RABBI LAZER BRODY HELLESNISIM NOTHING NEW

As far as the Jews in the Land of Israel were concerned, Alexander the Great was a benevolent ruler. He was not a pagan and he had tremendous regard for the Jewish sages, particularly Simon the Just, the High Priest at the time (see tractate Yoma, 69a). Neither persecuting them nor making life miserable for them, Alexander made an arrangement with the Jews: as long as they remained loyal to him, all they had to do was to pay their taxes and they'd be allowed to remain autonomous. This was unheard of, definitely a stroke of Divine will, because Alexander was rarely merciful to any nation that he subdued, which meant almost the whole known world at the time. The Jews were so grateful to him that they named every child born that year “Alexander.” That is why the name Alexander (Sender in Yiddish or Sasha in Russian are common Jewish nicknames derived from Alexander) became so common among Jews to this day.