Geviah ben Kosem Defends Israel Before Alexander of Macedon

"And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts" (Genesis 25:6). In the days of Alexander of Macedon, the children of Ishmael came to contend with Israel over the birthright, and two wicked families came with them, the Canaanites and the Egyptians. They said: who will go and plead against them? Geviah ben Kosem said: I will go and plead against them. They said to him: be careful that you do not forfeit the Land of Israel. He said: I will go and plead against them. If I win, well and good; and if not, you will say, what is this lowly one who testified concerning us? He went and pleaded against them. Alexander of Macedon said to him: who is claiming against whom? The children of Ishmael said: we claim against them, and we come against them from their own Torah. It is written, "for he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion" (Deuteronomy 21:17), and Ishmael by law should take a double portion. Geviah ben Kosem said to him: my lord the king, does a man not do as he wishes among his sons? He said to him: yes. He said to him: but it is written, "And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac." He said to him: and where did he give to the children of Keturah? He said to him: "And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts." And they withdrew from there shamefaced. The Canaanites said: we come against them from their own Torah. Everywhere it is written "the land of Canaan"; let them give us our land. He said to him: my lord the king, does a man not do as he wishes with his slave? He said to him: yes. He said to him: but it is written, "And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers" (Genesis 9:25). Behold, the land is ours, and they are slaves to my lord the king. And they withdrew shamefaced. The Egyptians said: we come against them from their own Torah. Six hundred thousand went out from our land laden with vessels of silver and vessels of gold, as it is written, "and they despoiled Egypt" (Exodus 12:36); let them give us back our silver and our gold. Geviah ben Kosem said to them: my lord the king, six hundred thousand did labor among them for two hundred and ten years, some of them silversmiths, some of them goldsmiths; let them give us a dinar a day each. The philosophers sat and reckoned, and they had not reached a hundred years before the land of Egypt was found forfeit, and they withdrew from there shamefaced. He sought to go up to Jerusalem. These Cutheans went and said to him: beware, for they will not let you enter their Holy of Holies. When Geviah ben Kosem sensed this, he went and made two slippers and set in them two precious stones worth two myriads of silver. When he reached the Temple Mount he said to him: my lord the king, remove your shoes and put on these two slippers, for the floor is smooth, lest your feet slip. When he reached the Holy of Holies he said to him: this far we have permission to enter; from here on we have no permission to enter. He said to him: when I come out I will straighten your hump. He said to him: if you do so, you will be called an expert physician and take a great fee.