by
    Daily Herald (UK newspaper) as "interesting".[21]

References

  1. ^ Pirkei Avot 1:2
  2. ^ Josephus (Antiquities 12.2.5.)
  3. ISBN 978-2-503-55306-1
    ).
  4. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 12:2, § 5
  5. ^ Sirach 50:1–14
  6. ^ Yoma 69a
  7. ^ l.c. xi.8, § 4
  8. ^ Leviticus Rabbah 13, end; Pesikta Rabbati section "Parah"
  9. ^ Josephus, Flavius; Whiston, William; Havercamp, Syvert (1800s). Complete works of Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews; The wars of the Jews against Apion, etc., . University of California Libraries. New York : Bigelow, Brown.
  10. Shir haShirim Rabbah
    38c; Tosefta Sotah 13
  11. ^ Nazir 4b; Nedarim 9b; Yerushalmi Nedarim 36d; Tosefta Nazir 4; Yerushalmi Nazir 1:7
  12. ^ "Pirkei Avot 1:3". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  13. ^ Leviticus 16:8
  14. ^ Yoma 39b; Menachot 109b; Yerushalmi Yoma 6:3
  15. ^ Parah 3:5
  16. ^ Yoma 9a; Yerushalmi Yoma 1:1, 5:2; Leviticus Rabbah 21
  17. ^ Yoma 39b; Tosefta Sotah 15; Yerushalmi Yoma 5:1
  18. ^ Sirach 50
  19. ^ Yoma; Tosefta Sotah 13
  20. ^ Pirkei Avot 1:2
  21. ^ "Books - by John Betjeman". Daily Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 22 April 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
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